Minute Cryptic Clue

[@jamesreynolds5903]

Hands up who tried to 'skin' the word occasionally...

[@janenilsen7677]

🤚

[@user-fc7fj2ep9e]

Me🥲

[@198khz2]

👋🙄

[@edl.239]

✋🤓

[@benjaminpress3346]

🖐️

[@geronimolahood3774]

Brutal! I was stuck on trying to ‘skin’ the word occasionally…

[@g1ngermark]

Me too

[@198khz2]

Yep 🙄

[@kevinbparry]

I guess today was the day I learned of the existence of &lit and why a question mark notates it

[@Alex_Meadows]

For the avoidance of doubt: the question mark is commonly employed to indicate that there's something unusual going on. It could be an &lit, but it doesn't have to be.

[@TerryBrennan-d8m]

The exclamation point indicates &Lit

[@biobak]

Didn't even realize it was an &lit clue, I got the extra E from fifth as in "fifth letter of the alphabet" and was left wondering how a knee is a grader

[@ParlanceOpus]

Same!

[@ashleycrompton9502]

Me too

[@jones-work]

Same!

[@Rochey93]

So good hahaha

[@arm_613]

I just put in the answer based on the clue, as if it were a regular clue. And it worked! I then popper over here to find out how the cryptic clue worked. 😬

[@tameshewolf]

Saaaaame. 😂😅

[@guesswes]

Same lmao i was so surpries my guess actually worked

[@rayscotchcoulton]

I feel like &lit are almost a challenge not for solvers but setters, because as long as you know that it's an &lit clue, the answer should be as easy as solving a non-cryptic crossword clue... and yet, they're maybe the hardest kind of clue to write, ironically.

[@EmDX19]

So stoked I recognized what type of clue this was. I think I'm improving with cryptic crosswords by doing these every day.

[@stacyphillips7150]

Got it in seconds based on the clue as a whole, had no idea what the cryptic solution was though! 😂

[@Laura-qg4iz]

Got knee very quickly but came here to understand why - I never read the clue as a whole, now makes perfect sense!

[@blakesaiyan]

I thought &lit clues just had an exclamation mark, so the additional question mark threw me.

[@Geisla54]

Such a good feeling when your mind clicks into cryptic-clue-mode - I first guessed ‘frog’ then ‘k-n-e-‘ stood out to me from ‘skinned’ and I got it in 2 😊

[@garmology]

We say grazed knee in NZ instead of skinned but still got to through the word play. Took a while to realise the "fifth"

[@karlhornell922]

It took a while to figure out that this was an &lit, but then things quickly fell into place.

[@aprilmunday1152]

I had knee immediately, but only because that's what I would consider an 'ordinary' crossword clue.

[@lindarehill4965]

I was going around in circles, getting bits of the word but not quite there. Eventually got the definition hint and it all made sense. Nice to know the !? can be an &lit indicator.

[@judithstein2137]

My niece and I worked this 50 ways from Sunday cos pretty much every word could be wordplay indicator or fodder. Eventually I figured that it’s most likely an &lit clue. Once I figured that out I got the answer pretty quickly based on the entirety of the clue and then worked out the wordplay afterwards.

[@derfunkhaus]

I recognized "occasionally" for the instruction to take letters at intervals but I misconstrued the clue to mean taking every 5th letter. However once I used the hint to learn the definition word (or phrase in this case) the solution was obvious.

[@irishwatchenthusiast6647]

This one did me - once I had taken the hint, the answer became apparent immediately - d'oh!

[@nicholas__richard]

This one was brutal and I got it in one, and damn quickly, but I've struggled on "easier" ones. I wish my brain had some consistency 🤦‍♂️

[@noahbeiter]

Got it via wordplay alone, fun clue!

[@samcrossland5325]

DAMN THAT FELT GOOD TO GET

[@martinb60]

That's the smuggest you've ever said that last line 😂 as if you're particularly proud of the reveal

[@Dr.Death8520]

Skinned and grazed are synonyms in this context (and I'm speaking as UK). Was stuck first thing this morning, but coming back to it more awake I quickly got the definition and finally worked out which word was the fodder

[@tomoneill91]

He really enjoyed explaining that

[@aarondobbe8400]

This clue was wonderful, great setting

[@piguyn]

Beautiful clue, spotted the &lit potential straight away and solved without too much trouble. Was stuck trying to skin occasionally, getting oy, but quickly saw it the other way around. 2 under!

