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Lesson 1: Cryptic Clue Anatomy

So, seeing as I'm even more au fait with cryptic crosswords now, than I was before, LOL, I'll start a little series of tutorials on this blog, and will post clues and explanations as I go. I'm also planning on doing a weekly analysis of The Gemini Cryptic Crossword, which is published in The Canberra Times, and many other places.

SO. What ARE cryptic crosswords (apart from utterly infuriating?!).

A cryptic crossword is a British invention, and as such tends to be more wide-spread and popular in the UK and Commonwealth countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India etc). There are a few American outlets for cryptics, but only a few.

A cryptic is set in a normal crossword grid, which looks something like this:



Note that this is a British style grid, not an American one (main difference is the pattern of and number of black squares, much higher in a British style grid, while in an American grid every single letter is crossed by both an across and a down word, and there are very few black squares).

Now, a normal 'quick' crossword has definition clues. So you might find a clue that reads:

Betrayal (7) = TREASON

That's easy enough. They can still be hard, especially if the answers are rare words, and the definitions may sometimes be rather oblique, or examples of something, but you're generally just looking for a straight synonym to get the answer.

In a cryptic clue, however, there are TWO ways of getting to the answer. Each clue is a little mini puzzle, with a variety of sorts of standard wordplay devices used. The wordplay is also called the subsidiary indication, or sometimes just the subsidiary, but I prefer wordplay, cos that says what it is more clearly.

So, the basic anatomy of a cryptic clue is:

Definition + Wordplay = Answer

Using the example above, a cryptic clue for the same answer could be something like:

Betrayal from unstable senator (7) = TREASON

In this particular clue, betrayal is the definition, as in the 'straight' clue above. The wordplay section is unstable senator, and from is a linking word, joining the two halves of the clue (these are sometimes present in a clue, but not always).

So, what about this unstable senator malarkey? Who is this perfidious senator, and why is he unstable?!

Well, unstable is what's known as an anagram indicator — this is a word in the clue that tells you that an anagram is present, and you need to jumble up some of the letters in the word. And yes, you guessed it, senator is the word to jumble up (also known as the anagram fodder). And sure enough, when you jumble up the letters of senator, you get TREASON!

Indicator words play an important part in many (but not all) cryptic clues. They are pointers to you as to what to actually do with the other words in the clue, and how to get to the answer. So there are anagram indicators, and hidden word indicators, and charade indicators, and ...  you get the idea!

There are about 8 or so types of common cryptic devices. Over the coming weeks I'll explain each one with examples, so you can really get the hang of them. I'll also post new clues, and see if I can get some interactive cryptic crosswords happening here too.

What I love about cryptic clues is there's two ways to get to the answer, and it's very satisfying when you get both parts of the clue to equal the same thing! I've even learnt new words from solving cryptics ... I figure out the wordplay and think: "Huh, I think that's right, but is that even a word?" I look it up, and sure enough, there it is, with its definition, that matches the definition in the clue! Score!

Next time ... Anagrams!

Comments

  1. Excellent, Denise. Am looking forward to the next instalment.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love doing ordinary crosswords that have cryptic clues too. I makes it doubly easy. You explain it so well.

    ReplyDelete

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