I Didn't Promise You New Cars, Did I?
Well, I’d planned to give a link to each of the correct solvers of today’s puzzle, but — as it turned out — each of them already had plenty of links coming from this site. No surprise there, I guess. I’ll link to them anyway, but I’ve also decided to honor them appropriately, by creating cryptic clues that lead to their identities. Bear in mind that these aren’t the greatest, but it’s the solvers’ fault for having such weird names.
Clue: “Heathen, I halt ye!” annoyingly written in Quakers’ joint. (15)
Answer: Friendlyatheist
Definition: Heathen
Wordplay: i-h-a-l-t-y-e annoyingly written, or anagrammed = “lyathei” in Quakers = Friends + joint (as in pipes) = T. Thus, friend(lyathei)s + t
Clue: This nonbeliever asks, “Oh, PB ‘n’ J?” Somehow, it fails to get a good grade. (4,1)
Answer: John P.
Definition: This nonbeliever asks (John P.’s blog is Spanish Inquisitor.)
Wordplay: o-h + p-b-n-j somehow (anagrammed), minus the B (a good grade)
Clue: It means nothing whether one Greek goddess loses a smart atheist. (11)
Answer: Nullifidian
Definition: smart atheist
Wordplay: It means nothing = null; whether = if; one Greek goddess = I diana; loses “a”
Clue: Secularist on an illegitimate mousy design.(9)
Answer: Anonymous
Definition: secularist
Wordplay: o-n-a-n illegitimate, or anagrammed + an anagram, or design, for m-o-u-s-y
Clue: Magical Oz women, not easy, but with love for major hero. (5)
Answer: Nowoo
Definition: hero (the solver of the last piece of the puzzle)
Wordplay: Magical, or anagrammed, o-z-w-o-m-e-n; not e-z; with o (love) substituted for m (major)
This guy didn’t exactly solve a clue, but I think he may have provided the final impetus.
Clue: An atheist’s well-known monologue, beginning “Two score minus two ...” (6)
Answer: tobe38
Definition: An atheist’s [an atheist is]
Wordplay: well-known monologue beginning = “To be” + 40 (two score)-2 = 38
Thanks to all for playing.
Hey, Exterminator, I enjoyed reading this.
4 comments:
You shouldn't have published the answers to our names. We could have had another quiz to solve these, then you could have posted clues to the names of the people who solved that quiz.
And then...
Haha, great stuff! :-)
Apologies for monopolising the puzzle, I was too engrossed.
tobe: Yes, I could have done what you suggest. But then I would have had to change the name of the blog to "No More Sanity." Hmmm..... let me think about that.
Null: No need to apologize, by any means. Always feel free to leave as many comments as you wish. I don't have thousands of readers who were disappointed just because you got six solutions right.
Anyway, it was fun for me to watch your thought-processes in action. They reminded me exactly of how I've tackled the same kind of challenge. And, man, when I get stuck in a rut over a clue in a crossword, I really obsess. You're just an amateur in that department. Sometimes I draw those little circles of letters twenty or thirty times, hoping that by rearranging and rearranging I'll stumble on the answer. That strategy comes way too close to blind faith for me to even want to think about.
Sometimes I draw those little circles of letters twenty or thirty times, hoping that by rearranging and rearranging I'll stumble on the answer.
Perhaps I should scan in the envelope I used. ;-)
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