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The Macquarie Dictionary Guide to Cryptic Crosswords

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Crosswords are one of the great pleasures in life, but some people feel daunted by cryptic crosswords. There is a logic in the cryptic clue that is not obvious, and you need to learn strategies for decoding this logic. The following is some advice on how to approach the cryptic crossword.

Taken together, the headings below are designed to provide a structured guide to cryptic crosswords. You can also click on individual headings to learn more about that topic. 

If you are a newcomer to cryptic crosswords you will find there are two major differences between them and the straight crossword. The first thing you have to know is a new way of looking at clues. The second is to become familiar with cryptic jargon. 

Looking at Clues

The cryptic clue rarely contains only one word. It is more often a phrase or a sentence which makes some sort of sense in its own right. Only occasionally can you read the clue as a whole. Remember that nearly all cryptic clues must be looked at in sections. No matter how pretty the phrase, it is just a string of words which give clues to the answer. You have to get into the habit of looking at the clue in sections, word by word.

This may be difficult at first but you do get a bonus. Solving cryptics can be more satisfying than solving clues in straight crosswords. In cryptics, you can often prove that your answer is correct. You are given more infor mation to help you. Look at the cryptic clue as a number of hints adding up to the answer in the crossword.

Commonly, the first or the last words in the clue provide the meaning of the whole answer. The rest of the clue gives you hints for the letters forming it.

Take the answer ACT. A straight crossword would have the clue: PERFORM (3). A cryptic clue might read: PERFORM WHEN THE CAT FALLS (3). The first word gives the whole meaning. PERFORM is ACT. The rest of the clue proves you are right. CAT is an anagram of ACT. FALLS is a fingerpost to an anagram.

An anagram occurs when given letters are reassembled into another word or phrase. Scrabble players are form ing anagrams from the letters they pick up.

Fingerposts point to different forms of clues. They are code-breakers. They show which method you should use in order to get the right answer. There are about twelve different types of fingerposts, but don’t be alarmed by the number. They soon become familiar.

Do you follow how we look at the clue PERFORM WHEN THE CAT FALLS (3)? We think about the first or the last word as the meaning of the whole clue. Then we look at the rest of the clue to see what help that will give us. We look for fingerposts to show the type of clue. We check the number of letters in our guesses to see if they fit the number given in brackets at the end of the clue. Finally we see that our answer ACT fits each part of the clue and so has to be correct.

Cryptic Jargon

Every group or profession has some form of jargon — words that mean something special to the group but may be gibberish to everyone else. Cryptic jargon is just that. It sometimes uses other people’s jargon such as the language of chess (king is K), or of the classics (king is R from rex), or it can make its own jargon by looking at a word in a new way. Flower can be a river. Well, a river flows, doesn’t it?

Cryptic jargon chiefly consists of the more unusual meanings and abbreviations of words. You will acquire this vocabulary with practice. Make a list of your own. Here are a few examples.

The word ARTICLE in a clue usually means A or AN or THE. SHIP can be SS (the letters for steamship). WORKER may be ANT. RUSSIAN is RED. FORMER is EX. GRAVITY is G.

FOOL FROM A SHIP (3) — the answer is ASS. The letters A (a) and SS (ship) are joined to give a word meaning fool.

SEQUOIA FROM A RUSSIAN FOREST (7) — gives the answer REDWOOD which is a common name for sequoia. RED (Russian) is joined with WOOD (forest).

Some clues are more complex than these but don’t be put off by that. Most clues will break down into quite sensible sections. 

Next time you see the answers to a cryptic in a paper, look at the clues and see if you can underline the word or phrase that gives the meaning of the whole answer. Generally, you won’t be able to do that with all the clues, but it is still good practice.

What is an Anagram?

An anagram is a re-arrangement of letters to form other words. Many clues in cryptic crosswords use anagrams. They may give you the whole answer or just part of it.

