(click on the clue number to see the hint)
Click on underlined text for explanation of terms.
Need more hints for these or other clues? Just leave a reply below.
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.
A word or series of words that signify the position of wordplay elements in the answer.
Examples: before, after, leading, in the middle of, under (down only) etc.
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 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 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 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.
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.
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.
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 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 pointer that signifies the placing of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents) around the OUTSIDE of one or more parts of a clue (or their equivalents).
Examples: holding, keeping, embracing - anything that creates the image of containment.
A word or series of words that signify the loss of one letter at the start or end of a word or string of letters.
Examples: beheaded, cut short, endless, nearly, largely etc.
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 answer is found by removing a letter, letters, or a word (either found directly in the clue or derived) from a word or words (or their synonyms). Subtractions involving synonyms must be done with contiguous letters, that is, a word will subtract directly unless specifically indicated. A subtraction indicator is present to initiate the action.
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 few weeks ago an avid solver pointed out an ambiguous clue in a Stickler Weekly. To be ambiguous two things must happen – first, there must be at least two answers to the clue that satisfy all the normal requirements, that is, from a definition and wordplay perspective. Second, all answers must fit with the cross-letters in the grid. So it may be possible that there are two valid answers to a clue, but both don’t satisfy letter requirements of crossing answers, making only one answer truly valid. (This happened in Stickler Weekly 21 in 21-across: Grenade exploded with all guns blazing (7), where the answer could be ENRAGED or ANGERED). Note that this scenario is not ideal and should be avoided by a setter.
A few years ago I ran a number of community college courses on how to solve cryptic crosswords. Each course covered the whole term (2-hour sessions for 8 weeks) as I believe there’s a need to learn and do and repeat. It’s easy enough to explain the basic devices to people and show a few examples in a short space of time, (in fact, I believe many people would walk away from such a session like they could take on the world,) but that head knowledge is not enough to form a true foundation of cryptic learning. What’s needed is a steady diet of cryptic knowledge with the opportunity to go away and practise and come back with questions to fill in the gaps. Recognition of the various devices is key to tackling a crossword, but these really can only be learnt one at a time, and need to be understood before moving on. Unfortunately even the most basic published cryptic crossword has multiple devices so is at odds with the initial learning process, which is why an extended course is the best way to learn how to solve cryptics.
