Crosaire

The Crosaire Crossword (/'krʌsərə/) is one of the crossword puzzles contained in The Irish Times, the other being the "Simplex" crossword. It has been written by Derek Crozier for over sixty years. He lives in Zimbabwe and so works remotely developing the crosswords.

The Crosaire Crossword is a cryptic crossword and the author often uses similar clues to represent solutions or portions of the solutions. Some clues use traditional cryptic crossword methods; others appear to be unique to Crosaire. He is considered to be a non-standard setter (non-Ximenean)

Crosaire Tricks

The following clues and solutions can appear in Crosaire Crosswords from time to time:

A

• about - c (circa), re, or to split the given word around another word
• academician - ra (same as artist)
• account - ac
• accountant - ca (chartered accountant)
• after t - t is the first letter in the word
• afternoon - pm
• against - v, vs
• agent - rep
• albert - al
• allow - let
• alternative - or
• anger - ire
• animal - cur, rat
• are in short - r (sounds like are)
• around - o
• artist - ra (royal academy)
• at home - in

B

• ball - o, dance
• bee - b
• behead - drop the first letter
• behold - lo
• bishop - dd
• bloomer - some type of flower
• bob - s (shilling)
• book - nt (new testament), ot (old testament)
• border - rim, edge, hem
• bore - awl
• bound - spring, jump
• boy - lad, son, a boys name (des, tim, etc)
• brother - br
• buck - stag
• bury - inter

C

• can - able, tin
• cat - tom
• celsius - c
• cent - c
• century - c
• circle - o
• claim - im (i am)
• cockney - usualy means to drop a 'h' from the answer
• communist - red
• company - co
• cooker - aga
• council - sc
• craft - art
• current - ac, dc

D

• dead - past, late
• degree - ba, ma, angle
• desmond - des
• detective inspector - di
• detectives - cid
• doctor - dr, md, mo (medical officer), gp, mb
• drinks - port, gin, ale, rum

E

• east - e
• editor - ed
• edward - ed, ted, ned
• eleven - ii, xi, side (many sports have 11 players on each side)
• employ - use
• ever - eer

F

• fahrenheit - f
• father - pa, da, fr, rev
• female - f
• fifty - l
• firm - see company
• first lady - eve
• five - v
• flower - a name of a river
• for instance - eg
• former - ex

G

• gas - usualy a well known element like oxygen, nitrogen, helium, ...
• gee - g
• girl - gal, lass, or a girl's name e.g. ann, eve, sue
• go on ahead - hat, cap, hair
• gold - au, or (the french for gold)
• graduate - ba, ma
• grand - g, m, k
• gratitude - ta

H

• half a century - l
• he had - hed
• headless - drop the first letter
• hill (usually clued like 'those who work on the hill') - ant
• horse - gg, nag
• hospital - h
• hotel - inn
• hour - h
• house - senate, seanad (irish for seanate)
• hundred - c

I

• i am - im
• i had - id
• i have - ive
• insect - ant
• inspectors - dic, dis
• invoice - sing, alto, diva, ...
• ireland - eire, ire, (free) state
• i see - ic

K

• king - k, r (rex), lion

L

• last month - ult, dec
• learner - l
• left - l
• limb - arm, leg
• litre - l

M

• male - m
• material - A type of cloth, e.g. serge
• mischievous - imp
• morning - am
• mother - ma
• mountain - range

N

• next month - prox
• nil - o
• north - n
• not even - odd
• not odd - even
• note - nb (from the latin nota bene)
• nothing - o
• null - o

O

• object - thing
• old - o
• old testament - ot
• one - a, i
• orient - e (east)
• ounce - oz

P

• page - p
• pain - ow
• pale - ash
• piano - p
• poetry - verse, ode
• police - ric (royal irish constabulary)
• pound - l, lb
• priest - fr, pp, rev
• professional - pro
• pub - inn
• pussy - cat

Q

• queen - q, er
• queen - q, er
• quiet - p
• quote - cite

R

• reckon - rate
• richard - ric, dick
• right - r
• ring - o
• river - dee
• road - rd
• round - o
• russian - red

S

• sailor - tar, salt, ab
• saint - st
• say - eg
• shilling - s
• ship - ss (steam ship)
• sick - ill, ail
• side - team
• silly - ass
• silver - ag
• sister - nun
• south - s
• south africia - sa
• spouse - mate
• states - us, usa, Oregon, Maine, etc
• stomach - tums
• street - st
• student - l
• stupid - ass

T

• teetotaler - tt
• ten - "io", "x"
• thanks - ta
• the french - le, la
• the german - die, der
• this month - inst, instant
• thousand - g, m, k
• tin - can
• trial - test

U

• ulster - ni (northern ireland), red, hand
• university - u

V

• versus - v, vs
• very - v
• very loud - ff

W

• west - w
• with one on - ion
• work - op (opus)
• worker - ant
• writer - pen
• wye - y

X

• x - ten

Y

• you and me - us, we

External Links

• Free, fully licensed online version of New York Times Crossword Puzzle