single cryptic crossword clue.
Sofa besmirched with urine? Nasty [9]
This was a clue in a recent cryptic puzzle I saw in a newspaper. I reproduce it here as I thought it might be of interest.
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
3
-
$\begingroup$ Late to the game, missed this. But is this valid? I'd accept "Besmirched sofa with urine" but I really don't like the separating of the fodder by the indicator. $\endgroup$– Chris CudmoreAug 1, 2019 at 19:15
-
$\begingroup$ @ChrisCudmore - in fact I disagree here - e.g. ball kicked by foot vs kicked ball with foot - the first phrase means the ball was kicked with a foot and the second implies I kicked the ball with my foot. In this context I think the first sentence in the 'passive voice' is more appropriate because it makes the focus on the foot and the ball $\endgroup$– tomAug 6, 2019 at 23:22
-
2$\begingroup$ The surface reading is irrelevant.. The wordplay phrase is "Sofa Besmirched with Urine". Clearly Besmirched is the anagram indicator. So as written, this means Anagram(SOFA) + URINE (or synonym). Besmirched sofa with urine would mean Anagram(SOFA + URINE) which is how the clue is solved. $\endgroup$– Chris CudmoreAug 7, 2019 at 13:49
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
1
The answer is
NEFARIOUS
because
it's an anagram of SOFA+URINE and means nasty.
answered Jul 4, 2019 at 1:32
-
$\begingroup$ Yes you have it, but, of course, you knew that already :-) plus one and green check markers on the way... $\endgroup$– tomJul 4, 2019 at 1:40