times 24496

[bluemanx3]

1a assist fools in novel all about islander 4,6
12a do bards theatre possibly 5,3,6

[tyrepill]

12a Tread the boards

[cupid04]

12a] tread the boards?

[kayakamina]

West Indian....New nits aid

[bluemanx3]

ty tyrepill, cupid04, kayakamina!
(nits always gets me!)

[bamberger]

So you have realise that assist =aid , fools = nits , novel =new then make an anagram of all that? Good grief! Isn't there an easier way? What if you start off by thinking assist =help , fools= *** and novel =n?

[bamberger]

Apparently a ss es are censored

[bibblebub]

assist = AID
fools = NITS

put those two in the middle of: novel = NEW

to get: N aid nits EW

and reverse that (i.e. all about) to get: WE stin dia N

[bibblebub]

i.e. no anagrams required to solve the clue

[Zabadak]

bamberger. Interestingly, censorship catches your word, but not arses. Evidence of a US monitoring lexicon?

[bamberger]

Bibblebub -thanks -terrific explanation -but i wonder how many would get that out without checking letters? Or is a clue that comes round every few months?

[bibblebub]

bamberger, I would suggest that the most intuitive way of solving a cryptic clue is to think of a synonym for the definition (the number of letters and words gives a strong indication) and see if you can get the subsidiary part of the clue to fit it - and so whilst checking letters are useful ,they are not necessary.

At least that usually seems to be how my mind works if I analyse just how I solved a clue.

And no, I'm not aware of that being a regular clue; that's the first time I've seen that particular one (as far as I can remember)