Another cute cryptic clue

[cjsmith]

Could be a nightmare, when tot swallows drug (5)

I admit it. I laughed.

Courtesy of Hectence, setting for the Guardian.

Comments

[batrachian]

This is mostly serving as more confirmation that I continue to be ludicrously terrible at crosswords. :)

(Not even an inkling of a clue, here.)

[cjsmith]

Well, this is a “cryptic crossword” clue, which is of a different form than what we mostly see in the States. Cryptic crossword clues are canonically in two parts. There is a definition and wordplay. (Of course there are exceptions. Aren’t there always? But this isn’t one of them.)

Spoilers:

In this case “could be a nightmare” serves as the definition. “When tot swallows drug” is the word play - if you remember that in Britain a tot can be a bit of a drink, such as DRAM, and the drug Ecstasy can be abbreviated E. DRAM swallows E for the answer, DREAM.

That explanation was probably clear as mud. I have only recently started learning cryptic crosswords and I enthusiastically suck at them. For a decent explanation, find a true aficionado. :)

[batrachian]

Clear enough, and I've seen the style of clue before.

Just the exact details, and for all that I have a substantial vocabulary, my brain seems more suited to spatial/kinesthetic puzzles than wordplay.

[hitchhiker]

love it :)

[cjsmith]

Yay!

[cjsmith]

Gotcha. I do spatial/kinesthetic puzzles too, and basically I suck at them all. :)