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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. 

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Cryptic Crosswords versus Traditional Crosswords

There are two major differences between cryptic crosswords and the straight crossword. The first thing you have to learn is a new way of looking at clues. The second is to become familiar with cryptic jargon. 

Understanding Cryptic 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 forming 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. How­ever 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 PLUM­AGE 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.

Orderly Clues

Orderly clues are those in which the sequences forming the answer are given in their correct order in the clue. The meaning of the whole is still given first or last. Think of the Latin numerals in this clue: 101+6+50 IS TO BE POLITE (5). Don’t add up the figures, but write each one in order: CI + VI + L. Join them together to get CIVIL meaning POLITE.

Remember to think of each part separately. 500 EQUALS 100 FOR THE RECORD (4) — D C, becomes D IS C, and DISC is a RECORD.

As you practise with cryptics, you will appreciate that you are looking in the clue for combinations of letters. Even if you can’t think of an answer straight away, you can still pick out some combinations that will help. Write each part down in the margin as it occurs to you and so build up the whole word.

Although DOCTOR in the clue can be PHYSICIAN or SURGEON, it is more likely to be one of the follow­ing combinations: MO, DR, MB, MD, DOC, GP, or just D. Any one of these combinations is then joined to others in the clue to make the whole answer.

Some letter combinations occur more often in English than others. For instance, the letters MO and DR are used in lots of words. The use of MB and MD and the others is more unusual.

DOCTOR TO UTILISE RODENT (5). This clue is broken down to MO (doctor) USE (to utilise) is then written together MOUSE (rodent).

DISCERNIBLY WITHOUT SKILL (7). The answer is NOTABLY (discernibly) made up by NOT (without) and ABLY (skill).

TLY MADE FROM DECIMAL (5) —OFTEN (of ten).

THE ALTERNATIVE TO THEM COULD BE A PROPOSITION (7) — THEOREM (the or ’em). ALTERNATIVE is OR, THEM is ‘EM, put THE in front and you get THEOREM. Don’t overlook THE and A as potentially part of the answer.

EXPERT USES FIFTY-NINE LETTERS — HOW TEDIOUSLY WORDY (6) — PROLIX from PRO (expert) and LIX (fifty-nine).

COMMANDING OFFICER TO BE LEADER OF REGIMENT FOR MONTH (7) — OCTOBER (OC TO BE R). LEADER is a fingerpost to abbreviation, so leader of regiment is R.

FATHER BEHIND IN TASTE (6) — PALATE (pa late). Father is usually PA but can be FR, DA, DAD, PATER.

LOUD EXPERT OF LEGEND (5) — FABLE (f able). F for LOUD and HARD comes from musical notation and pencil marking. FF is VERY LOUD. Similarly, P is QUIET and PP is VERY QUIET.

Part of an orderly clue can be an anagram. Remember an anagram fingerpost shows some form of alteration, breakdown, or doubt. You work out the anagram first, then combine it with other sequences to form the answer. In this case, the anagram does not have to be a word in itself. It is just a sequence of letters.

LIBERAL WITH INFORMATION TO THE ROUSEABOUT (8) — GENEROUS (liberal) from GEN (information) and EROUS (an anagram of ROUSE). Here, ABOUT, the anagram fingerpost, is joined to the letters it points to.

NEW IDEA AT START OF DECEMBER HELPED (5) — AIDED is helped. NEW is the fingerpost to IDEA which becomes AIDE. START is the fingerpost for D in DECEMBER.

Omissions

Some cryptic clues show that letters given in the clue can be omitted from the answer. Fingerposts point to loss. LEAVE, LOSE, WITHOUT, EMPTY are ex­amples. OTHERWISE I LEAVE ELSIE (4) — ELSE is otherwise. I is omitted from the name ELSIE. Re­member to look at the clue in sections. It is often the small words that are important.

TIRED, LOST RIGHT TO BE UNITED (4) — TIED — take R (right) from TIRED.

