Cryptic Clues

[Mithalwen]

Now thiis is one I think I can do ~ French being my specialism. Elanor? A flower with elan and french for gold being or. elan is french too..

[Pervinca Took]

Indeed, and "elan" means dash or vivacity.

Over to you.

[Mithalwen]

Yay! Past few clues suggest I either get things quickly or not at all...hmm try..

Knight met lady atop a flower by the gate!!

[Pervinca Took]

Hmmmm. There aren't all that many named knights in Tolkien's world, and none of them seem to have bits of flower name (or of the word flower) in them.

Hey! "By the gate" wasn't there before!

[Morsul the Dark]

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

Hmmmm. There aren't all that many named knights in Tolkien's world, and none of them seem to have bits of flower name (or of the word flower) in them.

HEY! "By the gate" wasn't there before!

I'm looking ant nams with "sir" in hem other than that stumped....

[Galadriel55]

Well, knowing Mithalwen, a flower never refers to a daisy or dandylion. So trying it the other way...

SIRANNON

Sir=knight
Ann=lady
on=atop
flower by the gate=straight clue.

[Mithalwen]

Perfect explanation Galadriel. I had left off the last bit of the clue but thought after it was too hardwith out it.

[Galadriel55]

Colour foreign lord swallowing cloth in unique specimen

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Colour foreign lord swallowing cloth in unique specimen

Was thinking of words for lord in other languages - but I wonder if "foreign" could mean "mix up" the word lord and if it could begin Dorl (like Dor Lomin).

On the other hand what, apart from "lord," could be the straight clue, I ask myself.

I wonder if "in unique specimen" means take the letters "que" that do end some names like Alcarinque (although that's the name of a star, I think).

Colour - could be shade or hue or an actual colour, or blush, or influence, but none of them seem to fit.

The only even near synonym for swallowing I can think of is gulping! (or engulfing). Unless "cloth" gets swallowed by the other letters in the clue.

Tried "foreign" words for colour, but can't think of a lord with the letters "Farbe" in his name.

[Galadriel55]

It's not as complicated as you make it out. I made this clue follow proper cryptic clue structure. That means, the straight clue is at one of the ends and there may or may not be "directional" words (eg: after, between, etc - words that tell you the order in which the answers to the clues come). And foreign here is just your basic foreign. Outlandish. French. Italian. Japanese. Rwandan. Take your pick.

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

That means, the straight clue is at one of the ends

Colour foreign lord swallowing cloth in unique specimen.

So it's a colour or a specimen. Or a unique specimen. A specimen sounds like a plant, or something that was once living.

SERAGON contains the word "rag," which kind of agrees with "cloth," and it's the only Tolkien name I can think of offhand which takes its name (in a way) from a colour - blood-red/bloodstone. "Unique" could be "one," I suppose - rag + one + s.

That said, I don't think it's right.

[Galadriel55]

You're right - seragon is not the answer.

You are actually very close to the answer. The only thing you're forgetting is the lord. Remember that the order for clues is colour-->lord-->swallowing cloth-->unique specimen. Don't change the order around to make colour do the swallowing. And don't limit yourself to plants.

[Pervinca Took]

ARAGORN means "royal tree," and is close letterwise to a wrong answer you said was close, but I'm pretty certain that's wrong as well.

Nimloth was a unique specimen, I think, and that doesn't fit at all! Well, apart from cloth minus the c being present.

Or to start with Red - the Red Arrow is a uniquish specimen. Nothing even vaguely clothlike about it, though.

[Pervinca Took]

Hang on - LAURELIN?

Laure = gold, el might mean lord, and most of the word "linen" is present? And Laurelin was certainly a unique specimen.

[Galadriel55]

Combine the reasoning you used for Red Arrow and Aragorn/Seragon, find the right lord to eat the cloth, and you'll get the answer.

And, sorry, but Laurelin is not it.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Green Dragon

Green is self-explanatory, then Don swallows a rag and as any fule kno, there's only one Dragon in Bywater and that's green.

[Pervinca Took]

Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you know the answer ....

[Mithalwen]

And yet I am sure I would never have got .

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh

Green Dragon

Green is self-explanatory, then Don swallows a rag and as any fule kno, there's only one Dragon in Bywater and that's green.

Squatter! You're back! And with a dead-on answer!

