Minute cryptic

piece of piss today

Yes - even I got it with a hint.

Ha, it’s like a “my first cryptic”

Even par. Fuxxake

1 over.

Really? I mean really.

Even par.

I liked the clue being tough but I don't like the final word play instruction.

At, all.

Got 2 under straight away, oddly enough. I still don't get how it relates to the supposed definition.

1 under but didn’t understand the clue

It's a bit of an ugly clue, but pretty straightforward. Won't spoil now, but can step through it this pm sometime.

Today’s was a crap clue, right? Give this cryptic clue noob some hope!

SPOILERS:

So, the clue is: Misses trolls occasionally after Instagram rejection (5)

The definition you are looking for is 'Misses'.

Starting at the end - 'after Instagram rejection'.

'after' indicates the first part of the answer is 'Instagram rejection'. Instagram is known as IG, the 'rejection' means you put it backwards as 'GI'. That's the start of your word.

The rest of the word comes from 'trolls occasionally'. In this case, 'occasionally' means you only need occasional letters from 'trolls'. (this is a pretty common trick, and the letters will always alternate). So, the letters you need are _R_L_S.

You add the RLS to your GI for GIRLS.

Why does that meet the definition of 'Misses'? It's a synonym for females.

It's tricky because there's a bit of wordplay (the 'misses' definition, which is the only bit I like about the clue) and you need to know a couple of typical crossword tricks. But they're relatively commonplace, so an easy clue - once you know what you're doing.

Given that it has been spoiled, I can jump in.

How do we feel about "rejection" as a reversal indicator?

I don't think it works.

I'm with you.

I also didn't know that Instagram was knows as IG!

I did get the rls bit.

Reflection would work better than rejection, imo.

It's fairly common, and discussed here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/crosswords/comments/1c9i1l2/why_does_rejected_mean_reversed/

Someone makes the worthwhile point about how many words we'll accept to indicate an anagram...

Completely thrown by the rejected and the definition.

I find these things so difficult. Hats off to those who get them.

It has been confirmed on today's youtube explainer that he aims to make the Friday clues harder, so at least that mystery is solved for us all.

For what it's worth, I got it by assuming trolls was either rls or tol, and that they were the last 3 letters. When I thought there was probably an i in there too, I made a guess. I have struggled much more on the par 2s.

Well that was a bit easier!

fairly common, and discussed here:

Fair enough, I am convinced.

In which case, yesterday's was a great clue.

Friday fun time.

2 under

1 over.

Hurrumph

Like that’s just your opinion man.

Two under today.