[@thorneto2742]

Not me trying to think of what animal a 5th grader would be skinning in science class

[@willmcconnellsimpson1411]

Spotted the &lit and got knee from the surface reading, then reverse engineered the cryptic clue. Pleasing!

[@smartgirl9087]

Got Knee just by reading the definition hint, but the explanation makes sense too

[@trinity6302]

This one somehow had an internal logic that clicked with me immediately, other seemingly "simpler" minute cryptics sometimes don't. It's crazy how subjective the difficulty can be in this game.

[@anirudh_iyer]

Lovely clue! Super satisfying solve

[@mary-roseTatham]

Love this challenge

[@gunnersfan111]

I was trying to decide whether to use occasional letters of skinned or the 5th letter of grader. Doesn't help I also had the occasional letters as SIND...

[@Xwsheep07]

Accidentally got it in one 😅

[@teamcyeborg]

This one was tricky! I do like the way of marking it as &lit, though I didn't get that part without taking the hint.

[@prof1112]

Got fixated on skinned being the wordplay.

[@IkaayEbi]

Such a good clue - can’t imagine &lit. are easy to write and this is a great one. Got knew straight away after switching tactics - thought skimmed might be a removal indicator for outer letters of something. (Or “occasionally skinned” remove every other letter?)

[@IkaayEbi]

*knee

[@fredericfaulkner9116]

Bravo!

[@nsomandin5342]

Damn thats a fantastic clue, I though it had something to do with taking the 5th letter or something so yeah though times again

[@shivangigarg4056]

Had to take a hint but solved it one under par. The question mark ones are always a gamble lol. Sometimes you get them very easily and other times completely stuck.

[@rosswaring2835]

I guessed knee almost straight away as the wounded body part, but didn’t get that it was a &Lit despite also getting the ‘e’ in grader. 🤷‍♂️ I’ll keep trying.

[@DesandSam]

Well played, sir.

[@TheNashBurger]

I recognised it was an &lit clue!... I did forget what an &lit clue was though....

[@thecayzers]

😂

[@Riccc23]

Got stuck on OCCASIONALLY SKINNED for a very long time and couldn't really get around thinking why a fifth grader would need to skin anything. Eventually it just clicked and guessed the answer without even knowing why 😅😅😅

[@michaelkhng6956]

Very nice construction - but have to say I groaned when I finally solved it.

[@eamonn_s1180]

More andlit clues please! Recognised the final “e” but that was it. @minutecryptic

[@MrATDownes]

In the UK you skin a rabbit not a knee, and we don’t have fifth graders. A tough clue for us in the UK, I’m afraid.

[@thecayzers]

Yes but it's common enough parlance (I'm from UK too). That said I thought that fifth grader would just be e and not part of the definition. I also thought skinned was wordplay, and failing that would refer to photos (something else a fifth grader would skin!)

[@rayscotchcoulton]

I find &lit clues interesting, in that if you know it's an &lit clue, and you just take the clue at face value, it's almost easier to get than other cryptic clues, since you have to suss out what the definition is. (When I saw the ?! at the end, and saw the answer was 4 letters, I got it pretty quickly, and back-solved to verify). But paradoxically, they're also the hardest to write!

[@beloved6969]

Here's a fun one with a couple interpretations leading to the same answer: I say nothing (3)

[@JamieThelin]

︎

[@sapphiresuicune6787]

I got "kneb" because i just put "skinned by" and then I gave up

[@beneve4034]

I thought a fifth grader was a 16 year old so i was miles out (uk)

[@ukslim]

Pretty much the same here. I didn't think it was 6th form, but I didn't know how old a 5th grader would be. Should have looked it up I guess. (It's the equivalent of Year 6 in the UK - 10 or 11. Are they still skinning their knees at that age?)

[@gagootzman]

Skinned is for fur, no? It’s “grazed” for knees and elbows

[@Mqrius]

Nah, "skinned knee" is also commonly used, as well as "scraped". Might be regional variation.

[@willmcconnellsimpson1411]

Grazed is more common (in UK, at least) but a skinned knee is also used sometimes.

[@pizzapuntthomas]

Nice clue today!

[@kurczak7208]

Would you consider adding description of these special types of clues to the how to play/how to solve section of the page? I recognized by the "!?" it's one of them, but I still can't remember which is which, and how they work, so such reference would be really nice 😅

[@vitowidjojo7038]

Boy, love me some more &lit clue!

