Puzzling

There are a bunch of other  sorts of cryptic clues, which don't really adhere to any of the rules we've covered so far (damn it!). These are the cryptic definition  and &lit  clues. Cryptic definition clues These clues are sort of puns, or cryptic definitions for a word. They are sometimes called 'single definition' clues. They don't really have any wordplay, and as such can be quite tricky and hard to solve. These will often be the last clues you fill in, in a crossword, after you've got quite a few hints from the crossing over letters! These sorts of clues are also often indicated with an exclamation mark. Some examples: A wicked thing! = CANDLE (it has a wick) HIJKLMNO = WATER (H to O, or H 2 O) The ringmaster  = JEWELLER (he's the master of rings, clearly) Sleep soundly = SNORE (sleep while making a sound) So, you can see that these clues don't have the classic definition + wordplay form, but are more fun...

Homophone cryptic clues are rather fun. But first, let's figure out what a homophone is. Homo  means 'same', and phone  means 'sound' — so homophones are words which sound alike, but have different meanings. I'm sure you know a ton of these: ATE & EIGHT. FLOUR & FLOWER. FOWL & FOUL. WRIGHT & RIGHT. And that's just for starters! When a cryptic clue uses a homophone, it tells you that the answer sounds like  some other word. The wordplay tells you this. Homophones must have indicator words that give a sense of something being heard, spoken, broadcast, or audible in some way. Here's a little example: Take bites noisily (6) Now, another word for bites  could be CHEWS. And, look, CHOOSE is also another word for take.  I think we have a winner! Noisily is the homophone indicator, it's telling you that if you say CHEWS aloud, it will sound like CHOOSE, which is the answer. One problem with homophone clues is that sometimes ...

Time for the next instalment in this cryptic series – deletions! They can also be called subtractions. I know you've already figured out what this cryptic device is all about from its name. Yes, we're going to remove letters, and ruthlessly throw them away. Cruel, but fair. Deletions are used quite a lot in cryptic clues, as it's common to be able to remove a letter or two from one word, to get to another. Some examples : ABATE - A and E = BAT CHIP - C = HIP FREESIA - SIA = FREE TRIP - T = RIP And so on. When it comes to these clues, you not only need to know what word to start with (with deletion indicators), you also need to know which letters to dump (with abbreviations or position indicators). The letter to remove are often clued with a standard (or more cryptic!) abbreviation (such as east = E, street = ST, or 50 = L), but sometimes the clue will tell you to remove the first, middle, or last letters. Here's a 'pure' deletion clue: ...

So. Reversals. I bet you have already figured out how this cryptic wordplay works! Yes indeed, some letters or words are run backwards to help get to the answer. In English, some words are perfect reversals of each other - TIPS / SPIT, SERIF / FIRES, GUM / MUG, and KEEP / PEEK are just a few. These sorts of words are called anadromes . And you will know what palindromes are no doubt, those tricky words which read the same backwards and forwards! EVE, RADAR, TOT, and so on. In cryptic clues, either the whole answer word can be clued with a "perfect" reversal (eg WOLF reversing to give FLOW), or as is more common, (let's face it, not that many words form perfect anadromes), the reversal forms part of the wordplay, in combination with another device (especially charades ). They also have reversal indicator words, so you get some instruction on what to do. Here's an example of a "pure" reversal clue: Pam runs back to get a chart (3)  Pam  is th...

Double definitions are cute little cryptic clues. They break the usual Definition + Wordplay = Answer  cryptic equation. With these clues (as you may have already surmised) the equation is Definition + Definition = Answer. English is a language with masses of redundancy. There are multiple ways of saying most things, and many words have multiple meanings. So with this sort of cryptic clue, the clue simply presents two definitions of the same word, one after the other. Indicator words are not usually used (if they are, they are words like and, or, but, gives, provides, or though, or some punctuation such as a comma, dash, or apostrophe S). Here's an example: Baby cow's leg part (4) = CALF As you can no doubt see, CALF is the name of both a baby cow , and a leg part.  While they seem ridiculously simple in essence, these clues can be very difficult to spot 'in the wild' amongst a bunch of cryptic clues with a crossword. You are all keyed up to looking for indica...

Containers are a common device which you will come across all the time in cryptic crosswords. You will also see them called Containers and Contents clues. I bet you can guess what happens with this cryptic device, given the name ... yes, letters or words are put inside other letters or words to get to the answer. These clues can be written as A being put inside B, or A going around, or containing, B. For example,  SARONG can be clued as RON put inside SAG – SA(RON)G. And PRY around an ANT to get a  PANTRY – P(ANT)RY. Abbreviations are often used in container clues, especially as it's rather rare for words to break up exactly into "One word put inside another word". So you may find DENVER clued as NV (an abbreviation for Nevada) put in DEER – DE(NV)ER. Containers may also be combined with other clue devices such as reversals (LAVENDER is VEND in REAL reversed –LA(VEND)ER), and anagrams (SCALLION is an anagram of LILAC put inside SON – S(CALLI)ON), and so on. ...