DRAGOON WITHOUT LOVE FOR A MONSTER (6) — DRAGON. Remember LOVE is 0 in tennis? It is common in cryptic jargon. DUCK is 0 too, from cricket.

SUITED ADA TO JOIN PIANO DUET WITHOUT YOU RETURNING (7) — ADAPTED is suited. ADA joins P (piano) and TED which is DUET without U (you) and reversed.

MONKEY CAME FROM HEADLAND WHEN SEA RECEDED (3) — APE. C (sea) is taken from CAPE (headland) to give APE (monkey).

Fingerposts may not always be so specific. HALF, NEARLY ALL, NOT ENOUGH, CUT, ALMOST, REDUCED, BRIEF, leave you guessing as to which sequence of letters you will keep.

The experienced solver delights in finding a new type of clue. It doesn’t matter if he has difficulty in solving it. It is still fun to see the answer and recognise a new tactic. The author has the privilege of using any trick he likes — providing it is interesting. You are probably familiar with many word games, but have not encoun­tered them in the setting of a clue before.

Puns

Puns are fairly common, often with a question mark or exclamation mark at the end of the clue. TWO FOOT FRUIT? (6) — PAWPAW. Hard, but fun to solve.

Adverbial Puns

These are rare, but worth noting. HOW BILL SAID: “I LIKE CAMPING” (8) — INTENTLY. HOW DICK SAID: “REST IN PEACE” (7) — GRAVELY.

Multiple Puns

OPEN QUESTION WILL GIVE TOO MUCH WORK (8). The answer, OVERTASK, as one word is TOO MUCH WORK, and as two words, is OVERT ASK —open and question.

INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR AT KILLING? (12) — MANSLAUGHTER (killing) or MAN’S LAUGHTER. PRESENT AT THIS TIME,

YET NOT (3,4) — NOW HERE or NOWHERE. Each part of the multiple clue will have a word or words with the same sequence of letters in the answer, but the breaks between the sequences will vary to give the meanings of the clue.

Crossing Clues

Crossing jokes have seasons of popularity and are par­ticularly enjoyed by children. Occasionally there is a crossing joke as a clue.

DOLLAR CROSSED WITH KANGAROO (10) — BUCKJUMPER.

Proper Nouns

Words with capital letters, names of people, places and certain things, are known as proper nouns. In the section on punctuation, you were advised to ignore capital letters. They really make no difference to an anagram or a hidden answer. However they could have a direct bearing on the answer in other ways.

Geographical

When a region is named, the clue might refer to a town or geographical feature in that country. GOOD FOR­TUNE AT PRESENT IN INDIA (7) — LUCKNOW. You may need to look at an atlas to find the right answer. You work out what sequences you can from the rest of the clue, then hunt on the map for some place relating to them. Watch for names with the same number of letters as the answer. Some dictionaries have lists of towns, islands, etc. which help.

The answer might depend on what happens at a particular place. WIMBLEDON, think of tennis. FLEM­INGTON, think of racing and the Melbourne Cup. It may refer to some historical event. HASTINGS, think of the battle, the leaders and the armies concerned. If you are stuck, look up an encyclopaedia for ideas.

The STATES usually means the sequence US or USA, American slang, or abbreviations of individual states there and in Australia. KENTUCKY is KY, TAS­MANIA is TAS.

Sometimes you need to relate the clue to its author. Think of his background. Is he Australian, British, or from another English-speaking nation? This may have some bearing on the references to places, famous people, sports, honours, forces, etc. Also meanings of the same word can vary between countries. Australian idiom has its roots in many dialects and languages besides English.

British references occur frequently because most cryptics originate in Great Britain.

RE for ENGINEERS. BOBBY for POLICEMAN. FA for FOOTBALL. RA for ARTIST.

Bear in mind that the British use “ONE’S” in speech more often than “YOUR”, which is an Australian idiom. TO STARVE YOURSELF IS SUICIDE is given as TO STARVE ONESELF IS SUICIDE. You need to re­member this when you get a phrase with four letters in it.

