Minute cryptic

I went off on a tangent with the spin thing first but then got it. Think looking at that website yesterday helped. I've been treating these as word finds but really should think about the whole clue more.

They really do love those beginning/ending letters clues, don’t they?

Continuing to work through the backlog here

https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/series/quick-cryptic

I'm getting about 90% right now

3rd or 4th time coming back to it today and actually engaging brain made all the difference.

1 under this morning. Took the hint, but really shouldn't have

Same. Took hint and guessed for 1 under

Couldn’t type quick enough on this one

Yeah got this pretty quickly, although was one of those where I figured the definition, got part of the clue, guessed right and then figured out the rest afterwards.

Took a while but 2 under. Would have been quicker if I’d actually spelled out my first thought!

Thought i hit took hint, actually hit letter (TWAT), answer was jumping out in my head.
Brains are funny things.

2 under.

Took the hint, but again shouldn't have done as I was already on the right track and had the first element already.

I’ve stupidly only just realised you can click on any letter and fill it in. Was helpful today

3 under today. V straightforward.

3 over. Could not get it at all

2 over

Goat is in toboggan

A cryptic crossword clue reads ""long time in unopened prison" - the answer is "age". Why?

ChatGPT said:

The cryptic crossword clue "long time in unopened prison" leads to the answer "age" through wordplay.

Definition (the straightforward part of the clue): "long time" — this suggests that the answer is a word meaning "a long time." The word "age" fits this definition, as it refers to a long period of time.

Wordplay (the more cryptic part): "in unopened prison" — here, "unopened" suggests removing the first letter of the word "prison." The word "prison" starts with "P," so "unopened prison" becomes "rison."

Now, the word "age" is hidden inside the phrase "in rison" ("in" + "rison"). This suggests that "age" is "in" the remaining letters of the word "prison" after removing the first letter.

Thus, "age" is both the definition ("long time") and hidden within the wordplay ("in unopened prison").

I mean, it's obvious , really.

(Guardian Quick cryptic crossword No 21, 23 across, 3 letters)

I mean, it gets so close to being right...

I got that by having the A and E already.

But I think chat gpt is wrong. A prison is a cage. Take the first letter away (unopened - here it is right) and you get the answer

In its defence, I've only just worked out what it should have been.

^ what kl said

I think chat gpt is wrong

I think that's the point.

today: took a hint, meh.

1 under this morning. Had to think about it for a while and come back to it, but no hint or letters taken.

4 over. I think I'm done with it.

1 under. Prevaricated for a bit over which bit was the definition, but having tried the one option I moved over to the other and got it almost straight away.