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Click on underlined text for explanation of terms.
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The structure of the answer involves either letters placed outside other letters, or letters placed inside other letters. Which type of container clue is determined by an appropriate container indicator.
The clue has two parts, each one defining the answer without using cryptic devices. Ideally each definition should have no etymological relationship.
The entire answer is the result of removing the first or last letter from part of the clue or its synonym. A truncation indicator will be present.
A type of clue that involves the mixing up of letters without the inclusion of a letter or letters. This clue will have an anagram indicator to signify jumbling and a subtraction indicator to signify the removal of a letter or letters.
A removed letter may be as seen in the clue, an abbreviation for a word in the clue, or the result of another cryptic device like taking the initial letter from a word. Removed letters may be a whole word as seen in a clue, the synonym of a word in the clue (if that synonym is contiguous within the anagram fodder), or the result of another cryptic device like taking the middle two letters from a word.
The clue has two parts, each one defining the answer without using cryptic devices. Ideally each definition should have no etymological relationship.
The structure of the answer involves either letters placed outside other letters, or letters placed inside other letters. Which type of container clue is determined by an appropriate container indicator.
A word or phrase that defines the answer. All cryptic clues usually have a minimum of one definition which will be located at the beginning or end of the clue.
The entire answer is the result of removing the first or last letter from part of the clue or its synonym. A truncation indicator will be present.
The answer is a jumbling of letters except for the initial or final letter of the anagram fodder. An anagram indicator and truncation indicator will be present.
A word or phrase that defines the answer. All cryptic clues usually have a minimum of one definition which will be located at the beginning or end of the clue.
The structure of the answer involves either letters placed outside other letters, or letters placed inside other letters. Which type of container clue is determined by an appropriate container indicator.
A word or series of words that signify a mixing-up of letters.
Examples: changed, at sea, confused, all over the place - anything that indicates change or jumbling.
The answer is found by butting together parts defined in the wordplay. There may be some positional indicators that change the order of these parts.
Either a mixture of letters is placed inside or outside other letters, or letters are placed inside or outside a mixture of letters. An anagram indicator and containment indicator will be present.
The answer is hidden among the words of the clue. No spare words should be present. A suitable hidden indicator will point to the buried text.
Examples: part of, associated with, types of.
A pointer that signifies the placing of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents) on the INSIDE of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents).
Examples: held by, kept by, embraced by - anything that creates the image of being contained.
Either a mixture of letters is placed inside or outside other letters, or letters are placed inside or outside a mixture of letters. An anagram indicator and containment indicator will be present.
The answer is found by butting together parts defined in the wordplay. There may be some positional indicators that change the order of these parts.
Either a mixture of letters is placed inside or outside other letters, or letters are placed inside or outside a mixture of letters. An anagram indicator and containment indicator will be present.
A word or series of words that signify the turning around (across & down clues), or overturning (down clues only) of letters.
Examples: upset, reversed, retired, in withdrawal, over etc.
The answer is hidden among the words of the clue. No spare words should be present. A suitable hidden indicator will point to the buried text.
Examples: part of, associated with, types of.
In 2006 the Macquarie Dictionary people asked me to consult on their Macquarie Crossword Dictionary that hadn’t been updated since the first edition in 1990. With just about everything stored on computers, there was a real opportunity to create a tailor-made crossword dictionary, one that could take advantage of modern technology that categorises words, links words, sorts words etc all at the touch of a publisher’s button. As a heavy daily user of such works, both in book form and on the computer, I believed I had the knowledge to specify the best formula for such a book. Building on the design used by Macquarie to structure similar books like its thesaurus (that involves the categorising of words and heavy cross-referencing), we included encyclopedic entries and sorted alphabetically within length, that is, a solver could go to a list of words of the length they want in the appropriate word grouping/meaning. I also wrote an introduction. It’s a well-put-together book and 
I often get asked “Do you have a book?” or “Have you thought about writing a book?” It seems to be a natural progression for someone in a profession, especially one like crossword writing, where there are aren’t many people doing it. In 2005 I was approached by News Ltd regarding doing a book of my crosswords. At the time Fairfax were regularly publishing books of past puzzles and, not to be outdone, News Ltd wanted to put out one of their own. At the time, News didn’t publish such works themselves, they did deals with publishers willing to get involved, minimising their risk.