Anagrams Forming the Whole Answer

STOP THE MAIL (4) — POST. POST is an anagram of STOP meaning MAIL. Similarly: PROVIDE FOR BROKEN CRATE (5) — CATER. BROKEN is a fingerpost to the anagram of CRATE — CATER which is to provide.

I GNAW BADLY IN FLIGHT (5). Here, BADLY is the fingerpost for an anagram of I GNAW which gives AWING meaning in flight.

Fingerposts to Anagrams

Longer clues usually include a fingerpost pointing to the anagram. For the fun of it, the author tries to choose fingerposts relating to his subject. After all, he is trying to make the clue sound sensible and trick you into thinking of it as a whole, rather than in sections.

Anagram fingerposts always imply some form of alteration, breakdown, or doubt. There is no fixed list. The author can choose whatever word he likes. How ever there are some fingerposts used more frequently than others. As a general rule, if you see a word that implies some change, check for an anagram. Anagrams are so common in cryptics that you will get plenty of practice with them.

We have already noticed FALLS, BROKEN, BADLY. Here are some other common ones:

ABOUT NEW RUINED

ALTERED ODDLY SOMEHOW

AWFUL ORDERED SPOILT

`BENT PERHAPS UNUSUAL

CONFUSES POOR UPSET

CRUSHED POSSIBLY WORRIED

MIXED REFORM 

Another pointer to an anagram is the presence of the same number of letters in part of the clue as in the answer. PERHAPS PALE GUM FOR THE FEATHERS (7). PERHAPS is the fingerpost. There are seven letters in PALE GUM which converts to PLUM AGE which means feathers.

A method for dealing with anagrams is to print the letters in such a way as to give them all equal prominence. This helps you to concentrate on letters instead of on whole words. Put dots underneath for the missing letters thus:

PALEGUM

. . . . . . .

Letters obtained from crossing words are then written upon the dots, and crossed from the letters above. EGYM

. . U . A . .

Next try the remaining letters in various places until the right word occurs. You could use Scrabble pieces or cut-out letters —anything that you can easily re-arrange.

When seeking the correct word, remember that the answer usually does not start with the same letter as the clue word. Maybe the author thinks it will be more confusing for you.  

Anagrams as Part of the Answer

The anagram may form only part of the clue. Consider the clue: GREATER MAD RAGE BETWEEN LEFT AND RIGHT (6). Try the first word in the clue for the whole meaning. A six letter word meaning GREATER could be LARGER or BIGGER. Look at the rest of the clue. MAD could be a fingerpost to an anagram of RAGE. LEFT and RIGHT are nearly always translated by the letters L and R respectively. So there it is —LARGER. ARGE, the anagram of RAGE, is between L and R. You have proved LARGER is the answer and BIGGER does not qualify.

Fingerposts Omitted

In short clues, no fingerpost may be given. You can guess that one word may be an anagram of the other’s meaning, especially if one word has the required number of letters for the answer. 

WIVES’ OPINIONS (5) —VIEWS. WARN LATER (5) — ALERT. 

LEAST ACCOUNTS (5) — TALES.

Short Clues

A short clue of two or three words is quite likely to contain an anagram without a fingerpost. Check the number of letters required. Do they equal any part of the clue? If so, try for an anagram. 

CORRECT GIRTH (5) — here GIRTH has five letters, which rearranged, form RIGHT meaning correct. This may not always work out. 

   Con sider CRY NAME (4). NAME has the right number of letters, but an anagram of it to mean cry is not possible. So maybe the next idea fits.

Multiple Clues

In multiple clues, each of the words or phrases has a meaning which can be expressed by the same word.

CRY NAME (4) — CALL. CRY is call, NAME is call. Similarly, NAMING VOCATION (7) — CALLING. NAMING is calling as a verb, VOCATION is calling as a noun.

DEPRESSED FEATHERS (4) — DOWN. Think of each word separately.

   The answer might be words which are spelt the same but have different pronunciations as well as different meanings. These are called homographs if you want to be technical.

