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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.
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 entire answer can be discovered by mixing up letters. An appropriate anagram 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.
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 the position of wordplay elements in the answer.
Examples: before, after, leading, in the middle of, under (down only) 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.
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 hidden inside the clue in reverse order. There are two indicators: one to signify that a hidden word is present; the other to reverse the letters.
The answer is hidden inside the clue in reverse order. There are two indicators: one to signify that a hidden word is present; the other to reverse the letters.
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.
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 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.
I’ve written a number of things in this spot about anagrams. First, I like them. Possibly seen as a setter’s lazy option, I’m convinced that a well-disguised anagram is one of the best forms of cryptic clue. It’s easy to understand for all, newbies and experienced solvers, and its nature offers a huge amount of variety, as it can be used standalone or in combination with other devices. There are more anagram indicators than for any other device, allowing a setter great scope. Second, not all anagrams are equal. Some anagrams are so obvious that in certain publications no anagram indicator is used; some anagrams use such obscure or tangential indicators that it’s almost in hindsight that the solver realises an anagram is in play; others are created with care and use contextual indicators in well-crafted wordplay and so they don’t fall into the bleeding obvious category. In the Stickler Weekly I try not to use more than two full anagrams (anagrams that result in the entire answer), but have no concerns about using partial anagrams if they suit the clues. I’m always aware of the total number of anagrams but consider a clue that uses multiple devices including an anagram to be far more difficult than one that’s a full anagram. As someone who tries to subscribe to the no etymology crossover rule, I have less to work with in wordplays and rely on the use of anagrams in its many forms to add variety to wordplays.
The Daily Telegraph once did an article about me and cryptics at my home at the time in Thornleigh, and asked if there was someone around who could pose as they took a photo of me explaining how cryptics worked. I grabbed my young neighbour and he played his part. From that time, 15 years ago, my student and I never spoke of cryptics and my family moved away a relatively short time after and we didn’t keep up the relationship. Things changed a few months back. I received an email from the former neighbour, now in his late 20s, asking about writing cryptics. (When I knew this neighbour, he was probably about 14 years old.) It was difficult at first thinking of him as fully grown-up, as that wasn’t my memory of him, but there was no doubt from his emails that he had a pretty good grasp of cryptic setting and the fact that he approached me for help demonstrated a certain level of maturity. It turns out our brief time in the spotlight did nothing to spark an interest in cryptics, as he didn’t take up solving until a few years ago and very quickly migrated to having a go at writing clues and now crosswords.
