July 19 2011
DREAM Teams
Cryptic clues! Cryptic clues! Cryptic clues! (I can almost hear the chant from my desk. You lot excel when a Storm requires a spot of clue crafting, so here’s the meat for your appetite. Or tofu, if that’s your thang.)
Choose any five-letter word that has the ability to convert into a four letter word, when any letter is removed. For example, LEAST (or ASTLE if you wish to catch the eye, since proper names are cool) can dismantle into SEAT, SALT, LETS, TALE and SEAL (among other possible words). And after the destruction, comes the construction, with a clue for each of your 6 words – the source word, and five offshoots.
Here’s my example:
DREAM – Elite change of leadership is fantasy
REAM – Matutinal papers?
MADE – Loud domestic on Easy Street?
DRAM – By end of round, memory is shot
MR ED – M-Marxist in stable condition?
DEAR – Precious bivalve (heart) in the German
Give it a crack, and dream big. Just drop each letter once and scramble, and submit your six clues in similar fashion, with dear prizes afforded to the top three cluers. (And just a favour, nearing deadline by 8 on Thursday, if you could put your best few sets forward, as the medals will be for the best cluster, with only special mentions for one-off clues.) Dream on.
Comments
JD — 19 July at 08:40AM
Welcome back DA! Brainstorm is resumed and all is well.
BEARD: Renate Blauel maybe? Ardent secret affair.
DEAR: Costly shortage of a shortage.
BRAD: Nail Mr.Pitt.
ABED: Lincoln died here?
BRED: Reproduced fake notes.
BEAR: Yield falling stocks.
SK — 19 July at 09:05AM
LOTUS: After all, we are in a healthy position
OUTS: Reveals nothing before start of underwear trade show
SLUT: She can't control her lust
SOUL: Being one to listen
LOTS: Blocks essential pilot scheme
LOUT: Taxing carbon impact on your 'hood?
Boniface — 19 July at 11:58AM
MARCH: Evil charm bringing fall?
MARC: Stuff left in the press!
CHAR: Scale pilchards to make delectable fish
MACH: Gospel on the radio, a heavenly measure?
ARCH: Roguish crook
CRAM: Crush bone up
LR — 19 July at 02:10PM
I read 'cluster' as 'cluester'. Still made sense to me.
Sam — 19 July at 03:42PM
PETRA: Band depart resort for Rock City
RATE: Tax scab drug
TARP: Model Dadaist canvas
REAP: Cut fresh pear
PEAT: Quietly consume bio-fuel?
PERT: Lively capital city cut short
LR — 19 July at 04:25PM
SABRE: Yank bears weapon?
BARE: Stripped of foremost benefits and rights entirely
SERB: Foreigner concealed fertiliser bomb
SEAR: Stereotype – extremists are mostly brown
BASE: Military hub to exist around Middle East
BRAS: Devils, time to withdraw supports
JD — 19 July at 06:29PM
SHARE: Portion of fish; A red herring.
HARE: Heartless Mad Hatter's companion.
SEAR: Endless hunt for trigger lock.
HERS: One of the towels and washers was missing.
ASHE: He has held up the trophy.
RASH: Impetuous rubbish.- Not!
Sam — 19 July at 07:52PM
OSCAR: In part, cameos carried prize for best picture
ARCS: Bends pole after car wreck
ORAC: Instead of current Zen substitute?
SOAR: Rocket tower
ORCS: Endless scorn maddening for ogres
OCAS: Wood sorrel tubers in old Saxon roundabout?
RM — 19 July at 08:12PM
TROPE: Otherwise inept, returning cliche
ROPE: Maybe Manilla is most of continent
POET: Literary type who wrote The Raven and The Beginning
PERT: Vivacious members of Supertramp
TORE: Start exercise after most of torso is ripped
PORT: Drink served in cup or tumbler
SK — 19 July at 09:30PM
PARSE: Park behind breakdown
SEAR: Brand research condemned Borders
REPS: "The End" manager and lead singer swamp record agents
APSE: Munch peas during recess
PARE: Mean drug crop
SPAR: Rugby nut follows Springboks, we hear?
SK — 19 July at 09:33PM
ps. Minor amendment to earlier post...clue for SLUT is an &lit so should have a !
Nib — 19 July at 10:21PM
MELON: Head of camel only consumed rock or water.
MOLE: A carcinogenic agent?
NOME: Depressed punk goes back north to Alaskan town.
LONE: Individual one.
OMEN: Foreboding sign of 'turn back' when Finding Nemo?
NOEL: Christmas caro_?
