The Times How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords. Tim Moorey
CLUE (DOWN): Boat however turned up (3)
Indicators for reversal clues:
Anything showing backward movement, e.g. around, over, back, recalled.
Do be aware that some reversal indicators apply to down clues only, reflecting their position in the grid. The example above of a down clue uses turned up for this purpose; other possibilities are overturned, raised, up, on the way up and served up.
7. The letter switch clue
Where two words differ from each other by one or more letters, this can be exploited by setters so that moving one or more letters produces another word, the solution. Here is an example in which you are instructed to shift S for South along a word meaning coast to produce a fish. You are not told which of the two s’s is to be moved but trial and error will eventually show it’s the second.
An extra point to be brought out here is that if a pause or comma after the first word is imagined, the instruction should become clearer. This imaginary punctuation effect is common to many crossword clues; see Chapter 4, here, for more on this point.
LETTER SWITCH CLUE: : Fish move south along the coast (3,5)
There is also a form of letter switch in which letters are replaced rather than moved; see Chapter 8, here, for more on this.
8. The all-in-one clue
In many crossword circles this is also known as & lit. However, I have found my workshop participants usually consider this too cryptic a name! It actually means “and is literally so” but people tend to puzzle over that at the expense of understanding the concept.
In fact, it is a simple one that I prefer to call all-in-one, which is what it is: the definition and wordplay are combined into one, often shortish sentence which, when decoded, leads to a description of the solution.
ALL-IN-ONE CLUE: Heads of the several amalgamated Russian states (5)
This clue relies on the letter selection indicator heads (see here) to provide the solution. Most of the clueing techniques outlined earlier can be used to make an all-in-one clue (see examples in Chapter 8, here), always provided that the definition and wordplay are one and the same.
Probably the commonest type is an all-in-one anagram, with an anagram as part or all of the wordplay and no extra definition needed because it has been provided by the wordplay. Here is an example:
ALL-IN-ONE ANAGRAM CLUE: A pot’s stirred with one? (8)
Incidentally, this clue demonstrates how punctuation can give you some help with a clue. The question mark is telling you that a pot isn’t necessarily stirred with a spoon but it may be. For examples of when punctuation is not so helpful, see Chapter 4, here.
The remaining four types
Now we will focus on the remaining four clue types. Remember that these four only very rarely include indicators within the clue sentence. Here they are together in one chart from which we will proceed to examine each one in turn, starting at the top and going clockwise.
How do we recognize these when no indicator is included?
Punctuation may occasionally be helpful but it’s mainly intelligent guesswork that’s needed. Are these types therefore harder? You can judge for yourself but I’d say not necessarily.
9. The double definition clue
This is simply two, or occasionally more, definitions of the solution side by side. There may be a linking word such as is or ’s, but most frequently there is none, as in this clue.
DOUBLE DEFINITION CLUE: Polish fan (4)
DOUBLE DEFINITION CLUE: Eggs on toast (6)
Indicators for double definition clues:
To repeat, though no specific indicator is given the clue type can often be guessed by its shortness. With only two or three words in a clue, there’s a good chance it’s a double definition. One way of spotting this type of clue is an and in a short clue, as in our next example.
DOUBLE DEFINITION CLUE 3: Bit of butter and jam (6)
10. The additive clue
As we saw at the very beginning of this book, an additive clue consists of the solution word being split into parts to form the solution. Sometimes known as a charade (from the game of charades, rather than its more modern meaning of ‘absurd pretence’), it may be helpful to describe it as a simple algebraic expression A + B = solution C. Here is one with several misleading aspects. Note the use of the linking phrase employed ahead of, telling you to join part A to part B:
ADDITIVE CLUE: Pole employed ahead of young local worker (8)
Indicators for additive clues:
With no specific indicator, it’s a question rather of spotting that A + B can give C, the solution. Sometimes, as in above example, this is made easier by linkwords such as facing, alongside, with, next to, indicating that the parts A and B have to be set alongside each other. In the case of down clues, the corresponding linkwords would be on top of, looking down on and similar expressions, thereby reflecting the grid position of letters to be entered.
11. The cryptic definition clue
There are no component parts at all to this clue, which consists simply of a misleading, usually one-dimensional, way to describe the solution. Depending on how much information is imparted by the clue, it can be very easy or very tough. The best of these clues have an amusing or whimsical air, as in both these examples:
CRYPTIC DEFINITION CLUE: Work at home temporarily? (7,4)
CRYPTIC DEFINITION CLUE: In which all but one in party lose their seats (7,6)
Indicators for cryptic definitions: