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The Independent's Cryptic Crossword | Play Online for Free | Independent

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 10h

Might be a good crossword if you had, say, just under half an hour to kill bsky.app/profile/did:...

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

I hope my faithful followers enjoy my latest cryptic, featuring:

Star trio cast as double-crossers (8)
Crossword setters you shouldn't have trapped in vice suffer (7)
American in the way of DC hero unplugging Tesla (8)
puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti...

Play The Independent's Cryptic Crossword instantly online. The Independent's Cryptic Crossword is a fun and engaging Online game from The Independent. Play it and other games from The Independent.

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 11h

Yeah I don't think you're gonna be able to negotiate with a runaway zebra mate

The Independent's Cryptic Crossword | Play Online for Free | Independent

Reposted by Charlie Methven

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

I hope my faithful followers enjoy my latest cryptic, featuring:

Star trio cast as double-crossers (8)
Crossword setters you shouldn't have trapped in vice suffer (7)
American in the way of DC hero unplugging Tesla (8)
puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti...

Play The Independent's Cryptic Crossword instantly online. The Independent's Cryptic Crossword is a fun and engaging Online game from The Independent. Play it and other games from The Independent.

2 10 16

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

@ecclescrosswords.bsky.social cheers for the re-bleet, Andy. Sorry for nicking your slot!

The Independent's Cryptic Crossword | Play Online for Free | Independent

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

I hope my faithful followers enjoy my latest cryptic, featuring:

Star trio cast as double-crossers (8)
Crossword setters you shouldn't have trapped in vice suffer (7)
American in the way of DC hero unplugging Tesla (8)
puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti...

Play The Independent's Cryptic Crossword instantly online. The Independent's Cryptic Crossword is a fun and engaging Online game from The Independent. Play it and other games from The Independent.

The Independent's Cryptic Crossword | Play Online for Free | Independent

2 10 16

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 22h

@ivanbrett.bsky.social Hi Ivan, if you're a crossword person as well as a quiz person you might enjoy my Independent cryptic today puzzles.independent.co.uk/games/crypti...

Play The Independent's Cryptic Crossword instantly online. The Independent's Cryptic Crossword is a fun and engaging Online game from The Independent. Play it and other games from The Independent.

1 7

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Just don't let Spooner get his hands on that phrase

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Royal property unequally divided between Regan and Cordelia (7)
from a 2023 Methuselah

2 1

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

And lest we forget H from Steps - Hyperactive

3

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Does HIGNFY still do use a guest publication for the guess the headlines game?

a man wearing a yellow shirt with the letter i on the front

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Well they were obviousy very interested in cricket score cards once upon a time! This is where I think the fairness of a single source of abbreviations has to be balanced with the unfairness, misbalance of references etc which that bakes in

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe not hyper, but Guinevere had the good example of Association earlier. If you say uber-common component abbreviations *should* be in the dictionary, then one might say there's no harm in using clear omissions like that (though personally I think it'd be neater to stick to standalones)

1 1

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

On "fun" I think there's a comparison to be drawn between Chambers and VAR in football which is supposed to ensure fairness, but regularly leads to results that instinctively feel wrong because either a corker of a goal is disallowed or a boring technicality is allowed

ALT: a man wearing a yellow shirt with the letter i on the front

media.tenor.com

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

I'd feel very little guilt for using any of those 😁

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe what I mean is that it makes it a game played with the dictionary itself rather than a game played with the language where the dictionary is an honest referee. The ref's taking bungs to put B=British in there!

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Not necessarily suggesting we all stop using B=British, just observing there's an arbitrariness to it which I find aesthetically(?) weak even if it's ethically(??) fair. Seems a bit like using "fridge" as an anagrind because, say, Chambers accidentally listed it as a synonym of drunk

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

I agree "they're in the dictionary" is useful when you need a binary way to decide fair/not fair (competitions etc). But given that we have no time for *new* standalone ones, the original non-standaloners which stowed away in Chambers almost seem tantamount to mistakes

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah, which would be a nightmare! I'd argue the likes of B=British would never make it in if you were drawing up a list specifically for this purpose and re-evaluating each abbrev on the same merits an upstart abbreviation like V=Vegetarian is judged on

Nobel committee unable to reach prize winner who is ‘living his best life’ hiking off grid

Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

G=group/group of as in G8 etc another good example of that I think. And yes I think I remember a rookie on BD who'd got the same impression as your friend

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

(Thank you to the government of Benin for sponsoring this table)

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 1d

Thinking about abbreviations. Some from the top right quadrant occasionally break through as we acknowledge Chambers is often behind the times. But given no-one supports the bottom right, is there any real justification for bottom left other than "they're in the dictionary" and we're used to them?

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Charlie Methven @charliemethven.bsky.social · 2d

@thevoidtlmb.social.vivaldi.net.ap.brid.gy @skirwingle.bsky.social Congratulations to you both www.theguardian.com/science/2025...

Fred Ramsdell was among those honoured with a 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine but might not know because he is somewhere in Idaho and uncontactable

www.theguardian.com