Solution to PClueRS
This is a puzzle about five types of wordplay games: cryptics, printer’s devilry, pure metas, puns, and straight (crossword) clues. Each clue in this puzzle has two parts: an “inner clue” which consists of a contiguous set of some words from the clue, and an “outer clue” which is the remaining unused words.
The inner clue solves via one of the five wordplay mechanisms to the name of one of the five types: CRYPTIC, PRINTERSDEVILRY, META, PUN, or STRAIGHT. This gives the type of the outer clue. The outer clue can then be solved to a normal English word. These outer clue answers are alphabetically sorted, which should help with solving and confirmation. (You can see full answers to the inner/outer clues at the bottom of this page.)
There are 25 clues, and in fact each of the 25 pairs of clue types appears exactly once as inner/outer clue types. This suggests that we put the words in a 5×5 grid based on (inner type, outer type). Doing this with the proper orientation, five new clues appear along the rows. Here the rows and columns order the clue types alphabetically. This may not be the first way that solvers put the words into a grid, but related words should jump out enough so that the table is reordered to make phrases (SEX-LINKED and GENE, MOVIE and ROLE, etc).
cryptic | meta | printer’s devilry | pun | straight | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
cryptic | SEX-LINKED | GENE | STORES | SECRET | ADVANTAGE |
meta | TESTED | DEADLOCKS | SHINS | FEET | DOG-EARS |
printer’s devilry | RONALDO | SCORES | WITHER | OVER | DEFENSE |
pun | ON | VACATION | AND | SMASHING | THINGS |
straight | STARRING | MOVIE | ROLE | OR | CLUE |
Finally, the five new clues should be solved as clues of their appropriate type (the inner type, which is common to all words in the clue). The solutions are (again, taken in alphabetical-by-clue-type order)
Clue type | Clue | Answer | Explanation |
---|---|---|---|
cryptic | Sex-linked gene stores secret advantage | EDGE | Hidden word: sex-linkED GEne |
meta | TESTED, DEADLOCKS, SHINS, FEET, DOG-EARS | BARELY | Exactly one way to insert a letter and create a new word: TESTBED, DREADLOCKS, SHINES, FLEET, DOG-YEARS. The added letters are BRELY. “Do it again” to get BARELY. |
printer’s devilry | Ronaldo scores wither over defense | AHEAD | Ronaldo scores with [A HEAD]er over defense |
pun | On vacation and smashing things | BREAKING | |
straight | Starring movie role or clue | LEAD |
Taken together, these five words match the enumeration given at the bottom of the puzzle: EDGE BARELY AHEAD BREAKING LEAD (5). This is a final cryptic clue, and the final answer to the puzzle is BLADE = Edge / B_ + LADE*.
Clue [inner clue] | Inner type | Outer type = inner answer | Inner explanation | Outer answer | Outer explanation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
It follows a deuce on a [plain street, right around a] court | cryptic | STRAIGHT | plain / ST + R(A)IGHT | ADVANTAGE | |
Nightfall brought the caravan [satanic teachings of Epson]: “toast still well before journey’s end” | pun | PRINTER’S DEVILRY | Epson is a printer brand | AND | Nightfall brought the caravan to a st[AND]still well before journey’s end |
This [direct], e.g. | straight | STRAIGHT | CLUE | ||
Aboard Cassiopeia, forego gravimetric [measure: permittivity/torque. Significance] is essential hyperlink became dead | meta | META | MEASURE, PERMITTIVITY, TORQUE, SIGNIFICANCE have Greek letter abbreviations μετα = META | DEADLOCKS | First letters are A-I, in this order last letters are DEADLOCKS |
Team [teacher says Okafor/Ward solution will suffice] opposing the offense | printer’s devilry | STRAIGHT | teacher says “ok a [STRAIGHT]forward solution will suffice” | DEFENSE | |