Mith and Pervinca, that's how I feel lately about most of your Password cryptic clues. They just seem to be too far for me to reach, and then you just tick them off like boxes on a survey...

[Mithalwen]

Well I am stuck now on the password. Which has not been easy so far..with me I either see things or I don't. ?. Unlike Barliman I can't see thtrough a brick wall, given time.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Squatter! You're back! And with a dead-on answer!

Well, you can thank Pervinca for collaring me at Oxonmoot and telling me you were short of players. I didn't expect this enthusiasm, though.

And yet I am sure I would never have got

You don't share my unhealthy preoccupation with public houses.

Absurdly simple, like most riddles when you know the answer

I expect it was probably too simple for a learned lore-master in these suspicious days. I didn't get it at first either.

Anyway, without further ado, here's another clue

Long tale about final destination.

Incidentally, I have a couple of ideas about the password too.

[Pervinca Took]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Squatter! You're back! And with a dead-on answer!

Mith and Pervinca, that's how I feel lately about most of your Password cryptic clues. They just seem to be too far for me to reach, and then you just tick them off like boxes on a survey...

Galadriel, I usually feel the same with your clues - I remember something about a "lady in letters" which had me completely flummoxed. And "unique specimen" for only one dragon was really clever. :impressed:

Reminds me of an Oxonmoot in the early noughties when one group entry for the masquerade was people dressed as all the pub names in LOTR.

Like Mith, I am the Un-Barliman when it comes to cryptic clues (may CS Lewis forgive me for that dreadful pun).

[Galadriel55]

I'm sorry for letting this thread die, but I've just had absolutely no successful ideas. I've tried working forward, backward, taking different parts as the straight clue, but it just doesn't work.

[Mithalwen]

but hasnt Squatter solved it?

[Galadriel55]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

but hasnt Squatter solved it?

I mean I can't solve his clue. He put a new one up a very long time ago.

[Mithalwen]

Which i never noticed..meep my bad.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

So now that you've seen it I expect you have a solution. It really isn't all that difficult.

[Pervinca Took]

I've just noticed that TOL GALEN is an anagram of LONG TALE. Was this anyone's final destination?

Edit: Having looked it up, it's the Green Isle where Beren and Luthien end their mortal days (which of course has another name meaning the Land of the Dead that Live) ... so their final destination within the Circles of the World. I knew the name well, but couldn't remember what it referred to.

I hadn't looked at this clue for ages, but I think when I first tried it I was expecting it to be an elvish name for one of the tales, as when I tried using "final destination" as the straight part of the clue I was thinking of fairly obvious final destinations like Orodruin, Tol Eressea and Erebor, and I couldn't get them by shuffling "long tale" or anything meaning "long tale."

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

That's the place.

[Pervinca Took]

I guess I'd better post another, then:

Exclude also audible success for a flower.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Baranduin is the flower, which we get by building up bar (exclude), and (also) and uin (audible success).

[Pervinca Took]

Indeed it is, and indeed we do. And so over to you again.

By the way, there are a couple of clues left to solve on the latest Password in the other thread.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Yes, the password. I hadn't in any way decided that those clues were too hard. I'll have a look later when I'm feeling less dense.

Here's a quick clue to keep everyone going while I think about it.

Short array possibly in the south east

[Pervinca Took]

Hmmm. Can't find many places in the south-east, in any of the Three Ages.

EDIT: OK - I think I have the answer. BUT.

I was wondering if there was any program online that scrambled words or phrases upon request. There is:

http://anagram-solver.net/

and I found it that way. Therefore I'm not going to give the answer, as I'm not sure it's allowed. Could be very useful for composing cryptic clues, though!

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

You say that as though anagrams are difficult. It might save me a couple of minutes, though. And yes, it is cheating.

[Pervinca Took]

Some are more difficult than others. It depends how hard the straight part of the clue is!

Anyway, I only looked for the site out of curiosity, and at least I was honest about it and said I wasn't going to give the answer. It wouldn't work for most of the cryptic clues I write, actually. They're usually bits of anagram but with directions and things added to them.

[Mithalwen]

Hyarrostar, southeastern peninsular of Numenor. With grey cells only.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Your little grey cells are correct.

[Mithalwen]

So is it me or Pervinca?

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

It's you, you plank. Pervinca didn't give an answer because she got it by underhand means.