Cryptic crossword

Cryptic crosswords are a particular type of crossword which have become widely popular in the UK, and several other Commonwealth nations such as Australia, New Zealand and India. Each individual clue is a word puzzle in and of itself (often involving anagrams).

Related Topics:
Crossword - UK - Commonwealth - Australia - New Zealand - India - Anagram

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In the UK, The Times is particularly noted for the difficulty of its cryptic crossword; however, all the broadsheets and tabloid-size newspapers in the UK carry both cryptic and concise crosswords on a daily basis. Cryptic crosswords are uncommon in U.S. publications, though they can be found occasionally in the New York Times, in the British-based Financial Times and in magazines with cultural pretensions such as The Nation, Harper's, and Atlantic Monthly—the latter two monthlies print in each issue a difficult puzzle with wayward rules after the style associated with The Listener. Other sources of cryptic crosswords (at all difficulty levels) are puzzle books and in GAMES Magazine.

Related Topics:
The Times - Broadsheets - Newspaper - Financial Times - The Nation - Harper's - Atlantic Monthly - The Listener - GAMES Magazine

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In essence, a cryptic clue describes its answer accurately but only when the clue is read in a very devious way. What the clue appears to say when read normally (the surface reading) is almost never anything to do with the answer and is there as a distraction. The challenge for the solver is to find a way of reading the clue that leads to the solution.

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In a typical clue, the answer is described twice: One part of the clue is a definition and a second part (the subsidiary indication) describes the answer in terms of wordplay. (The subsidiary indication can be a second definition in the case of double definition clues.) One of the tasks of the solver is to work out where this boundary occurs and insert a mental pause there when reading the clue cryptically. (Sometimes the two parts are joined with a link word or phrase.)

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Because a typical cryptic clue describes its answer in detail and often more than once, the solver can usually have a great deal of confidence in the answer once it has been found. This is in contrast to non-cryptic crossword clues which often have several possible answers and force the solver to use the crossing letters to distinguish which was intended.

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Here is an example (taken from The Guardian crossword of Aug 6 2002, set by "Shed"):

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:Very sad unfinished story about rising smoke (8)

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is a clue for TRAGICAL. This breaks down as follows:

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• "Very sad" is the definition.
• "Unfinished story" gives "Tal" ("tale" with one letter missing, ie "unfinished")
• "rising smoke" gives "ragic" (a "cigar" is a smoke and this is a down clue and so "rising" indicates that "cigar" should be written going up the page i.e. backwards)
• "about" means that the letters of "tal" should be put either side of "ragic", giving "tragical"
• "(8)" says that the answer is a single word of eight letters.

There are many "code words" or "indicators" which have special meaning within the cryptic crossword context (in the example above, "about", "unfinished"

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and "rising" all fall into this category) and learning these, or being able to spot them, is a useful and necessary part of becoming a skilled cryptic crossword solver.

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There are notable differences between British and North American (including Canadian) cryptics. American cryptics are thought of as holding to a more rigid set of construction rules than British ones, which may be either praised or vilified depending on which side of the Atlantic a solver is from. American cryptics usually require all words in a clue to be used in service of the wordplay or definition, whereas British ones allow for more extraneous or supporting words.

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Compilers or setters (or cruciverbalists as many term themselves) often use slang terms and abbreviations, generally without indication, so familiarity with these can be useful. Also words that can mean more than one thing are common, often the meaning the solver must use is completely different to the one it appears to have in the clue. Some examples are:

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• Bloomer - often means flower (a thing that blooms).
• Flower - often means river (a thing that flows).
• Lead - could be the metal, or the verb.
• Novel - could be a book, or a word for new, or a code-word indicating an anagram.
• Permit - could be a noun (meaning licence) or a verb (meaning allow).
 
Cryptic crossword: Types of clue ►