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gegs? (9, 4)

I hope this is a suitable forum for this British crossword clue, as it's my first post and I'm trying something new. This is a cryptic crossword clue, so (9, 4) tells you about the structure of the answer.

Bonus question:

D R U G G E D U P? (6, 3)

Rand al'Thor
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MD-Tech
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  • I remember this from a TV programme (could have been "drop the dead donkey"?) where a character was getting increasingly infuriated at this clue, but refused to let anyone else "help". – Steve Oct 18 '21 at 07:04

2 Answers2

21

gegs? (9, 4)

SCRAMBLED EGGS

The letter of "gegs" are those of the word "eggs" only mixed up (or scrambled). The answer is thus scrambled eggs. The question mark denotes that we are looking for something a little tricky. Normally a cryptic clue would want something like "Messy gegs for breakfast".

D R U G G E D U P? (6, 3)

SPACED OUT

Notice there is a space between every letter. This means the letters are spaced out which is a synonym of being on drugs (or "drugged up").

dennisdeems
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d'alar'cop
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    the gegs one is very old and was originally presented as that. spaced out is also right so will accept when I can. – MD-Tech Nov 24 '14 at 10:26
  • @MD-Tech Yes, nice. Maybe these cryptics should become more popular here. They don't fit anywhere else. Something people get here that they don't normally get using google is an explanation! Would you be inclined to raise this in meta? (I know many prominent members have posted about cryptics in the past) – d'alar'cop Nov 24 '14 at 10:27
  • @MD-Tech Actually never mind that. There is already a question over there which I will bump http://meta.puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/213/on-the-posting-of-cryptic-crossword-clues-as-puzzles – d'alar'cop Nov 24 '14 at 10:30
  • I may well raise it as I'm interested - you may even start to get my crappy clues soon! – MD-Tech Nov 24 '14 at 10:30
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    "Normally a cryptic clue would want something like 'gegs for breakfast'." Depending on the newspaper, that might still need a question mark. In The Times, for example, the convention is that a clue should contain both a definition and some wordplay leading you to the answer. "Gegs for breakfast" arguably contains neither so you'd still expect a question mark. Other newspapers use different conventions. (Actually, in The Times, I'd probably expect the clue to be written "Gegs! (9,4)", with the exclamation mark denoting that the clue should be interpreted "literally" in some sense.) – David Richerby Nov 24 '14 at 15:43
  • @DavidRicherby Yes, thanks for the useful commentary. I made a small edit which may improve it slightly – d'alar'cop Nov 24 '14 at 15:44
-4

gegs = scrambled eggs

Note: Google is your friend

As for drugged up, I think I've actually done this one in the past (in the Guardian). Answer was:

drugged up = zonked out

tom
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Andrew Martin
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