Another Cryptic Acrostic from Minch Quiz

Answer: reminisced

The cryptic indicator 'unusual' tells you the answer may be an anagram. Since the hint says there are ten letters and the first one is R, CRIME has to be part of it. To get another five letters, we can use END IS, and rearrange them to get reminisced. The straight definition part of the clue, 'Thought about past', is indeed a definition of reminisced. With both the cryptic clue and the definition fitting, that works as the answer.

Because this is an acrostic puzzle, we now know the first letter for each of the other answers. This is not necessary to solve the clues, but it can be helpful!

Answer: eels

The words 'bit off top part' suggests that we need to find one word whose first one or two letters can be removed to provide the second word, with both of them being defined by parts of the question. The elongated fish makes an eel spring to mind; that is only three letters, but the plural would have four. Next we need to confirm the guess by finding a fishing rod component that ends in eels; reels, devices to hold fishing line in storage that are attached to fishing rods would work, as removing the first letter gives us EELS.

While it doesn't quite fit the definition given for the longer word, a creel is a basket used to store fish after they have been caught, so it sort of fits the theme. Removing its first two letters also gives the same answer for our fish.

As expected (assuming we already know the answer to the first question), the answer starts with the letter E.

Answer: main

The words 'we hear' indicate a homophone clue: there are two words being defined which sound the same, whose two different definitions are provided. As an extra clue, assuming we already worked out the answer to the first question, the starting letter will be M.

The word chief can be a synonym for main - the chief point to be demonstrated in a debate, for example, is the main point of contention. There is an American state called Maine (and, if you started by reciting the names of all 50 states going from west to east, it would take you quite a while to realise that none of the others have names which sound like anything resembling a synonym of one of the meanings of chief). Since the hint says there are four letters, the homophone we need is MAIN. Even without knowing the number of letters, cryptic convention has the 'we hear' in a well-constructed clue adjacent to the homophone you do *not* want, again leading to main rather than Maine.

Answer: icecap

The word Romans suggests the use of Roman numerals, so we can start by considering the number 99. Written in Roman numerals, this is XCIX (XC = 100-10 or 90; IX = 10-1, or 9), which is not all that useful. But the clue does say pseudo-Roman, so maybe we can use letters that would give 99 but don't follow the proper rules for constructing Roman numerals. For example, 99 could be thought of as 100-1, which would (sort of) be IC. That is more promising, especially if we have already answered the first question, and know that the first letter of this answer is I.

The word 'around' could mean we need to arrange another word of four letters inside the I and the C, and that word is defined by pace, or place the I and the C inside that word. The four-letter word might be step, as a pace is another word for a step. This means we need to consider: sictep, sticep, steicp, istepc - none of these looks encouraging, and there is no link to Greenland's glaciers, which ought to be connected to the final word. Rather than trying for other 4-letter synonyms of pace, perhaps another approach will work.

'Around' can also be an anagram indicator, so maybe we need to combine IC with PACE, and rearrange the letters to give something related to Greenland's glaciers. Indeed, ICECAP works.

Answer: Nepal

The word 'crashes' is another anagram indicator, suggesting we need to rearrange the letters of the word PLANE to produce the name of a country. NEPAL it is! This might be even easier to solve if the first question has been answered, meaning that we know the first letter of the answer is N.

Answer: image

The cryptic clue here is the word 'hides', which tells you to look for a hidden word spelled out in the rest of the clue, and also defined somewhere in it. If you already have the answer to the first question, you know that the word starts with I, which makes this much easier: ictim and image are the two 5-letter groups in the question that start with I, and only one of them is a word. Since an icon can be the image of a religious figure, it works as the answer to this question.

Answer: sash

It really helps at this stage if you already know the answer to the first question, so can identify the starting letter of your answer as S. That immediately links to the curves in the clue, being a curvy letter. The words 'in front of' suggest that the letter S is followed by the name of a tree. Since the hint says the answer has four letters, the tree name must have three letters, and the word formed when S is placed at the start should give a word meaning a decorative band. Selm isn't a word, neither is sfir, soak doesn't have the right meaning, SASH works.

Answer: constable

With no obvious cryptic indicators, the question is probably a double definition, with two homophones being defined by different parts of the question. Again, this is made easier if you already know that the answer starts with C. Words for an English policeman include the slang term copper (not enough letters, according to the hint), and the more official word constable for the lowest rank of police officer. Since John Constable (1776-1837) is a renowned English landscape painter, the word CONSTABLE fits both clues.

Answer: elements

The phrase 'are destroyed' is a common anagram indicator, so we need to find eight letters that can be rearranged to make a word defined by another part of the clue. Locating them is simplified by realising that the answer will start with E (as established in the first question of the quiz), so the letters to be used in the anagram are clearly STEEL MEN. Rearranging, we get ELEMENTS, which can be described as basic principles - as in 'The Elements of Style', often considered an authoritative guide to good American English writing, written by William Strunk Jr in 1918 and revised by EB White in 1959.

Answer: driver

The word 'finally' suggests the use of the last letter of one of the two adjacent words, which would be B from club, or D from found. Even if the answer to the first question has not yet been worked out, it is extremely unlikely that it is a ten-letter word ending in B, so D is the more likely letter to consider first.

The word 'by' suggests that another word will follow our first letter; it needs to have five letters, and be a synonym of stream. While a stream is usually significantly smaller than a river, they are both bodies of water that flow from a source to a mouth, and DRIVER is a word. It is also a kind of golf club, so it fits with the definition that starts the clue.