By EMILY COX & HENRY RATHVON
The difference between standard crosswords and "cryptic" crosswords is that the clues in the latter have two distinct parts. One part is a normal definition of the answer and the other is a hint using wordplay (examples below). A beginner might ask: Isn't a clue much easier to solve if it gives two hints to the answer? The hitch is that a good cryptic clue is worded misleadingly. The definition may appear before or after the wordplay, often with no punctuation to mark the point of division. The challenge and fun of a cryptic puzzle is to see through the clue-maker's deceptions.
1. DOUBLE DEFINITIONS
The simplest kind of wordplay hint is a second definition. For example, HOOD can mean "gangster" or "a cover for the head." So a clue for HOOD might read: "Cover for the head gangster (4)." (The number in parentheses indicates how many letters are in the answer.) Here is another clue of this type for you to solve: "Trim a tree (6)." (You'll find the answers to this and other sample clues at the end of the article.)
2. ANAGRAMS
A clue may show you what the letters of the answer would look like when scrambled, also giving a signal word such as "mixed," "aimless," or "fractured." An anagram clue for STEW could be "Wild West food (4)." Here is another clue of this type: "Noises in restless slumber (7)."
3. HIDDEN ANSWERS
Sometimes the answer will be hidden inside a longer word or phrase (as PLEAD is tucked inside "apPLE A Day"). Look for signals such as "caught in," "buried in," "part of," and "housed by." For example, CAT could be clued as: "Lover of birds imprisoned in Alcatraz (3)." Here's another example: "Karen always displays an engagement ring? (5)" (As in standard crosswords, a question mark at the end of a clue typically signals a punny definition.)
4. HOMOPHONES
The clue may tell you that the answer has the same sound as another word or words, giving a signal such as "we hear," "so it's said," or "orally." A homophone clue for BEAR (which sounds like "bare") could be: "Animal is naked, we hear (4)." See if you can solve this one: "Vocal gossip for a lodger (6)."
5. CHARADES
A clue may break the answer into two or more convenient parts and define them sequentially, as in the game of charades. FARMING (agriculture) breaks into "far" (remote) and "Ming" (Chinese dynasty), and could be clued as "Agriculture in remote Chinese dynasty (7)." Here is another charade: "A combo on leave (7)."
6. CONTAINERS
If the answer breaks into convenient parts not side by side but one within the other, the clue may say that one part "contains," "holds," "grips," or even "swallows" the other. CALLOW (inexperienced, green) has "all" inside "cow," yielding the clue "Bovine has eaten everything green (6)." A container for you to solve: "Mr. Crosby keeps it sharp (6)."
7. REVERSALS
The additional hint may tell you that the solution when seen backward (or upside-down, in the case of a Down answer) makes another word or words. SMART (keen) is the word "trams" (railway cars) backward. Its clue could be "Keen -- railway cars in reverse (5)." Here's another: "Strike friend's back (4)."
8. DELETIONS
If you take the "head" (first letter) from SENTRY, you'll get ENTRY. If you remove the "tail" (last letter) from BURRO, you'll get BURR. If you delete the "heart" (central letter) from FAUNS, you get FANS. Here's a clue using such a deletion: "Bird dog losing its head (5)."
9. COMPLEX CLUES
Sometimes (especially with longer words) these different kinds of hints may used in combination. But however complicated the operations may seem, full instructions will always be available for obtaining the answer. Here is an example of a clue combining a charade and an anagram: "Pagans, strangely, hate barnyard birds (8)."
Answers to the sample clues:1. SPRUCE (double def) 2. RUMBLES ("slumber"anag.) 3. ARENA (hid.)
4. ROOMER (homophone of "rumor") 5. A-BAND-ON 6. B(IT)ING
7. SLAP ("pal's" rev.) 8. (b)EAGLE 9. HEAT + HENS ("hate" anag.)
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