[@ParlanceOpus]

Got the 'e' by being the 'fifth' letter of the alphabet. Then was confused how 'grader' could mean 'knee'.

[@corvusmonedulas4895]

i was trying to occasionally skin the 5th letter or place an E there... E is also the fifth letter of "grader" Through various attempts I got close to spelling knee and found the answer but couldn't find a way it fit

[@prowsey99]

&lit clues always do me in. I knew there was wordplay and tried a number of ways to find the letters. Got it with a letter

[@goofynun4938]

I got the is one only after using the hint and learning what an &lit is. I was on the right track with occasionally skinned and picking up kne after which I used V for ‘fifth’ tried all permutations of these letters none worked so eventually used the hint.

[@OverAndOver1888]

I got this quite quickly, but thought fifth referred to the fifth letter of the alphabet and had no idea what grader had to do with things. Completely missed the &lit definition.

[@jordanrstern]

How does 'occasionally' mean every other!? Could mean any random assortment of letters...

[@blakesaiyan]

I've seen it mean every 3rd letter too in other crosswords. Just have to test out some options.

[@markwiltshire485]

I didn’t get this one at all. In the UK we don’t use ‘skinned’ in this sense. We’d say ‘grazed.’

[@sheeldz]

We use "skinned" in Glasgow.

[@markwiltshire485]

@ we don’t in London

[@ConnieSimpson-r4v]

I’m from London and have heard that useage. Fifth grader was the part I got stuck on trying to work out if Theo was an English equivalent.

[@markwiltshire485]

@@ConnieSimpson-r4v not one that I’ve ever heard/used

[@thecayzers]

Been trying to convert my wife to cryptics. After I struggled with this one she finally relented and had a look. She solved it instantly once I explained what &lit is. (Yes, we did need the hint!)

[@toenailclippings]

Did it!!

[@bosu6300]

me when knee surgery

[@ianpilkington169]

Not knowing what an and lit clue is, kind of made this impossible😂. I went for skinned by 5th to take the 5th letter of each word. But then definition we either occasionally or grader

[@bobmoore8923]

missed the &lit hint :/ Ended up with the answer but until I saw the explanation, I had no idea why! 🙄

[@DoreenTaylor-fi7iy]

I think the video is wrong because a fifth grader is: a b c d E. Not the 5th letter of grader.

[@AfroZen]

Got it first go but had to watch vid to see where the second E came from 😅...

[@m-a-r-c-1]

Crazy

[@BZ-bo8dp]

I thought SIFT, which can mean to grade. Skinned by fIFTh.

[@42nuala]

Well that didn’t go well for me

[@nevilleenglish]

Doesn't help not knowing what a fifth grader is. Something to do with sifting or sorting?

[@MinuteCryptic]

Things like this are always hard to tell quite how universal they are. A fifth grader is someone who is in grade 5 (or year 5) at school. They’re about 10-11 years old. Hope that helps!

[@blondeandconfused]

I don't understand what &lit is and how it was identified

[@TerryBrennan-d8m]

! Indicates &lit. An &lit clue means the entire thing is the definition and the entire thing is the wordplay.

[@blondeandconfused]

@@TerryBrennan-d8m Thank you!

[@rosemarychester7470]

I took the fifth letter of the alphabet to get the second E 🤣

[@charlietighe]

My mind went to acne

[@al201103]

Hmmm...

[@AndertoonAndertoon]

Also fifth letter of alphabet

[@scottbailey4335]

-1. Needed hint.

[@swinnersorigina]

What is a fifth grader?

[@swinnersorigina]

why does a fifth grader get grazed knees?

[@Mqrius]

Cos they fell over on the playground

[@reverendwolf2358]

What’s a fifth grader

[@saminamanat]

skinned being fodder is abysmal work

[@clintonevans2003]

I’d not get this if I worked on it till next Christmas 😖 0/10. Good run ended

[@drumsarenotnoise7774]

Sharing your pain...

[@Maths4Morons]

Didn’t like this one today. Been on a roll recently but this one was just annoying imo!

[@paulinabitar5615]

Lame, not in the spirit of minute cryptic

[@JohnAdams-mk8eo]

Groan

[@Jack-ik9vy]

What a load of shit

[@franhall733]

Terrible

[@KenRayner]

Hmmm.