When they first encounter cryptic crosswords, most solvers of traditional crosswords find themselves at a loss. The cryptic crossword grid looks relatively similar to that of an ordinary crossword, but the clues tell little stories that seem to have little to do with the answers that eventually go into the diagram. Just what is going on in those clues, anyway?
Deciphering the clues is the charm of the cryptic crossword, since each clue is a sort of self-contained puzzle. Once you understand the basic concepts of cryptic clues, you'll be ready to appreciate that charm yourself.
Every cryptic clue has two parts: a definition of the answer and a second indication of the answer's literal makeup through wordplay. Either half may come first in the clue, but there will always be a point at which the clue can be divided into these two parts. With two routes to the answer, you might expect cryptic clues to be easier to solve than the ordinary clues in standard crosswords. But the devious creators cleverly join the two halves of the clue in ways that make it hard to tell where they separate. In addition, both parts may contain words that appear to mean something entirely different than what they actually indicate. For example, "putter" in a clue may appear to refer to a golf club, but actually may mean "dawdle," or even "one who puts." Like a magician, the cryptic creator uses misdirection to trick you.
Cryptic clues are, by tradition, followed by the enumeration of the answer. The enumeration is a number or numbers in parentheses indicating the length of the answer word or words. For example, "(5)" means the answer is a five-letter word, while "(2,3,4)" indicates a three-word phrase consisting of two-, three-, and four-letter words respectively, as "in the know." (Why give enumerations when an answer's length is clear from the grid? Obviously, it's a help in finding answers that are phrases, but the real reason is that many so-called "variety cryptics" use novel grids in which the lengths of answers aren't obvious.)
There are eight common methods for giving a cryptic hint through wordplay. Let's take a look at each of them.
1. SECOND DEFINITION
A second definition clue is a little different from the other types of clues in that it has no wordplay half; instead it has two definition halves. For example, the word BEAR means both "carry" and "a grizzly." A cryptic clue for BEAR might read:
Carry a grizzly (4)
The two meanings may have different pronunciations as well. POLISH could be clued:
Shoe coating from Warsaw (6)
Some words, while not actually having two meanings, look like they might mean something else that can be clued in a punny way. For example, the word STINGY looked at as STING-Y might lead to this cryptic clue:
Ungenerous, like a bee? (6)
while SPANISH (SPAN-ISH) suggests:
People from Madrid like bridges? (7)
The question marks, as in normal crossword clues, serve to warn you that there's something punny going on in the clue.
Hints for spotting this type: clues using two meanings are usually fairly short. In particular, a two-word clue is nearly always a double definition clue.
2. ANAGRAMS
In anagram clues, the wordplay half actually gives all the letters of the answer in mixed order. The rearranged letters are always immediately preceded or followed by an "anagram indicator" -- a word or phrase that suggests the mixing, such as "wild," "drunk," "repair," or "in a muddle." For example:
Chaperone undoing corset (6)
The answer ESCORT, defined as "chaperone," is the result of "undoing" the letters of "corset." Here's another example:
Model in a studio tries out for a part (9)
The creator of this clue hopes you'll be fooled into reading the word "model" as a noun, but it's actually a verb, telling you to "model" the letters of the phrase "in a studio" to get the answer, AUDITIONS, defined as "tries out for a part."
Hints for spotting this type: two parts of the anagram clue can give it away: the anagram indicator -- the word or phrase suggesting mixing -- and a word or group of consecutive words with the same number of letters as the answer. If you can find both these parts together in a clue, it's likely to be an anagram.
3. CHARADES
In the parlor game of charades, answers are acted out in pieces; similarly, some words can be broken into smaller words that are clued individually in the wordplay half of the clue. For example:
Outlaw leader putting money away (7)
The answer BANKING ("putting money away") can be broken into BAN ("outlaw") and KING ("leader").
Charades may also have more than two parts:
Check for concrete strengthening (13)
The answer REINFORCEMENT (clued as "strengthening") is made of REIN ("check"), FOR, and CEMENT ("concrete").
While the pieces of a charade are usually clued by synonyms, they can be given explicitly (like FOR in the previous example). In more complex charades clues, the pieces may be clued out of order, with some instruction as to how you should put them together. For example:
Friend follows child completely (7)
The clue tells you that ALLY ("friend") follows, or is placed after, TOT ("child") to make the answer TOTALLY.
