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Cryptic Clues to a Mystery Trivia Quiz

These cryptic clues will lead you to ten words that might be found in a mystery novel, or heard in a police drama on TV.

A multiple-choice quiz by spanishliz. Estimated time: 8 mins.

Author
spanishliz

Time
8 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
108,623

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Very Difficult

Avg Score
4 / 10

Plays
1242

Question 1 of 10

1. Buxom Miss West holds salt symbolically by the hand.

Answer: (One Word - seven letters)

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Question 2 of 10

2. When you pay your tax in England, look out for yew tree poison!

Answer: (One word - six letters)

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Question 3 of 10

3. This excuse sounds like an order to Mr. Baba to acquire stock.

Answer: (One Word - five letters)

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Question 4 of 10

4. Crime committed by a group of crows?

Answer: (One Word - six letters)

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Question 5 of 10

5. Stir gold symbolically to spy the final operation.

Answer: (One Word - seven letters)

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Question 6 of 10

6. Canadian tree holds road's first for Miss Jane's last.

Answer: (One Word - six letters (a name))

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Question 7 of 10

7. Soft-centred bug and or Detective Chief?

Answer: (One Word - nine letters)

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Question 8 of 10

8. Preacher lost his head and committed this crime.

Answer: (One word - five letters)

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Question 9 of 10

9. French fish loses one of a pair for toxic substance.

Answer: (One Word - six letters)

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Question 10 of 10

10. This quiz's theme sounds like unmarried female towelling material.

Answer: (One Word - seven letters)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Buxom Miss West holds salt symbolically by the hand.

Answer: manacle

Buxom Miss West = Mae, the film star of the 'thirties. Salt symbolically (the chemical symbol for salt) = NaCl. Mae holding NaCl = Ma(nacl)e (handcuff, pointed to by the phrase "by the hand").

2. When you pay your tax in England, look out for yew tree poison!

Answer: taxine

The word taxine is hidden in the sentence, indicated by the phrase "look out for". (your TAX IN England) Taxine is a poison obtained from the berries and leaves of the yew tree and was used to murder Rex Fortescue in Agatha Christie's "A Pocketful of Rye". (Definition confirmed in Vol.2 of "The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary".)

3. This excuse sounds like an order to Mr. Baba to acquire stock.

Answer: alibi

In murder mysteries, the culprit always seems to have the best alibi. Mr. Baba = Ali. An order to acquire stock = Buy. Ali + Buy = alibi.

4. Crime committed by a group of crows?

Answer: murder

This is a double definition clue. Murder is both a crime and a collective noun for a group of crows.

5. Stir gold symbolically to spy the final operation.

Answer: autopsy

Gold symbolically = Au. Stir "au" with "to spy" to get "autopsy", which is indeed the final operation. Autopsies figure often in Patricia Cornwell's mysteries featuring Dr. Kay Scarpetta.

6. Canadian tree holds road's first for Miss Jane's last.

Answer: Marple

Canadian tree = Maple. Road's first is the letter "r". Maple holding "r" = Ma(r)ple. Miss Jane Marple is featured in many of Agatha Christie's novels.

7. Soft-centred bug and or Detective Chief?

Answer: inspector

Bug = insect. Soft = P (the musical term). Soft-centred bug = ins(P)ect (and) or = inspector. John Nettles portrays Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby in the British TV series "The Midsomer Murders".

8. Preacher lost his head and committed this crime.

Answer: arson

Preacher = parson, losing his head (p) = arson.

9. French fish loses one of a pair for toxic substance.

Answer: poison

French fish (poisson) loses one of a pair of s's = poisson - s = poison.

10. This quiz's theme sounds like unmarried female towelling material.

Answer: mystery

Unmarried female = miss. Towelling material = terry. Miss terry sounds like "mystery", which is the theme of this quiz!

Credit must go to my little dog, upon whose walks these clues were composed, and to my mother, DollyDaydream (an expert at cryptic crosswords) upon whom the clues were tested for solvability.

Source: Author spanishliz

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

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