LENO: Bottlenose dolphins swallow chatter and stand-up.
— 20 July at 11:46AM
@Nib: I thought the point was to have five four letter words, each determined by removing one letter from the five letter word. You have two anagrams each of MEON and ELON, which are the same set of letters, and no entry for MLON.
RM — 20 July at 11:47AM
Sorry for the premature post above.
@Nib: I thought the point was to have five four letter words, each determined by removing one letter from the five letter word. You have two anagrams each of MEON and ELON, and no entry for MLON.
Boniface — 20 July at 11:58AM
@RM - I take your point and Nib wasn't the only one caught out. I will have to delete my MARCH entry as there's obviously no word in CHMR.
Mr X — 20 July at 01:02PM
Here goes:
MITRE - Hat with German note.
RITE - Church service. Tired out ? Nod.
TERM - Period that every recruit makes introductions.
MIRE - Swamp wih an audio shop.
MITE - A little bit of it's in me.
TRIM - Cut rims, cut rims.
RK — 20 July at 01:21PM
BEAST: 'Monster Mash' held top spot
SATE: Saturate with non-essentials?!
BEST: Man United's most famous defeat?
BASE: Low speaking voice
STAB: Hit back on second go
BEAT: Potter's last three lacking punch
Sam — 20 July at 03:39PM
WILDE: Mainstream acknowledging alternative tag for playwright
IDLE: Python identification by the French
LEWD: Flew down out of the blue
WIDE: Off-target with headless pelt
WILE: Heard spacecraft
WILD: Profligate! Last testament changed to a penny
SK — 20 July at 08:50PM
Tweak on an earlier lot-
LOTUS: After all, we are in a healthy position
OUTS: Reveals nothing before opening of underwear trade show
SLUT: She can't control her lust!
SOUL: Being one to listen
LOTS: Blocks essential pilot scheme
LOUT: Carbon tax on power in your 'hood?
RV — 20 July at 10:09PM
STALE: least fresh
SATE: east meal
SALT: last treatment
ET AL: placed late
SEAL: make sale
LEST: lets worry
Sam — 21 July at 09:15AM
Tried not to use 'company' in this set, but one snuck through...
COAST: Head off last, after company taxi
STOA: Cloister characters from nastiest oafs
CAST: Pitch about saint
COST: Price paid at salad bar
TACO: Tom turned round for food served at Bill’s?
SACO: New England river current filling well
JD — 21 July at 10:35AM
IDEAL: Apple device for trade is perfect.
DALE: Evil cyborgs finish off down in a valley.
DIAL: Clockface is digital around the edges.
DELI: Wherein you may find silverside, liverwurst etc.
ELIA: 'A Lamb by any other name" makes Shakespearean heroine hop off.
AIDE: Artificial Intelligence of french assistant.
Nib — 21 July at 12:38PM
Whoops, number count and following directions. I couldn't have failed more heartily if I tried! Will ensure to actually read the recipe next time I attempt to bring a side dish to the table. :P
SB — 21 July at 04:08PM
ROUST: When about unskilled labourer
SOUR: Acid is our key ingredient
TOUR: Trip to Iraq for duty or pleasure
OUST: Overthrow desire by moving three places forward
RUST: Trust not iron oxide
SORT: Kind manner
LR — 21 July at 05:01PM
This is my attempt to make a set using only one vowel. Straws were clutched.
CHUBS: Fatty fish?
BUCH: Book written in German?
HSBC: This bank regularly has a buck!
BUSH: President took US into extreme bloodbath!
CUBS: Bear children?
CUSH: Noah's grandson took half the pillows
SB — 21 July at 06:15PM
Final offering
STILE: Julia almost straddles the fence
TILE: Heading not on cover
SITE: Ties knotted in this place
SILT: Muddied waters when material from the other side of track used
LEST: In case Patterson took first
LIES: Statistically speaking there are only three kinds
Boniface — 21 July at 07:27PM
CREAM: Soundly beat the best
MARC: Stuff left in the press!
MERC: Essentially commercial soldier?!
CAME: Showed up... sprays mace
CARE: Give a hoot about twice
REAM: 516 plain pages make this perfect bore
Peta — 22 July at 10:07AM
BRIDE: Second class bus journey for newly-wed.
DIRE: Terrible, terrible ride.
BIDE: Await Vice President pointlessly.
BIRD: Prison time - it flies.
BRED: Raised money for auditor.
BRIE: Cropped fibre processed to make cheese.
Mr X — 22 July at 10:31AM
Slight edit to my overarching clue:
MITRE - Hat with German and UK engineering.