thesa_bronto_saurus [comrade/them]

but doctor, I am Pagliacci the veil

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Joined 26 天前
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Cake day: 2025年9月26日

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  • Something about it clicked for me despite getting stuck on simpler clues! By the way, I’m having a fun time trying to solve full cryptic crosswords now. Do you think you could help me understand a particular clue I filled in but don’t quite get? The clue is:

    Broaden identity in three directions (5)

    With the letters filled in from nearby clues I got the answer “widen” and know “broaden” is the definition part of the clue. I gather that the wordplay comes from the start of identity somehow but can’t quite figure out how it works.





  • For me it was turning myself into a captive audience for my books. Being stuck somewhere on a regular basis for hours and knowing that my phone battery and data plan were not going to last very long. I don’t have that commitment anymore, but I still do the most reading when I go out to a park away from my computer and chargers and my phone will be difficult to see and overheating in the sun, or when I’m in bed and avoiding screen light.

    Also, I discovered how much I love ebooks (as long as I keep wifi off to avoid rabbit holes). I forgot how annoying it was trying to get comfortable and hold the book open without cracking the spine, plus it is nice to make notes without concern for margin size and resize text for my bad eyes and have countless options carried with me if I feel like switching. Smoothing over all the friction and little things that made reading more of a hassle helped. A pile of little “oh but if I do this I have to also deal with that” misgivings are what commonly keep me from forming better habits.

    I think my biggest problem is that now reading relaxes me enough that I sometimes fall asleep midday.




  • I definitely would not have gotten this one anytime soon without being led almost right up to it.

    The “in the AM” part, sure, but certainly not the step involving whisky (maybe whiskey would’ve tipped me off though). The substitution, subtraction, and insertion is interesting though; feels like working through a math formula and then checking if your work equals “little bit”.

    Also, I went to look at the video comments and noticed the original version of the clue.

    Am I correct in assuming...

    That “vocal” is the part meant to indicate finding the homophone for “too”?