Countries of Europe from these cryptic clues Quiz by parklife

Can you pick the countries of Europe from these cryptic clues?

created by parklife

Click the matching answer button below
Correctly selected answers will show up in green
This is the clickable version of a game I created 12 months ago. Follow the cryptic clues (UK crossword style) to identify each of the 47 European countries
Source: Solutions
Also try: Cryptic Countries - Oceania (Clickable)
This quiz has not been verified by Sporcle

Popular trivia games today

Color Sequence Memory Game

17035

Tea Producing Countries

8777

True or False Logic Quiz

4348

Word Ladder: Island Countries

4136

Missing Word: World Movies

2643

3x3 Word Blitz

2600

'A' Baby Names (2009)

2482

Country Trivia Logic Puzzle

2239

And more...

Questions Remaining

Correct

Wrong

20:00

← Prev Next →

PLAY GAME

Javascript is not currently enabled on your browser.
If you do have Javascript enabled:
This site uses javascript to make the magic happen.
Please turn on javascript and reload this page, or use a more current browser (like Firefox)

You might also like these games:
European Borders	6-Letter Capitals (Europe)	Borders of Germany (1871-)

There are 53 comments for this game.
(Warning: comments may contain spoilers)

Cryptic Countries - Europe (Clickable) Quiz

by parklife

Created Oct 22, 2012 in Geography
Game Plays 2,808

Friend Scores and Standings

Loading friend results....

Top Games Today in Geography

Top Games with Similar Tags

Top User Games in Geography

	parklife:	Oct 23rd, 2012 at 14:24 GMT		4 points
	Is it too much to ask for comments from people who are rating? I know its not the done thing to nag on this topic - or indeed to expect that you can only rate if you comment. However, this is the 8th of these I've done, and in an effort to improve them, I need more than just idiotic 1-globe ratings from people who don't do crosswords, so assume that if they can't answer a clue, it must be my fault. Alternatively, if there is something wrong with the clue format, tell me and I'll change it.

	thecheshirecat:	Oct 23rd, 2012 at 18:45 GMT		2 points
	Well, I can't fault you. I didn't get 'em all, but once I checked the answers, I could see the reasons why. Good quiz.

	Stersh:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 17:55 GMT		31 points
	Parklife, could you give an example of a correct answer to help some of us get started?

	foolishchild:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 18:24 GMT		1 point
	Cryptic crosswords have never been my forte, to put it mildly, so I was pretty happy with my result, I got seven and had just figured out the Lithuania clue as the clock ran out. Really enjoyable, and like thecheshirecat I can see why I didn't get all of them right by looking at the answers.

	mrsmith:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 18:38 GMT		1 point
	Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Best quiz I've played on here for a long time. Thank you for the effort that went into this and please keep making them!

	RobPro:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 18:40 GMT		1 point
	I picked this today because it looks fun. I also am rubbish at cryptic clues too, but this might be the practise I need to get my head around them. There is a website here that might help understand what these things are about: http://solving-cryptics.com/

	BrainyBroad:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 19:08 GMT		2 points
	Too bad this "geography" quiz has absolutely nothing to do with geography.

	Q_Pheevr:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 19:47 GMT		4 points
	I thought this was a lot of fun, although I could have used more time—I was still pondering some of them when the clock ran out. If you'll pardon a bit of nit-picking, a mule is not a donkey, and the clue for Cyprus also sort of fits Russia (although not as well, because it would have to be interpreted as having an extraneous word). The only one that I still don't understand even after seeing the answers is Malta.

	michgrad04:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 20:01 GMT		17 points
	Might I suggest an explanation of what a cryptic is, for those who don't understand or haven't done them before. Perhaps that will help with your negative ratings

	Squiffy:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 20:22 GMT		2 points
	Chapeau! Chapeau! Toughest quiz I've come across for ages. I'm not used to doing cryptics against a clock - opnly got 20 in the alotted time. The satisfaction I felt getting any answer right was counterbalanced by the kicking I gave myself for not getting certain ones when I saw the answers. There are still several I don't understand though (including Malta).

	rockgolf:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 20:44 GMT		13 points
	Okay, here an example of one I didn't get, but makes sense when I see the solution: Lab experiments lead to headless excitement. The thing to remember about cryptics is every word counts, but not in the way you might expect. In this case the answer is in 3 parts: 1) Lab experiments 2) lead to 3) headless excitement. The verb "experiments" is a hint of an anagram. Anagram hints can be words like crazy, scrambled, mix-up, confused, disordered -- something to indicate rearrangement. In this case, the word "LAB" is to be mixed up. "Leads to" is a direction that the first part of the clue actually goes first. The clue could also have been "Headless excitement follows lab experiments." "Headless excitement" is the third part. "Headless" implies taking the top (usually the first letter) off a synonym for the rest of the clue. "excitement". So in this case the answer is (LAB anagram)+("excitement" with first letter removed) = ALB + m(ANIA) = Albania.

