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Hints on Solving Crosswords (1)

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This page deals with the way most crossword clues contain two ways to reach the answer. If you're happy with this, but want to read about some of the different types of cryptic clues, click here.

There are two common reactions when telling someone you like solving cryptic crosswords, both as it happens, utterly wrong. They are:

"Oh, you need a special type of mind to be able to solve them"; or
"I just can't do cryptic crosswords".

The fact is, anyone with a reasonable grasp of English can learn how to solve most cryptic clues, if they're prepared to put the time in, learning the basics. You no more need a special type of mind to master cryptic clues than you do to learn French. You just, and this is worth repeating, need to be prepared to put the time in, learning the basics.

There are a number of 'types' of cryptic clue, the most common of which are explained in greater detail here. For the time being however, it is worth remembering the CRYPTIC CROSSWORD GOLDEN RULE:

"A cryptic clue contains two different ways to get to the answer, one of which should be a straight definition included either at the beginning or the end"

It can be seen therefore that cryptic crosswords are no more difficult than so-called 'quickie' crosswords that consist of nothing but straight clues. In fact you could say they are easier as you should usually get two ways to get to the answer!

For example, a straight, 'quickie' clue might read:

Planet (5)

It would of course be impossible to answer this straight away, as the answer could be Earth or Venus. Even if you knew the fourth letter was a 'T', you'd still hesitate to put 'Earth' in case the setter still thought 'Pluto' was a planet!

A cryptic clue however might read:

Dust planet (5); or
Even USA hides planet (5)

In the first clue, you can see (hopefully!) that both words can be taken to mean 'earth / Earth'. The word 'dust' is simply a synonym of 'earth' (according to my Chambers Thesaurus, both are synonyms of 'land'). This is known as a 'double-straight' clue ,which is explained in more detail here.

The second clue is (only slightly!) trickier. As you can see, the phrase 'Even USA' literally 'hides' or contains the word 'Venus' which is of course, a planet. This is a simple 'hidden' clue, which is explained in more detail here.

You should have noted that neither answer has anything to do with the literal or 'surface' reading of the clue. The first answer has nothing to with looking for the name of a 'dust planet', and the second certainly has nothing to do with America hiding planets! Most cryptic clues will be worded so as to mislead the solver in this way.

It is also worth noting that in both clues, the 'straight' (or 'definition') element of the clue is at the beginning or end of the clue. A clue for 'Venus' for example that read:

Even USA has planet hidden away (5)

would be frowned on as despite the clue making grammatical sense, the 'straight' part of the clue is tucked away in the middle.

There is of course, so much more to solving cryptic clues than has been described above. There is a whole virtual language of crosswordese to get to grips with, and a number of different types of clue to master, but with practice (and patience!) you'll soon have people gasping at your 'special kind of mind'!

Finally, remember the CRYPTIC CROSSWORD GOLDEN RULE:

"A cryptic clue contains two different ways to get to the answer, one of which should be a straight clue included either at the beginning or the end"

although bear in mind, rules are also made to be broken! But more of that later!

In the meantime, check out our guide to some of the more common types of cryptic crossword clue here. If you have any crossword queries, why not contact our resident cruciverbalist (crossword setter to you and me!), Boaz, at Boaz@Cryptics.co.uk. He won't bite*.

* probably!