Just make the conversion (“thus Prince Charles’ demand of Queen Elizabeth II”) and the answer is pretty clear: MOVE OVER! There a couple of useful letter combinations that can be clued this way – “Brenda” can be ER (“Elizabeth Regina”), and “Brian’s ex” is DI – but mostly, it’s just the same as “queen” would be in a normal crossword. So Elizabeth became Brenda, Charles became Brian, Margaret became Yvonne, and so on.Īdvance at an end: thus Brian’s demand of Brenda? (4,4)
The documentary focused on what a normal family they were, and Private Eye thought it would be funny to give them normal names to go with it. Back in 1969, the royals – worried they were seen as too aloof – commissioned a fly-on-the-wall documentary about their lives. Understanding these clues means knowing a Private Eye in-joke from nearly half a century ago. When this puzzle came out, Ed Balls had captured the heart of the nation in Strictly Come Dancing, in which the top score is TEN. Here, we have ROT for “Balls”, but we also have “his coveted score”. Gone off Balls and his coveted score? (6) And “balls up” – itself a common phrase – can indicate the reverse of any of these – DE, TOR, STUN… It’s a versatile word, so watch out for it, as in this ornate clue from a recent puzzle:
It can be ROT (balls as in nonsense), NUTS (balls as in testicles) or OO (balls as in round things).
So when Cyclops says “Balls covering behind when high? (6)”, he’s asking you to put “LATE” (behind) inside “ED” (Balls) to make ELATED (“high”).īut that’s not all “balls” can mean. (When you see “Miliband” in a puzzle, it also usually clues these two letters.) ED is always a useful letter combination – it can appear at the end of any word in the past tense, or in revers ed form, at the word’s debut. The worst thing about the 2015 election, from a crosswording point of view, was the dethroning of Ed Balls. Since I haven’t found a list of them anywhere, I thought I’d list them here. Alongside the usual abbreviations (you know, L for “left”, C for “cold”) and handy letter combinations (“promises” are usually IOUS, a “revolutionary” can be a RED like CHE), there are some that are unique to the Eye‘s puzzle and its political, risque tone. The wordplay is a bit more straightforward, and the answers are mostly drawn from current events and slang, which makes it a good place for beginners to start.īut solving the Eye crossword has its own challenges. Compared to the broadsheets, Cyclops – real name Eddie James, or Brummie from the Guardian – is usually a bit easier. By then, the wonderful blog Fifteen Squared had started, with its explanations of each puzzle, and so I could gradually pick up the tricks of the trade.
It was Cyclops that got me into crosswords – when my student digs were full of old tattered copies of Private Eye, the crossword (and its generous £100 prize) tempted me to pick up the organ. At least Sudokus always come with an explanation.
As the many hours I wasted in the school library, staring at the back pages of the broadsheets, if you don’t know what they’re about, you can’t even get started (I think the only cryptic clue I ever got in school was a Times clue along the lines of “A shock on a clear day (1,4,4,3,4)”). They appear in every newspaper as if they’re self-explanatory, yet they have extremely intricate rules and customs. There’s something odd about cryptic crosswords.