First Names

Check first for an anagram or hidden answer. Next try diminutives or abbreviations of the first name. Edward is Ed, or Ted, Ned, Eddie, Teddy or Neddy. You may get a fingerpost to diminutives such as LITTLE, YOUNG, WEE. YOUNG MARGARET is MEG. LITTLE RICHARD is DICK.

Try associations of the given first name. Think of famous surnames, nursery rhymes, attributes and words associated with the name. JACK can be Jack Lemmon, Jack Spratt, Jack the Ripper, Union Jack, Jack Frost, Jack and Jill. The author might have put the capital J in just to confuse you. JACK without the capital J is the jack meaning a lifter, a sailor, a flag, a card, and lots more. Look up jack in the dictionary for other meanings.

Surnames

If a surname is given, check first for an anagram or hidden answer. Then think of first names that go with it. Think of initials for the whole name. MRS BROWN­ING is Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Her initials are EBB. Think of her occupation — a poet. Since browning with­out the capital is a part of cooking, the clue, Mrs Brown­ing, might just mean a cook.

So with a given surname, think of first names, initials, occupation, and trades described by the surname. BARKER could be Ronnie, a spruiker, or a dog. A dog is one who barks. Remember the ending ER adds new dimensions to words in cryptic jargon.

Think of historical stories and geographical terms associated with the surname. NELSON with the battle of Trafalgar or some dozen or so towns, lakes and islands of that name. Check NELSON in your encyclopedia for other famous people with that name. You can also ignore the capital letter. NELSON is a wrestling hold.

Nationality

Surnames and first names may refer to the nationality concerned. PAT is Irish. MAC is Scottish. WELSH BOY could be EVAN, or DAVID, or DAI.

A nationality given in the clue can mean you translate the word either before or after it. THE FRENCH usually means the French word for THE. That is LE or LA or LES. FRENCH WINE is VIN. GOODBYE PIERRE is ADIEU (French for goodbye).

If the fingerpost is FOREIGN or ABROAD, you have to guess from other languages. Try French, German, Italian, or Spanish first. It is fortunate our crosswords need our alphabet, so that narrows the guesses a little. Greek letters do occur, but in their English form —alpha, beta, and on to omega.

Direct Quotations

These have been dealt with in the chapter on punctuation. Some clues are direct quotations with a dash for the missing word. Usually the writer or source is also given. .

Oblique Quotations

These assume you know something of the story behind them.

BOLDNESS OF STANLEY IN AFRICA (11) —PRESUMPTION. Sir H. M. Stanley in his book, says “Dr Livingstone, I presume” on meeting that gentleman in the heart of Africa. If you did not know the story, it would be difficult to solve the clue. You may get help from looking up the key words in the dictionary or in books of quotations, or proper nouns in an encyclopedia.

The reference may be to a common saying.

WORKS TROUBLEMAKER (7) — SPANNER. A spanner in the works is something which disrupts. Phrases like this are given in some dictionaries.

With proverbs and fables, a fingerpost, PROVERBI­ALLY or FABULOUSLY may be used. PROVERBI­ALLY NO MOSS GATHERER (5) — STONE from “a rolling stone gathers no moss”. FABULOUSLY PLAIN CYGNET (4,8) — UGLY DUCKLING from the fairy­tale by Hans Anderson with that title.

References

It is wise to get into the habit of checking even well known words in a good dictionary, especially if you are having difficulty with the clue. The Macquarie Dictionary contains current English usage world wide, as well as the traditional Australian meanings of words. It also explains phrases and hyphenated words under key words. And it has people, places and events.

Postcodes provide a reference for place names in Australia. Find them in the back of telephone books or in booklets provided by the post office.

For speedy reference there are “crossword diction­aries” available with word lists and synonyms. The Macquarie Crossword Dictionary has lists of synonyms grouped in order of numbers of letters.

Some words refer to characters in classical literature, mythology, the Bible, the sciences and history. Again the Macquarie Crossword Dictionary is a speedy reference for this kind of information.

