The cryptic crossword or
British-style crossword differs from the standard American-style
crossword puzzle in that they have
complex,
two-part clues. One of the parts should be a
straightforward clue, like in an
American crossword, while the other may be a
definition of another sense of the word, or some form of
wordplay.
Cryptic Crossword Clue Types
- Each clue consists of two separate parts, the straight definition and the wordplay, run together to make a single statement that usually makes some sort of sense (or nonsense), called the surface reading. The wordplay may be any of the types described in the following rules. These two parts may be separated by a connective word or run directly together, but they do not overlap or intermingle; the straight definition will always appear at the beginning or end of the clue. The one exception to this rule is &lit., or literal clues. In these clues, the entire clue is a straight definition (though perhaps a stilted or punny one), and the entire clue can be read differently to be a wordplay clue for the answer. The classic example is "A grim era, perhaps!" (solution). These clues are customarily denoted by an exclamation point (!) at the end of the clue. Watch out for clues where words in either part of the clue have a different meaning in the clue than in the surface reading.
- Double definition: In this type of clue, the wordplay is simply another definition for another meaning or sense of the word. Sometimes one of the definitions is a pun. Example: "Pisa's tower does it fat-free." (solution). As in American crosswords, a punny definition is often denoted by a question mark (?) at the end of the clue.
- Anagram: In this type of clue, the wordplay is a scrambled form of the answer, together with a word (called the anagram indicator) which indicates some sense of rearrangement, mix-up, confusion, or change. Sometimes the letters to be rearranged are given literally in the clue, while other times the word to be anagrammed may be one that is defined or suggested by the clue, but anagramming of words defined in the clue is generally limited to easier words. Anagrams are often combined with other clue types; you could have a container clue where one of the two words is anagrammed, or a charade where one of the parts is anagrammed, or a couple parts are anagrammed together.
- Reversal: In a reversal clue, the wordplay is a word (possibly literally given but usually defined) together with a word that suggests reversal: back, turned around, left, west, up, north (note that some of these only work with across clues or only with down clues). This is often combined with a charade, where either one part of a charade is reversed, or a charaded combination of two or more parts is then, as a whole, reversed.
- Charade: In a charade clue, the answer is clued as two or more parts, which can be joined to form the answer. For example, "Find the opposite of solid water." (solution) Charades are very often combined with other clue types, especially in cluing some of the parts that make up the clue. A charade clue does not need any special indicator word to indicate the joining of parts, though sometimes one may be present.
- Container: In container clues, the wordplay consists of clues for two words (sometimes one of them may be given literally, especially if it is a small word), together with an indicator of one word being within, surrounded by, eaten, or otherwise contained in the other word. Thus "gaits" could be clued as "it" inside "gas". Often one or both parts of the container are clued as wordplay of other types.
- Hidden Word: In these clues, the answer is hidden within other words, as "April" is hidden within "chap riled." An indicator word is normally present, either indicating concealment or containment; these indicators can sometimes be confused with the indicators for container clues. These clues usually stand alone, but occasionally can be combined with other type of clues, such as a reversed hidden word.
- Homophone: In these clues, another word that sounds the same as the answer is clued, along with an indicator word that suggests sound, speech or hearing.
- Deletion: In these clues, a word is clued that contains all the letters of the answer in order plus one (or sometimes more than one) extra letter, and some other indicator suggests to remove the extra letter(s). Most often these are beheadments and curtailments, but the deletion clue can also suggest the removal of the middle letter or some specific letter.
- Letter choice: These are usually not clues on their own, but are parts involved in the other clue types. These clues suggest a specific letter or letters, usually by taking the first, last, or middle letter of some other word, as in "first of March" (M), "last year" (R), and "apple core" (P), or a letter in a specific position in the word, such as "second class" (L). These clues do occasionally appear on their own without other wordplay, as in "Start of each afternoon seems youthful, not difficult." (solution).