REJECT GARBAGE (6) — REFUSE. REJECT is the verb refuse, and GARBAGE is the noun refuse. In the same way, TINY PERIOD (6) —MINUTE, the accent falls on the UTE for tiny, and on the MIN for period. Some other common homographs are BOW, WIND, LEAD, TEAR, OBJECT, ROW.

TUMBLED DOWN A TERRIBLE MOUNTAIN (4) — FELL. You will find three meanings of FELL in that clue. Check FELL in the dictionary if you are not sure of them all. Cryptic authors love using the more obscure meanings of words. You will get pleasure and may be surprised in finding them yourself. It is worth getting into the habit of thinking of the more unusual meanings first. They are more unusual in common use, but usual in cryptics.

In TOM WHIP KITTY (3), each word can mean CAT. TOM is from its association with male animals. WHIP as a noun, is the cat-o’-nine-tails or cat for short. KITTY is a pet name for a cat or kitten. Notice that the author here uses WHIP as a verb in the clue. Read as a whole, the clue sounds as if it is an order for Tom to whip Kitty. Being a good cryptic solver, you will dis regard this, and look at each word separately. It doesn’t matter if WHIP is a verb or a noun then.

TOM is a frequent visitor to cryptics and mostly means CAT. After a while your mind latches on to the letters C A T as soon as you see TOM. But beware, and be flexible as it is not always so. TOM can also be a turkey, a first name of someone well known, an abbrevi ation of Thomas, go with Jerry, or Dick and Harry, or even be half a drum. You know tom-tom is a drum. Tom-Tom is the piper’s son too.

Abbreviations

We are used to thinking of LEFT as L and RIGHT as R in everyday life. Cryptics use all these common abbreviations in their clues. Mostly, the first letter or letters are used. OCTOBER could be 0 or OCT. BLACK — B or BL, or even BB as used in a lead pencil. I AM becomes IM from I’m. Thus I HAVE is IVE and I WOULD is ID. These letters are used with those from another part of the clue to add up to the whole meaning.

THE MOUNTAIN RANGE IS TO THE RIGHT, I WOULD GO EAST (5). The abbreviations of the last words give the letters for the meaning of the whole. 

R ID G E — RIDGE which is a mountain range.

Fingerposts to Abbreviations

Another author might make the clue easier by writing THE MOUNTAIN RANGE IS INITIALLY TO THE RIGHT. I WOULD GO EAST (5). INITIALLY is a fingerpost to abbreviations. 

   Common fingerposts refer to the start or the top, as PRIMARILY, FIRST, PRIN CIPALS, LEADER, START, FRONT, CAPITAL (capital of Victoria is V, not necessarily Melbourne), HEAD (may be joined to the word concerned as in DEADHEAD — D is the head of dead).

   Other fingerposts refer to some shortening of the words: BRIEF, CUT SHORT, CUT, SHORTLY, TINY, LITTLE, ENDLESS (no end to the words).

DAMAGED, SAW IT AFTER THE START OF HARVEST (3) — HIT. IT comes after the start of the word HARVEST — H. Note how important the little word IT can be.

   You need to be aware also of the abbreviations used in poetry, whether fingerposted by POETIC or not. ERE, or EER, for EVER, and OPED for OPENED for example.

You already know that the number in brackets at the end of the clue shows the number of letters in the answer. Sometimes this may be written (3,4) meaning the answer consists of two words, the first of three letters and the second of four letters. A hyphen between the numbers (3-4) means the answer itself is hyphenated.

Put a stroke in the crossword itself where these answers divide. This helps the eye to break down the long empty squares into more manageable blocks. Consider the answer EGG-CUPS. Put the stroke in first. Solving other clues might give some of the letters in the answer: 

– – G/ – – P In this way, I see at a glance that the first word ends in G. This is easier to distinguish than – – G/ – – – S. It often helps you to guess one word.

Most phrases used in crosswords are well-known word combinations. Many are shown in the dictionary under their chief word. Look up one word when you know it and you will probably recognise the rest of the answer.

