FM Mini Cryptic

Dear Reader,

Welcome to Fifteen Minutes first-ever (to my knowledge) cryptic crossword. Cryptics are the trickier and weirder British cousin of normal crosswords. Whereas a normal crossword’s clues only have a definition (e.g. “Time magazine?” for “Fifteen Minutes”), cryptic crosswords clues have both a definitional clue and a word play clue in them. You might think that having two clues for every word would make things easier, but the hard part is that cryptics don’t tell you which part of the clue is which!

Cryptic crossword clues usually look like normal sentences, but looks deceive. Most cryptic crossword clues actually have three separate components, the “definition” (like a normal crossword clue, but usually more vague), the “fodder,” and the “indicators.” Indicators tell you in a “cryptic” sort of way what word or letter play to perform on the fodder (e.g. reversal, anagram, etc.) to reveal the word hinted at by the definition. An example might be helpful:

Suppose our clue was “Dr. Rahav confused John (7)” [The (7) just indicates we’re looking for a seven letter word for our answer]. In this case, the definition is “John,” the fodder is “Dr. Rahav,” and “confused” is an anagram indicator. So we’re looking for an anagram of “Dr. Rahav” that could mean “John.” After a minute, we realize “Harvard” is the correct answer. (Seem complicated? This is actually pretty tame by cryptic standards, but don’t worry, practice makes perfect!) As you may have noticed, punctuation can usually be ignored in a cryptic.

Ready to jump right in? Try the mini-Cryptic above, with clues below!

Enjoy,

Henry

Clues

Across

1. Insane? No, not crazy—a star of sorts (5)

4. Sound sticky (4)

7. Suburbs of the Tri-State are boring (5)

8. Ain’t the local public radio station shifted down 12? (4)

9. It’s assumed Lou Gehrig's disease is found around the middle of trials (5)

Down

1. 
Before a 5D reflection (4)

2. And our pie, oddly eaten, was a crispy snack (4)

3. Credit crisis: Alumni finalize personal pronouncement (2, 2, 1)

5. And in Ancient Rome, an exploding volcano! (4)

6. A team starts just enough to succeed. (4)

Answers

Across

1. ANISE

Definition: a star of sorts

Explanation: anagram of INSANE minus N

4. NOTE

Explanation: double definition

7. TRITE

Definition: boring

Explanation: TRI(-sta)TE

8. ISNT

Definition: ain’t

Explanation: WBUR shifted 12 letters forward (e.g Y→Z→A etc.)

9. ALIAS

Definition: it’s assumed

Explanation: AL(trIAls)S

Down

1. ANTE

Definition: before

Explanation: ETNA reversed

2. NORI

Definition: a crispy snack

Explanation: aNd OuR pIe

3. IT IS I

Definition: personal pronouncement
Explanation: credIT crisIS: alumnI

5. ETNA

Definition: volcano

Explanation: ET+NA (AN anagram)

6. JETS

Definition: a team

Explanation: Just Enough To Succeed