Sometimes the answer is divided into pieces that can then be clued as a phrase. For example, TANGENT can be broken into TAN GENT:
Touching beach bum? (7)
Again, the question mark suggests there's something punny going on.
Hints for spotting this type: since charade clues usually don't contain indicators, there's nothing particular to look for. Certain common word beginnings appear often, though -- CON ("prisoner"), EX ("former" or "former spouse"), RE ("concerning " or "about"), and IMP ("mischievous one"), for example; when you spot one of these, it's likely to be a charade clue.
4. CONTAINERS
Some words can be looked at as one word inside another. For example, PATIENTS is the word TIE inside PANTS. A clue for PATIENTS might read:
Hospital residents make knots in trousers (8)
The clue tells you to put TIE ("make knots") inside PANTS ("trousers"). All container clues include some word or phrase -- a "container indicator" -- that tells you which part goes inside the other. The simplest indicator is "in," as in the previous example. Other container indicators include "within," "interrupts," and "filling," or, if the containing word precedes the contained word in the clue, "holds," "surrounding," and "swallows." Here's a tricky example of the latter order:
Russet bears are raised (6)
The word RED ("russet") contains, or "bears," the word ARE, to form the answer REARED.
Hints for spotting this type: not surprisingly, words or phrases suggesting containment are a good tip-off to container clues. Look for container indicators like "clutches," "goes around," "held by," and "wrapping." You should be aware, though, that many container indicators can also be used to signal hidden answers.
5. HIDDEN ANSWERS
Sometimes the entire answer appears intact, albeit camouflaged, in the wordplay half of the clue. For example:
Title held by Don Ameche (4)
The answer, NAME ("title") is concealed in (or "held by") the phrase "doN AMEche." Hidden answer clues always include an indicator (very similar to the indicator in a container clue) to signal that the answer is hidden in the phrase. Here's another hidden answer clue:
Don't he-men demand to keep getting healthier? (2,3,4)
The phrase "dON'T HE-MEN Demand" keeps the answer ON THE MEND. (Note that in this case the question mark doesn't indicate a pun; it's there simply because the clue asks a question.)
Sometimes the answer is hidden in every other letter of a phrase:
Odd characters in the way seem to poke fun (5)
The answer TEASE ("to poke fun") is found in the odd letters of "ThE wAy SeEm."
Hints for spotting this type: the easiest way to spot hidden answer clues is to check every consecutive chunk of the clue of the same length as the desired answer. Unfortunately, hidden answers are used sparingly in cryptics, so this is generally a waste of time. The next best approach is to keep an eye out for hidden indicators like "hides," "incorporates," "is part of," and "going through." Remember, though, that many of these can also signal container clues.
6. HOMOPHONES
If the answer sounds exactly like another word or phrase, the cryptic clue writer may use a homophone clue. For example, a clue for EIGHT (a homophone of ATE) might be:
Octet had dinner, we hear (5)
Homophone clues always contain a word or phrase -- a "homophone indicator" -- that suggests the phonetic element of the wordplay half of the clue. In the previous example, the phrase "we hear" indicates the homophone. Other indicators are "reportedly," "vocal," "to the audience, " and "by the sound." Here's another example:
Ordinary jet is heard (5)
The answer PLAIN is a homophone of PLANE. You may wonder how you know the answer is PLAIN and not PLANE. The homophone indicator is always adjacent to the answer's homophone; since the clue tells us that "jet is heard," we know we want a homophone of PLANE.
The homophone doesn't need to be a single word:
Counted unfeeling warbler, they say (8)
The answer NUMBERED sounds the same as NUMB BIRD ("unfeeling warbler").
Hints for spotting this type: the cryptic writer has a fairly limited set of homophone indicators available, which makes spotting a homophone clue fairly easy. Look for any word or phrase that suggests that part of the clue is to be heard or pronounced.
7. REVERSALS
Some words spell other words when written backward, and reversal clues make use of this. For example, the word REGAL is LAGER spelled backward. A cryptic clue for REGAL might read:
Returned beer fit for a king (5)
Every reversal clue contains a word or phrase -- a "reversal indicator" -- suggesting the switched order, like the word "returned" in the previous example. Other reversal indicators include "receding," "in the mirror," "going the wrong way," "to the left," and even simply "left." Indicators in Down clues often refer to an upward rather than backward direction -- "up," "rising," "overturned," and "to the north," for example. Here's a possible Down clue:
Comfortable arms raised (4)
The answer SNUG ("comfortable") is GUNS ("arms") written upward, or "raised." (You can tell the answer is SNUG, not GUNS, since the reversal indicator is adjacent to the word "arms" in the clue, telling you to reverse GUNS to get the answer.)