Phrases may be split into various parts of the cross word:

Across: 6 & 8Dn Urge prizes for use at breakfast (3-4) 

Down: 8 See 6Ac

The above means that the answer is hyphenated with the first part, EGG (urge) fitting into 6Ac and CUPS (prizes) into 8 Dn. The clue is always written against the number where the phrase starts.

Across: 8 See 22

22 & 8 Soldier has metal cover (3,3)

In this case, TIN (metal) goes in 22Ac and HAT (cover) fits 8Ac. TIN HAT is slang for the steel helmet worn by soldiers.

   A one-word answer may be split and written in differ ent parts of the crossword. It is usual in this case for each segment to be a word in its own right. DAMAGES could be split into DAM and AGES. The clue would appear as:

Down: 2 & 6Ac Detracts from compensation (7) 

   The clue refers only to the complete word of 7 letters. It is a multiple clue. DETRACTS FROM/COMPEN SATION, both have the meaning DAMAGES. How ever in thinking of the answer it is helpful to notice that 2Dn has 3 letters and 6Ac has 4 letters. Both are words in themselves although not shown as such in the clue. This is usually the case, so it is worth remembering if you are guessing!

A number written as a figure within a clue refers to another clue with that number. This is written 5 if only one clue starts in the crossword at 5, and 5Ac or 5Dn if there are two words starting in the same square. Here is an example:

Down: 2 Fitting encounter (4)

23 Perhaps 2 allot limit (4)

   The answer to 2 is MEET — a multiple clue where each word has MEET as a meaning. The answer to 23 is an anagram of the answer to 2. See the fingerpost PER HAPS? The anagram of MEET is METE which means both ALLOT and LIMIT.

   When numbers are spelt in the clue, they may be translated into Roman numerals or other letters to form part of the answer. Any of the following jargon may be used:

ONE I, A, AN, ACE, UN, UNE, UNI, UNIT

   ACE is 1 in cards. UN & UNE are French, UNI is Latin. I (capital i) because it looks like one as a numeral. NUMBER ONE is No. 1 which becomes NOI. NOI isn’t much help, but if you turn it round it becomes ION which is a common ending for words.

All this sounds complicated the first time you read it but don’t be concerned, it will soon become familiar. Meanwhile you can always look in the jargon list for any you can’t remember.

TWO BI, DI, DEUCE, PAIR, BRACE, BIN

THREE TRI, TER, III

FOUR IV, CREW, QUAD, CATER (the 4 of cards and dice), a boundary in cricket

FIVE V, QUIN

SIX VI, a cricket score

NINE IX

TEN X, IQ DECI, DECIMAL

ELEVEN XI, SIDE, TEAM (in cricket)

FIFTEEN XV, SIDE, TEAM (in football)

FORTY XL (sounds like excell)

FIFTY

NINETY XC

ONE HUNDRED C (200 is CC), CENTI, 100 (an i and two o’s)

FOUR HUNDRED CD

FIVE HUNDRED D

NINE HUNDRED CM

ONE THOUSAND M, K, G, MILLE, KILO, GRAND, CHILIAD

Examples: IT’S CLEAR A MATHS SYMBOL LIES BETWEEN FIFTY-ONE THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED (6). PI, a maths symbol, lies between LIM and D, giving the word meaning clear, LIMPID.

USING A LITTLE SOAP, ONE HUNDRED POLISH TO CLEAN (5). S is a little of the word, soap, C is one hundred, RUB is polish. Put them all together to get SCRUB which is to clean.

The Word MANY

You can use any of the Roman numerals for the word MANY in a clue, especially the higher quantities like M, D, C, or L.

The Word NUMBER

The abbreviation of the word NUMBER, NO (No) is often used. Number can also be a verb meaning to count, sum, total. Look it up in the dictionary sometime.

   In cryptic jargon, the ending ER can be taken to mean ONE WHO. In everyday parlance, a joiner is one who joins. There are many words like that. Cryptic authors use ER in unusual ways. A FLOWER is one who flows, for example, a river. NUMBER may mean one who numbs, such as an anaesthetic and intense cold.