Solution: Cryptic Crossing
Answer: SEND
Written by Adeline Wong
This puzzle is a fairly standard cryptic crossword. Solvers should start by filling out the grid:
1W | O | 2R | T | 3H | Y | 4S | 5K | E | 6L | E | 7T | O | 8N | |
A | O | O | 9G | I | O | U | O | |||||||
10R | E | M | O | R | S | E | 11N | E | U | T | R | O | N | |
P | A | S | R | D | T | N | L | |||||||
12U | N | D | E | R | A | G | E | 13F | I | L | E | |||
I | S | L | S | P | T | |||||||||
14C | R | A | S | H | 15D | S | T | 16B | O | S | C | H | ||
E | O | A | A | |||||||||||
17N | O | 18B | L | E | 19P | O | 20T | 21R | O | 22Y | A | L | ||
O | R | U | U | T | E | |||||||||
23T | R | O | N | 24N | E | R | V | E | G | A | S | |||
A | W | 25U | N | T | N | R | 26O | |||||||
27P | E | N | A | N | C | E | 28L | A | D | A | N | U | M | |
H | I | I | T | E | E | E | I | |||||||
29S | P | E | C | T | A | T | E | 30C | R | E | D | I | T |
Across
| # | Clue | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argue about your old dignitary (6) | WOR<+THY |
| 4 | Monster from Norske let one extract (8) | _SKE LET ON_ |
| 10 | Encode a message again, maybe with grief? (7) | REMORSE cryptic ddef |
| 11 | New German 23-across particle (7) | NEU+TRON |
| 12 | Muddled anger due to being unable to drink, for instance (8) | UNDERAGE* |
| 13 | Wear down rank partner (4) | FILE ddef |
| 14 | About impulsive failure (5) | C+RASH |
| 15 | Confusing std.! (3) | DST*, &lit |
| 16 | Appliance company's heart replacement for screw up is satisfactory (5) | BO(t>S)CH |
| 17 | Twisted elbow supplying work for Sweden's last aristocrat (5) | (w>N)OBLE< |
| 19 | Pool weed (3) | POT ddef |
| 21 | Loudly agitate prince, for example (5) | ROYAL ("ROIL") |
| 23 | Sci-fi movie initially titled Reign of Nemesis (4) | T_ R_ O_ N_ |
| 24 | Airborne poison near-misses a Nevadan casino city (5 3) | NE(a)R+VEGAS |
| 27 | Reparations not applicable in British coins (7) | PE(NA)NCE |
| 28 | Mix alum and resin (7) | LADANUM* |
| 29 | Inspect atelier hiding watch (8) | _SPECT ATE_ |
| 30 | Conservative internet forum missing "date" attribute (6) | C+RE(d)DIT |
Down
| # | Clue | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bend tailless prawn backwards (4) | (n)WARP< |
| 2 | Country of odd riot craziness (7) | R_O_+MANIA |
| 3 | Drawing on pieces of hero's lucky charm (9) | HORSESHOE letter bank |
| 5 | German child with English holy man is most affectionate (7) | KIND+E+ST |
| 6 | Ruffian buried in retail outlet (4) | _L OUT_ |
| 7 | Vegetables become network addresses (7) | TURN+IPS |
| 8 | "It won't kill you." —Anne Holt, drunk on taste of Lambrusco (9) | NONLETHA*+L_ |
| 9 | "[name] glared confusedly" (6) | GERALD* |
| 14 | Strange patches on memorials (9) | CENOTAPHS* |
| 16 | Drink server and killer of a Simpson? (9) | BARTENDER cryptic ddef |
| 18 | Scottish goblin's dessert (7) | BROWNIE ddef |
| 19 | Scientist evenly upturning estate (7) | _P_U_N_N_E_T_T_ |
| 20 | Top of Mongolian tent replaced by Tory, the French reptile (6) | (y>T)URT+LE |
| 22 | Wanted Dead: Stark, after twelve months (7) | YEAR+NED |
| 25 | Army group is unfit, missing figurehead (4) | UN(f)IT |
| 26 | Circle a famous university to exclude (4) | O+MIT |
Next, we turn to the envelopes, whose addresses are sadly missing their street names. However, we can find several such names in the grid—some of our crossword answers form two-word phrases with the expanded versions of the street suffixes. (If we're not sure what some of the suffixes are, the U.S. Postal Service has a convenient list.)
| Crossword Answer | Suffix |
|---|---|
| SKELETON | KEY (Ky.) |
| BROWNIE | POINTS (Pts.) |
| UNIT | CIRCLE (Cir.) |
| GERALD | FORD (Frd.) |
| CREDIT | UNION (Un.) |
| CRASH | LANDING (Lndg.) |
| ROYAL | COURT (Ct.) |
Associating the crossword answers with their proper street extension and indexing using the address numbers yields the words NINETEEN D THIRTEEN A TWENTY D ONE D. Taking these four crossword answers (19, 20, and 1 Down, and 13 Across), we realize that these are yet more "streets", which we can place in the four blank postcards below.
| # | Crossword Answer | Suffix |
|---|---|---|
| 19D | PUNNETT | SQUARE (Sq.) |
| 13A | FILE | EXTENSION (Ext.) |
| 20D | TURTLE | NECK (Nck.) |
| 1D | WARP | DRIVE (Dr.) |
Finally, taking the first letters of each suffix (as indicated by the red blanks) yields SEND, the answer to the puzzle.
Author’s Notes
This mechanic was originally inspired by a (failed) attempt to write a puzzle based on My Immortal. Unfortunately, (or perhaps fortunately, for the rest of you) EBONY DARK'NESS DEMENTIA RAVEN is a little too difficult to fit into a single line of cryptic crossword fill.