A reversal may use more than one word, much like a reversed version of a charade clue:
Turn to important person making a comeback (5)
The answer PIVOT ("turn") is TO VIP ("to important person") reversed, or "making a comeback."
Hints for spotting this type: obviously, any word or phrase suggesting something is reversed or in the wrong direction is a good tip-off to a reversal clue. Look for indicators like "swiveled," "flipped over," "around," "upside-down," "from the bottom up," and "lifted" (the latter three in Down clues).
8. DELETIONS
Many words become new words when they lose a letter, and deletion clues play on this. Deletions come in three basic varieties: beheadments, curtailments, and internal deletions. In each type, the clue contains a word or phrase indicating the deletion. In beheadments, a word loses its first letter. For example, CHANGING becomes HANGING when the first letter is dropped. This leads to the following somewhat morbid clue:
Beheading being switched for gallows execution (7)
The clue tells you that by "beheading" or removing the first letter of CHANGING ("being switched"), you get the answer HANGING ("gallows execution"). Other beheadment indicators include "don't start," "topless," and "after the first."
(The "for" deserves a separate note: it's what's known as a "connector," placed between the two halves of the clue for the purpose of improving the smoothness of its "surface reading." Tastes differ as to what connectors are acceptable; "and," "or," "is," and "for" -- the latter, usually, in cases where the wordplay half precedes the definition -- are the most common. Some crossword writers use connectors in abundance; some, sparingly; some, not at all.)
Curtailments involve the removal of the last letter. For example:
Fiery bird without a tail (7)
The answer FLAMING ("fiery") is FLAMINGO ("bird") without its last letter, or "tail." Curtailment indicators include "endlessly," "nearly," and "unfinished."
An interior letter may also be deleted, though this is rarer. For example:
Challenging sweetheart heartlessly (6)
The answer DARING ("challenging") is DARLING ("sweetheart") missing its middle letter, or "heartlessly." An indicator for an internal deletion may also tell you exactly which letter to remove. For example, DOLT minus its third letter is DOT:
Dolt missing third period (3)
Hints for spotting this type: words and phrases suggesting the removal or lack of something, in particular a top, front, bottom, or end, are good bets to be deletion indicators. And quite a few of these indicators end "-less": "topless," "headless," "endless," "bottomless," and the like.
COMBINATION CLUES
It's quite common for two or more of the eight basic cryptic methods to be combined in a clue. For example:
Illustrious nobleman returns in pit (9)
The answer HONORABLE ("illustrious") is clued as a container with one part reversed: BARON ("nobleman") reversed ("returns") in HOLE ("pit").
THE "& LIT." CLUE
Every cryptic clue has two parts: the definition and wordplay halves. In one special type of clue, however, the two parts overlap completely, so the whole clue is at the same time both a cryptic indication of and a definition of the answer. This type of clue is called an "& lit." clue (since the answer explanation traditionally ends with "& lit.," short for "and literally so"). Here's an example:
Terribly angered! (7)
The answer ENRAGED is both an anagram (or "terrible" arrangement) of "angered" and a word meaning "terribly angered." The exclamation point at the end of the clue is the traditional signal for an "& lit." clue. Here's another example:
I, for one, am reflected! (5)
The answer IMAGE is I plus E.G. AM "reflected."
BITS AND PIECES
Some words don't lend themselves to simple combinations of the basic methods, and often the cryptic creator will need to indicate one or two letters individually. As a result, you can expect to see common abbreviations ("doctor" may stand for DR, "Hawaii" for HI, and "college" for U), chemical symbols ("iron" for FE), and parts of words ("end of year" for R, "head of cabbage" for C, "heart of stone" for O, "half-dollar" for DOL or LAR) appearing in clues.
P.S. For a brief history, as well as many more interesting examples, finer-point discussions, and tips on solving and composition, I strongly recommend The Random House Guide to Cryptic Crosswords, by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon.
BACK to "other"