Folded pages made [cut time triplets answer. Aligned sold-out show] in the books | meta | STRAIGHT | CUT TIME, TRIPLETS, answer, ALIGNED, SOLD-OUT SHOW clue consecutive poker hands 2pair, triple, answer=STRAIGHT, flush, full house | DOG-EARS | |
There’s a few [people you ended] in the yard | meta | PUN | Initial word sounds are emphasized letters | FEET | Can you imagine a yard with 3 feet in it? |
Kelly Hackman [team set to get next-level] wilder | cryptic | META | META* / next-level | GENE | Famous Genes: Kelly, Hackman, Wilder |
Maybe solve [puzzle using the answers] DAVID, SKEIN, GOUGE? | straight | META | MOVIE | Diagonalize five 5-letter words | |
Working [connected to tombs and such] for no return | pun | CRYPTIC | ON | Working / ON< | |
Place in the hospital where you make [wordplay] decisions? | straight | PUN | OR | Operating Room (OR) | |
What a fraction [attempt to adapt Crimean dish! Men taxed due to budget constraints,] says on the radio | printer’s devilry | PUN | Attempt to adapt Crime and [PUN]ishment axed due to budget constraints | OVER | |
One day I’ll get [a clue with second string left out,] a chance to play for money and travel ’top a guest a dia | straight | PRINTER’S DEVILRY | ROLE | One day I’ll get a chance to play for money and travel to p[RO LE]ague stadia | |
Shooter from Portugal’s land shot in [to e-Node. My own block cipher (bad idea!)] initially ran once only | printer’s devilry | CRYPTIC | to en[CRYPT I C]ode my own block cipher (bad idea!) | RONALDO | Shooter from Portugal (is) / NALD* inside ROO (inits) |
Canon stratagem enforces [all Mystery Hunters should utilize a nag] ramming online site | printer’s devilry | META | all Mystery Hunters should utilize a na[ME TA]g | SCORES | Lengths are unique between 4 and 9, sort and read first letters |
Something that’s only [a joke is mixed up with information last] known by Victoria? | cryptic | PUN | a joke / PU* + _N | SECRET | Referring to Victoria’s Secret |
Small (formerly large) [mysterious twitch after Yelp page] found written on X chromosome | cryptic | CRYPTIC | mysterious / CRY + P + TIC | SEX-LINKED | S + EX + L + INKED / on X chromosome |
Text from dissident [apprentice (Petersburg's undeterred revolter) “Serious] I R in a rat ukay” awakes thousands to regime’s horrors | meta | PRINTER’S DEVILRY | 3-syllable words, middle syllables are “pren ters de vel ree” | SHINS | Text from dissident Irina Ratu[SHINS]kaya wakes thousands to regime’s horrors |
Opinion of [one-line play?] Thornberry on LHC | pun | PUN | SMASHING | Nigel Thornberry often says “smashing”, and the LHC is an atom smasher | |
The Sun syndicate is putting [UK crossword] in the spotlight | straight | CRYPTIC | STARRING | STAR + RING / putting in the spotlight | |
(A bothersome [clue type) resistance normal in delivery trips, crazy] dog need train itself from barking | cryptic | PRINTER’S DEVILRY | clue type / R + N inside PITERSDEVILRY* | STORES | A bothersome dog need[S TO RES]train itself from barking |
Tried [cracking rare mystery carpophyte spotted within Deccan] tea – seed bits scattered around shirt | meta | CRYPTIC | Double letters are cracking = C, rare = R, etc | TESTED | Tried / T + ESED* around T |
Objects or [like how heterosexuals stand] stuff | pun | STRAIGHT | Heterosexuals are straight people, who might stand up straight | THINGS | |
Talia Gerini had [got to know ’er in England] along ole-timers’ naps’ hotels’ weeds | pun | META | “Meta” in British English sounds like “met her”, or “got to know ’er” | VACATION | Anagrams of (country minus letter): LATVIA NIGERIA CHAD ANGOLA TIMOR-LESTE SPAIN LESOTHO SWEDEN |
Bills made music [as can get them disqualified from the 100m dash if they cheat] in the 70s | printer’s devilry | PRINTER’S DEVILRY | a s[PRINTER’S DEVILRY] can get them disqualified from the 100m dash if they cheat | WITHER | Bill [WITHER]s made music in the 70s |