We are presented with a set of cryptic clues. As the title suggests, they are just regular cryptics, albeit occasionally verbose. The solutions are presented below:
Clue | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Sketch, sewn, and lay down a publication (9) | NEWSPAPER | SEWN* + PAPER (v. to lay down wallpaper) |
| 2. One messed with half-ragged circular product throughout Florida (6) | ORANGE | (ONE RAG_)* |
| 3. Beating runner up, wrongdoer's top character is swapped left with weapon edge (6) | WINNER | SINNER (S -> W_) |
| 4. Idol's oil-less at ends with East Milan's shapes disfigured (8) | DEFORMED | (iDol - oil) E (FORME = shapes in Ital.) (iDol) |
| 5. Some (often religious) ceremonies her IT escort concealed (5) | RITES | _R IT ES_ |
| 6. Small amount cut oddly from lotus besides alternating nickel (5) | OUNCE | lOtUs + NiCkEl |
| 7. Inch top entering hollow "laze interrupting apps" follows head of pet fruits (10) | PINEAPPLES | P__ IN E_ APP(L__E)S |
| 8. Bug fearing Pokémon finish off the beheaded to equip agogô's evens (9) | EXEGGCUTE | EXE(aGoGo)CUTEd; Bug is super effective against Exeggcute |
| 9. Slaughter elves with ultimate crows bowl (6) | VESSEL | (ELVES + _S)* |
| 10. Bunny's holiday clergyman swaps skirt for posterior area (6) | EASTER | (MINI -> arEA)STER |
| 11. Element initially from Newton's O.G. bro entering legit intern university, maybe (8) | NOBELIUM | N_ O_ b_ e_ l_ i_ u_ m_ |
| 12. Turning point: rats' weed get mixed onto Bush's right (9) | WATERSHED | (RATS WEED + _H)* |
| 13. Dramatic Virginian author wrote, "Perhaps to sport initially ethical names; Woodrow's intelligent seven hiding inside? (10) | OWENWISTER | (WROTE)* around (E_ N_ W_ I_ S_); Owen Wister wrote The Virginian |
| 14. Insurrection takes leader following Mexican river with grand likeness removed (4) | RIOT | RIO (GRANDE - GRANDE) T_ |
| 15. A split door's surrounding first of coat and top-tier or first-rate medic (6) | DOCTOR | DO(C_ T_)OR |
| 16. Report transgressed or overturned criticism? Ultimately, give one's rear symptoms (8) | SYNDROME | hom(SINNED) + RO< + _M + _E |
Taking the first letters, we notice the answers spell out NOW DROP EVEN WORDS. This suggests that we take another look at the clues, modifying them by chopping off every other word. (When the same mechanic is applied to the title, you get "This is Another Cryptic"!)
| Full clue | Odd clue | Odd answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Sketch, sewn, and lay down a publication (9) | 1. Sketch and down publication (9) | BLUEPRINT | BLUE (sad) + PRINT |
| 2. One messed with half-ragged circular product throughout Florida (6) | 2. One with circular throughout (6) | AROUND | A + ROUND |
| 3. Beating runner up, wrongdoer's top character is swapped, left with weapon edge (6) | 3. Beating up top is left weapon (6) | PISTOL | (TOP IS)* + L |
| 4. Idol's oil-less at ends with East Milan's shapes disfigured (8) | 4. Idol's at with Milan's disfigured (8) | TALISMAN | (AT MILANS)* |
| 5. Some (often religious) ceremonies her IT escort concealed (5) | 5. Some (religious) her escort (5) | USHER | _US HER |
| 6. Small amount cut oddly from lotus besides alternating nickel (5) | 6. Small cut from besides nickel (5) | SNICK | besideS NICKel |
| 7. Inch top entering hollow "laze interrupting apps" follows head of pet fruits (10) | 7. Inch entering "laze apps" head pet (10) | CHINCHILLA | (INCH in CHILL) A_ |
| 8. Bug fearing Pokémon finish off the beheaded to equip agogô's evens (9) | 8. Bug Pokémon off beheaded equip evens (9) | VESPIQUEN | (_QUIP EVENS)* |
| 9. Slaughter elves with ultimate crows' bowl (6) | 9. Slaughter with crows (6) | MURDER | double definition |
| 10. Bunny's holiday clergyman swaps skirt for posterior area (6) | 10. Bunny's clergyman skirt posterior (6) | RABBIT | RABBI + T |
| 11. Element initially from Newton's O.G. bro entering legit intern university, maybe (8) | 11. Element from O.G. entering intern, maybe (8) | NITROGEN | OG in INTERN* |
| 12. Turning point: rats' weed get mixed onto Bush's right (9) | 12. Turning rats get onto right (9) | STARBOARD | RATS< + BOARD |
| 13. Dramatic Virginian author wrote, "Perhaps, to sport initially ethical names; Woodrow's intelligent seven hiding inside?" (10) | 13. Dramatic author, "Perhaps, sport ethical; Woodrow's seven inside?" (10) | PLAYWRIGHT | PLAY (W) RIGHT |
| 14. Insurrection takes leader following Mexican river with grand likeness removed (4) | 14. Insurrection leader Mexican with likeness (4) | ICON | I_ + CON |
| 15. A split door's surrounding first of coat and top-tier or first-rate medic (6) | 15. A door's first coat top-tier first-rate (6) | PRIMER | top-tier=PRIME + R_ |
| 16. Report transgressed or overturned criticism? Ultimately, give one's rear symptoms (8) | 16. Report or criticism give rear (8) | FEEDBACK | FEED + BACK |
We note that both sets of answers share the same number of letters. In fact, exactly one letter in each pair matches in the same position. Taking these letters spell out a new phrase:
| Full answer | Odd answer | Overlapping Letter |
|---|---|---|
| NEWSPAPER | BLUEPRINT | P |
| ORANGE | AROUND | R |
| WINNER | PISTOL | I |
| DEFORMED | TALISMAN | M |
| RITES | USHER | E |
| OUNCE | SNICK | C |
| PINEAPPLES | CHINCHILLA | L |
| EXEGGCUTE | VESPIQUEN | U |
| VESSEL | MURDER | E |
| EASTER | RABBIT | A |
| NOBELIUM | NITROGEN | N |
| WATERSHED | STARBOARD | D |
| OWENWISTER | PLAYWRIGHT | W |
| RIOT | ICON | O |
| DOCTOR | PRIMER | R |
| SYNDROME | FEEDBACK | D |
PRIME CLUE AND WORD suggests looking at the 2nd word of the 2nd clue, the 3rd word of the 3rd clue, the 5th word of the 5th clue, and so on. Doing so gives one last cryptic to solve:
MESSED UP HER APPS MAYBE SEVEN
Here, SEVEN is the enumeration. Anagramming "HER APPS" gives us the answer, PERHAPS.
This was a terribly constrained puzzle to construct, which was both a curse and a delightful exercise. Apologies if any of the surface readings suffered as a result.
While constructing the prototype to test the final extraction, I wrote a number of fake cryptic-sounding sentences. Making up random sentences that sound like cryptics is extremely fun, and I highly recommend giving it a try.