The first in a series of articles by our crossword complier Michael Curtis for crossword fans
The intention of a “cryptic clue†crossword compiler is to produce a puzzle that a moderately well-educated person with a love of and interest in language and problem-solving can complete, without recourse to a dictionary or reference book. The word “cryptic†means “secret†and clues in cryptic puzzles are just like that. To understand them, you have to read them in a very devious way. What the clue appears to be defining on the surface is designed as a distraction and is almost never what it really means. However, the clue will always tell you what the answer is, even if you have to twist your brain inside out to read the clue in the correct manner.
Getting Started
The best way to get started is to study previous grids and analyse the answers. This will help generate a list of the particular signposts used by the compiler.
Things to Remember:
- Most cryptic clues provide at least two paths to the solution. The trick is knowing how to decipher the meaning. Generally, each clue will contain a definition of the answer and a cryptic means of reaching it.
- The great majority of cryptic clues are meaningless if read conventionally. What the clue appears to say when read normally is a distraction and usually has nothing to do with the clue answer. The challenge is to find the way of reading the clue that leads to the solution.
- The typical clue consists of two parts – the definition and the word play. It provides two ways of getting to the answer. The definition is, in essence, the same as any “straight†crossword, a synonym for the answer. The other part, “the subsidiary indicationâ€, or “wordplayâ€, provides an alternative route to the answer. The solver needs to find the boundary between definition and wordplay and insert a mental pause there.
- In the same way, ignore all punctuation. The punctuation is there to make the crossword clue read like a real sentence or expression; it has no relevance to the answer. Hence: She took gold, keeping mum (5) = WOMAN. Read the clue as “She/took gold keeping mumâ€. Took gold = WON. Keeping indicates that one part of the answer contains or encloses another. Mum = MA, so WO-MA-N.
- Understanding that cryptic clue compilers often use words in a literal sense will help considerably. Words that can mean more than one thing are commonly exploited; often the meaning the solver must use is completely different from the one it appears to have in the clue. For example, in cryptic terms, summer is more likely to refer to a MATHEMATICIAN or a COUNTER than a time of year or season, and a drop out will probably refer to a PARACHUTIST rather than someone seeking an alternative lifestyle. Bloomer will probably mean FLOWER (something that blooms), Flower could be a RIVER (something that flows) and Winger is usually a BIRD