How to Solve Cryptic Crosswords

If you enjoy puzzles, chances are you've tried a cryptic crossword occasionally - and given up, because you didn't know where to start. Even when you can check the answers, you may not understand where they came from!

But cryptic clues can be solved, and once you get started, they can be a a fun pastime.

Like most professionals, compilers (the people who make up the crosswords) have their own jargon and set of guidelines. Once you know what those are, cryptics begin to make a lot more sense.

Believe it or not, a cryptic clue usually includes a perfectly ordinary, straightforward clue, exactly like the ones you find in simple crosswords, within it.

This is where cryptic clues are so fiendish - they give you a simple clue, but then add more words which simultaneously give you more hints to the meaning and misdirect you!

So the first thing you should do is go through the puzzle like an ordinary crossword, using what you think are the simple clues.

• The straightforward clue is usually the first word or two, or the last word or two, of the cryptic clue.

If it's an easier cryptic, identifying the simple clue may be enough to give you a couple of answers that fit (even if you can't make sense of the rest of the words).

Also be on the alert for cryptic compilers who throw in a completely straightforward clue to trick you - they know you'll probably overthink it, and overlook the obvious answer.

A "fingerpost" is a code-breaker. They're used as a signal, to tell you what kind of clue you're dealing with. While some words are used regularly as fingerposts, many compilers go out of their way to find unusual ones with the same meaning - so watch out!

Very short clues don't have fingerposts. When a word is a fingerpost in a longer clue, you usually don't use it for anything else.

Anagrams

When you take a word or phrase, and rearrange the letters to form another one, that's an anagram. Anagrams are used a lot in cryptics.

Words meaning disorder (e.g. confuse, upset, demolished, broken, ruined, altered, unsettle) are usually fingerposts to an anagram.

Hidden Words

Another common trick is to use two adjoining words to make a new word. For instance, "Some tutor altered the exam" gives "oral".

Words meaning part or hidden (obviously) are fingerposts to this kind of clue (e..g conceals, partly, contains, in, some, content)

Homonyms

Homonyms are words that sound the same but are spelled differently, e.g. weight and wait, rein and rain. Fingerposts for a homonym are words to do with hearing or speaking (e.g. heard, sound, noisy, said).

Don't be too pedantic when deciding what sounds alike - remember the author may be from another city or country, and pronounce things slightly differenty!

Initial Letters

When you see a clue including the word meaning start or head (e.g. top, primarily, front, leader, leading), the compiler is signalling to use the first letter of one (or more) of the words in the clue.

Omissions

Omissions are when the answer is achieved by leaving out some letters of the clue.

For instance, "Otherwise I leave Elsie" = "else". The word "leave" signals that I have to leave something out to get the answer - in this case, the "i" in "Elsie". Other possible signals are lose or empty.

Puns

Just as we often groan at a pun in everyday life, so in crosswords. Puns are fingerposted by an exclamation mark or a question mark.

Positioning

There are all kinds of signals relating to position - words like before, behind, around. These tell you that you need to find two or more words, then arrange them in the sequence indicated.

For instance, "Abduct child before sleep" = "kidnap" ("abduct" is the simple clue, "kid" is the child and "nap" is the sleep - and kid comes before nap).

Shortening

If you need to shorten a word to get the answer, you'll see fingerposts meaning short (e.g. brief, cut, tiny). A clever one to watch is "endless" meaning the word loses its end - geddit?

I hate to break it to you - but I've listed only the most popular fingerposts, and there are several more rules and conventions to look out for when you're doing a cryptic!

The good news is that with the above information, you'll have enough to start solving a good proportion of the clues in a crossword. As every puzzler knows, once you have a few answers, it's much easier to find the rest - and as you do, you'll discover some of the other "rules" for yourself.

However, I have to admit that didn't work for me! I really struggled to the hang of it - until I had to fly to London, and bought a book on how to solve cryptics to amuse myself. There's nothing like several boring hours on a plane to concentrate the mind!

The book worked for me, because it had a practice puzzle at the end of each chapter, designed to use the kind of clues I'd just learned about. It's out of print now, but Random House and Mensa both offer books in a similar format. They're expensive new, but you'll find plenty of used copies around - just make sure none of the puzzles are done before you buy!