	sproutcm:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 21:11 GMT		5 points
	Yeah, I agree this is actually a Language/Puzzle quiz and not geography at all. I made a few of these for US Capitals and States, and the nice thing is that if you make this not a clickable puzzle, like the example below, you can explain how the cryptic clues work: http://www.sporcle.com/games/sproutcm/trojans_home_confused_spatial

	Fusty:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 21:26 GMT		2 points
	I'm awful at cryptic puzzles. I managed to get 3. One from randomly guessing (Moldova I think), Ireland (the mad nation clue was simple) and somehow the Albania one. I almost instantly thought of alb when seeing lab, so guessed albania.

	azul:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 22:00 GMT		3 points
	this was interesting. only got 1 though, i just didnt get the clues

	tstenz:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 22:52 GMT		17 points
	I enjoyed this a lot, but your comment irks me a little bit. The reason people are giving you one globe is probably because there is absolutely no explanation to go along with an uncommon quiz format. I had never even heard of a cryptic crossword until I came here, and even after looking it up, I didn't quite get it until I read rockgolf's comment. And yeah, more time would be great.

	GATEcrasher:	Jan 6th, 2013 at 23:59 GMT		2 points
	I'm not really familiar with these things (other than from Karl Pilkington), but I really wasn't/am not getting the connections after looking at the answers. Maybe it's an experience thing, but I got 5, and I feel like I was lucky to even get that. Maybe this one was a little forced compared to a normal cryptic quiz.

	PurppuraSuihku:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 00:29 GMT		-1 points
	Nice touch not to add any explanation whatsoever as to what a cryptic crossword is. I kind of expected instructions. Thus, one star.

	AlwaysPuzzled:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 02:00 GMT		5 points
	Yes I agree that adding explanations about what a cryptic crossword is would be helpful. I wasted about a third of my time trying to figure out what on earth I was supposed to do. Reviewing the clues afterward, though, I felt you did a good job coming up with the clues. (Though I still don't understand the Malta clue.)

	brichards719:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 02:14 GMT		1 point
	i got 2. one by guessing, and got romania legitimately.

	iglew:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 02:46 GMT		4 points
	It's too bad you can't do a timer longer than 20 minutes. I was making pretty good progress solving the clues, but with 33 solved my timer ran out. I would have enjoyed another 10 minutes to try to solve the remaining 14. Given that my score still put me in the 94th percentile, I'd say that probably means 20 minutes isn't enough time for 47 cryptic clues. Since you can't make the timer longer than 20:00, another possibility would be to split the quiz into two separate quizzes with 20-25 clues in each

	iglew:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 02:57 GMT		3 points
	A good guide to cryptic crossword clues is at http://solving-cryptics.com/. It would be impractical to provide a thorough discussion on a Sporcle page, but perhaps the instructions could link to a page like this.

	parklife:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 15:32 GMT		-2 points
	I should leave well alone I know, but I'm weak. My reaction is not unreasonable. This quiz is ONLY A REBOOT of the typed versions I made for all 6 continents last year, which contain SEVERAL full explanations of the sort of things I'm looking for in cryptic crosswords. In those, I give a detailed cryptic breakdown as a bonus answer for each one of the 196 clues (a la rockgolf's excellent ALBANIA explanation about). I have published several negative comments about other people's quizzes, but NEVER before first checking the back-catalogue of the publisher to see whether they are usually bad sporclers, or whether I've missed something in the format. Anyone who did this with my profile would have come across the original Europe quiz, with its full explanation. I only ranted in comment #1 because the quiz already had a rating of less than 2, but no-one could be bothered to tell me why. As yet, I haven't worked out how to make that happen with clickable quizzes. Two final points: (1) as with all quizzes here, if you don't like/understand cryptic crosswords, I will not be offended if you choose not to play this one; (2) Since the only reason this three-month old quiz is retrending today is because of an EDITOR'S QUIZ in the GEOGRAPHY SECTION, I find it hard to accept charges of poor execution, or non-relevance to Geography

	parklife:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 15:34 GMT		1 point
	All that said, here is my original comment from the first Europe quiz, which offers some insight into my take on cryptic crosswording:There are no hard-and-fast rules with these things: suffice to say that after 10 years doing the Telegraph crossword practically every day, there are times when I'll complete it in under 10 minutes, and others when I'll spend an hour labouring over the first 3/4 clues. That said, things to look out for: #1 Synonyms: assume that you are looking for an alternative word or part-word to everything described. These wont normally have indicators #2 Anagrams: You shouldn't have to rearrange something that ISN'T in the clue. These are indicated by any word that hints at confusion or rearrangement #3 Initials: 1. Words such as "at first" or "beginning" suggest you should use the first letter of the word/s immediately before or after. 2. Some words are automatically assumed to be initials, most commonly points of a compass (so anything suggesting north yield 'N'), family members/family trees (wife = w) or chess notation. #4 One-word-inside-another: You'll usually have to do some work just to find out what the two words are, but then you literally 'trap' one word inside another. #5 Combinations of the above: you may have to find a synonym of one word, an anagram of another, place the latter inside the former AND THEN stick an initial on the end. As a rule, read the clue through from left to right, taking into account EVERY PART of the clue (even innocuous-looking 'a's and 'the's can be important).

	parklife:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 15:35 GMT		1 point
	Try these, all using PARKLIFE as the answer. #1 Pull over for long prison sentence = PARK + LIFE; #2 Freak Lip removed = Anagram of FREAK LIP; #3 Average score for king of 51 using iron? = PAR + K + LI + FE

Comment below threshold: show it

	parklife:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 19:02 GMT		4 points
	I don't mind you downvoting this quiz, comment or any other. Just wanted to know why. And you told me. Which is constructive. Thanks. I'm not irascible. Just don't like trolls.

	RobPro:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 21:42 GMT		4 points
	Parklife, I am sorry that picking this quiz has unfortunately meant your rating has been hit. It does not detract from the great quiz that it is.

	parklife:	Jan 7th, 2013 at 22:29 GMT		3 points
	Thanks Rob. Believe it or not am my pride can cope with the low rating! But it's hard to know whether a low rating is because a quiz has genuine errors if down ratings aren't followed up by comments. For those interested (and because I don't know how to embed stuff here), the original quiz is here: http://www.sporcle.com/games/parklife/cryptic_europe. When you answer a country (or let the timer run out!) the hidden 'reason' column gives a crypticity breakdown.

	RobPro:	Jan 8th, 2013 at 00:18 GMT		1 point
	I made a spreadsheet with easy access for people to see the solutions here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Avpd1k-y2xODdEpfMy1oZ2hvNlQ1My1oRGlqekpmY0E Copy that and paste it into the 'Source URL' box when you edit the game. Put Source Description as 'Solutions'.

	PurppuraSuihku:	Jan 8th, 2013 at 00:29 GMT		4 points
	@parklife, while i appreciate your effort, if you really expect quizzers to always check the quizmaker's history for clues and info about the format, i don't know what to say..

	PurppuraSuihku:	Jan 8th, 2013 at 00:32 GMT		3 points
	A simple URL to a site explaining the format would've probably been enough. I for one can't be bothered to start scouring the net for instructions for some unknown quiz type if the quizmaker can't be bothered to provide at least a link, or to copypaste instructions from elsewhere to the comment section.

	parklife:	Jan 8th, 2013 at 08:50 GMT		1 point
	Solutions added as URL. Thanks @rob for showing me how to set this up!

	Claribel59:	Jan 9th, 2013 at 15:20 GMT		6 points
	Hi Parklife. I never log in to Sporcle any more - I have no need to keep all my failures recorded. So I've had to get my (forgotten) password reset in order to leave this comment. I'm sorry that fellow Sporclers have been unappreciative of your work. I've been doing cryptic crosswords for about 40 years and was delighted to find your puzzles on Sporcle. I loved this one, and have already tried (and not completely succeeded at) the North America one. You have clearly put in a lot of effort, and the results are excellent - a good mix of different types of cryptic clue. As far as I'm concerned, you should keep up the good work.

	parklife:	Jan 9th, 2013 at 15:30 GMT		3 points
	:) Thanks Claribel. Though am hoping problems (of all sorts) will be fixed now that Rob has been so helpful in making solutions spreadsheets in Google Docs and telling me how to upload them (an easy thing to do, I know, but something I'd never learnt!). Am working on turning the remaining sets "clickable" (they already exist in typed form), then I get to move on the the Capital Cities. Joy!: I'm looking forward to working out what to do with REYJAVIK, ULAAN BATAAR and OUAGOU DOUGOU.

	parklife:	Jan 9th, 2013 at 16:26 GMT		1 point
	And the first thing I can do with Rey(K)javik is spell it properly!

	mrsmith:	Jan 9th, 2013 at 18:26 GMT		1 point
	Anyone wanting a gentle introduction to the hidden word style of cryptic clue could have a go at this http://www.sporcle.com/games/mrsmith/words-in-countries

	Slabber:	Jan 9th, 2013 at 23:51 GMT		1 point
	I don't get the Malta clue.

	parklife:	Jan 10th, 2013 at 06:44 GMT		1 point
	A few people have said that, slabber. I think I've pushed my luck there with the most "you have to know the specific conventions" clue I've written. According to The Times or Telegraph style (the two crosswords I do), "student" can legitimately mean L(earner) BA or MA (the degree insignia). In this case its MA + L. And if I saw the word 'volunteers', 99% of the time I'm led to Territorial Army (TA). So, MA + L + TA.

	Slabber:	Jan 12th, 2013 at 00:01 GMT		1 point
	Oh yes, TA I'd forgotten. I used to do The Times and The Guardian but stopped when the internet made buying newspapers pointless.

	LisaSimpsonOH:	Jan 12th, 2013 at 00:07 GMT		0 points
	I didn't understand this at all. Some kind of explanation in the instructions would be helpful. I've never done a UK crossword so I have no idea what that means.

Go to the Sporcle.com Mobile Site →