The most helpful list of all is difficult to find in any printed source. It is a list of cryptic jargon. An experi­enced cryptic solver has this list in his memory. He or she would probably be surprised at the size of it. If you are a beginner, it is worth making one of your own.

Cryptic crosswords become easier when you begin to recognise the fingerpost in the clue and what it points to. You have probably already realised that a fingerpost can be any part of speech. Adverbs and adjectives are most common, followed by verbs, nouns and prepositions. All derived forms are used in clues. SOUND, for instance, can be SOUNDS, SOUNDED, SOUNDLY, SOUNDNESS, SOUNDING, SOUNDER, and still be a fingerpost.

On the other hand, there may be many clues where SOUND is not a fingerpost but a sequence in its own right. The main thing is that you are aware of the possibility of a fingerpost.

You will save yourself a lot of time by trying the word as a fingerpost first. Don’t be disillusioned if it doesn’t work out. It is a way of being methodical in your approach to clues. You will probably recognise anagram fingerposts first, even though they are so diverse. They are always a bonus and usually start you putting pen to crossword with confidence.

Any word implying breakdown, alteration, or doubt can point to an anagram. These are also the most varied. Authors can choose to fingerpost relating to the clue from a long list of words. The most used fingerposts are PERHAPS, SADLY, POSSIBLE, ORDERED, ODD, MIXED, WORRIED.

Words implying beginning or shortening are finger-posts to abbreviations. The most common are START, HEAD, INITIALLY, BRIEF, LITTLE.

The words SOME, IN, PART, CONCEALED, point to a hidden answer. It is very easy and quick to check the clue for a hidden answer. Watch for the little words that are fingerposts, especially IN.

Words about speech or hearing are fingerposts to homonyms. These are words that sound alike. Common fingerposts are SOUNDS, HEAR, SAID.

There are no fingerposts pointing directly to orderly clues. Fingerposts within them apply to a sequence form­ing part of the answer.

Fingerposts showing position are important to twisted clues. They point to beginning, middle, end, enclosures, reversals, repetition. Take each word in the clue separ­ately and you will soon be able to recognise a fingerpost to position.

Words implying loss, LEAVE, NO, and any words ending in LESS should make you check for omissions.

Words showing gain, MORE THAN, LARGER, are fingerposts to additions.

Some fingerposts point in two or three directions. CHANGE, NEW, point to substitution and also to anagrams.

Diminutive fingerposts, LITTLE, YOUNG, could also point to abbreviations. NO, NOT, fingerposts to omission clues, can also point to anagrams. ABOUT and UPSET point to both reversal and anagrams. Practice will help you to distinguish which is correct for any one clue.

Finally remember words used as fingerposts can also have a meaning in their own right in other clues. ABOUT can be a fingerpost to anagram, reversal, surrounding position, nearly (in additions and omissions), or translated into a sequence of letters (RE, CIRCA, CIRCUM, CA, C, AMBI, PERI, AMPHI), or as two words, A BOUT (trial of strength, spell of illness or work, etc.).

You need to be broadminded with cryptic clues. Recognise a possible fingerpost and try it out. If you don’t get the proper answer, then forget the fingerpost and treat it as just another word in the clue.

  • Go through the contents page of this book. Is there a type of clue you haven’t yet considered?
  • Have you skipped over a small word that may be a fingerpost?
  • Could you form two words from any single word in the clue? Remember INDEED and CARMEN.
  • Look again at each word separately. Why has the author used that particular word? Why has he in­cluded it at all?
  • Is the punctuation confusing you? Try it without punctuation or capital letters.
  • Have you thought of all possible meanings of the clue words? Check the dictionary. Be aware of words spelt the same but with different accents and meanings. Is ENTRANCE a door, or does it charm you?
  • You can experiment by adding letters to the ones you already have in the puzzle. Try endings that might fit. The tense of the clue is usually the tense of the answer. In past tense you may try ED or T at the end of the
  • ING ending in the clue? Try ING ending in the answer.

Think of noun endings — ION, ER, IST, ENCE, NESS, ENT, and so on.