how to solve cryptic crosswords

Understanding the different types of word-play used in cryptic crosswords is crucial to your success. Many great quality resources are available that explain the different types of cryptic crossword clues and I suggest you read as many as you can! (Wikipedia is a good place read next) The more examples of word-play you encounter, the easier it will be to recognise in clues. The explanations and examples below are unique to this page.

Depending on the difficulty of the crossword, more than one type of word-play in a clue is common. At the bottom of this page are some examples showing how these combinations of word-play can create some tricky clues. Multiple word-play clues are common in the Guardian and Times crosswords – if you are a beginner, perhaps start with crosswords in magazines or puzzle books.

Purely Cryptic Definition

In this type of clue the whole clue is usually the definition in an unusual context. They are sometimes indicated by ending with a question mark.

For example:

A late bloomer? (7,
Answer: EVENING PRIMROSE. The answer here is a pun with an obscure meaning for Bloom-er (one that blooms: a flower). Ironically “flower” often refers to a river or flow-er (one that flows: a river).

Reversals

The reverse of part of the clue provides the definition. Indicators: “back”, “reflected”, “turned” “going up” (in a down clue), “west” or “left” (in an across clue). For example:

Hidden Clues

The word is hidden within the letters of the wordplay. Indicators of a hidden clue are “in part”, “partially”, “in”, “within”, “hides”, “conceals”, “some”, and “held by”.

Palindromes

Palindromes may be indicated by phases such as “either way”, “going side to side”, “up and down”, ”read both ways”.

“Charade” Clues

Charade clues are formed by joining individual clues together to create the solution. Indicators not necessary but joining words like “with”, “follows”, “behind”, “after” are likely. More complex cryptic crosswords will often combine charade clues with other types of word-play. The use of abbreviations in charade clues is very common. For example:

More examples using abbreviations:

Containers

Letters or words are placed inside other words. Indicators: “within”, “in”, “around”, “about”, “contained”, “held”, “inside”, “retain”, “keeps”, “into”. For example:

Anagrams

Anagrams are the most common clue-type. Indicated by potentially hundreds of words that loosely mean modify or change. Some examples: “transfer”, “switch”, “cook”, “kill”, “reborn”, “mixed”, “turned”, “out”, “off”, “warped”, “lost”, “moved”. Always consider potential anagram indicators when solving any clue. Fodder (the letters to be jumbled) will always appear before or after indicator. Multiple whole words can be used as fodder however the number of letters must match the solution. For example:

Homophones

Homophones can be indicated by “heard”, “sounds like”, “audibly”, “noisily”, “out loud”, “say”, “spoken”.

Double Definition

Instead of wordplay clues can have two definitions side by side to give the same solution. For example:

Initialisms

First letter or letters provide the solution. Indicated by “first”, “prime”, “lead”, “head”, “top”. Note similarly “last”, “ultimate”, “final” can refer to the last letter. For example:

Odd/Even Clues

Take the odd or even letters to form the solution. Indicated by “odd”, “even”, “regularly” or “every second”. For example:

Deletions

Take letters out of clue to provide solution. Indicators: “heartlessly”, “looses”, “curtailed”, “dropped”, “gives up”. For example:

“& lit.”

An unusual type of word-play where the whole clue is both the definition and the word-play. “& lit.” clues are normally indicated by an exclamation mark.  This type of clue is normally only found in challenging puzzles. For example:

Language Clues

Basic Latin-based languages are sometimes used in clues. These are typically articles of French, Spanish and German.  For example:

Visual Clues

Occasionally objects that look like letters may be used in a clue. For example:

Combination Clues

Clues with more than one type of word-play are extremely common:

Next, check out some common cryptic crossword Abbreviations.