The Times How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords. Tim Moorey

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СКАЧАТЬ (INSIDE) Millions put into match magazine Put MILLIONS = M inside MATCH = TIE HOMOPHONE Herb mentioned in magazine Find a word for a HERB sounding like TIME (THYME) HIDDEN Some sentimental magazine Find a word within SENTIMENTAL REVERSAL (ACROSS CLUE) Magazine issue backed Reverse ISSUE = EMIT REVERSAL (DOWN CLUE) Magazine issue taken up Reverse ISSUE = EMIT TAKEAWAY Nameless chaps behind note in magazine Remove NAME = N from MEN; add NOTE = TI LETTER SWITCH Magazine volume, one for nothing Replace NOTHING = O in VOLUME = TOME with I ALL-IN-ONE Male, interned in Windsor is doing this? Put MALE = M inside WINDSOR = TIE Types 9-12 ADDITIVE Note yours truly in magazine Add NOTE = TI to YOURS TRULY = ME DOUBLE DEFINITION Bird magazine Two ways of expressing time, BIRD is time in prison CRYPTIC DEFINITION Wilde did it in a sentence Think of Oscar W in prison NOVELTY Spell centimetre: this is in middle – in middle! Find TIME centrally inside CENTRE

      WHY ARE SOME CLUES MORE DIFFICULT THAN OTHERS?

      Levels of cryptic difficulty are shown by these sandwich clues, all using the same definition don’t worry and all giving the same answer but with differing wordplay:

       Ned catches vermin, don’t worry (5,4): The letters to be manipulated are in the clue ie Ned outside vermin

       Edward catches vermin, don’t worry (5,4): A small change from Edward to Ned is required

       Boy catches mice, don’t worry (5,4): Two changes are needed as mice has to become vermin

      I hope you got never mind as the answer in each case. If you didn’t, never mind, as the point remains that while clue structures are the same, synonyms have to be found before the sandwich can be made and it is this that makes solving more difficult. Of course, unusual words as answers and obscure references are other causes of difficulty.

4: Tips for Solving Clues

       “This isn’t biography. It’s the only thing the English are good at… crossword puzzles.”

      Alan Bennett, Kafka’s Dick

      Having considered clue types and various points associated with each, we will now consider some tips on how you might go about solving them.

      Seasoned solvers have many ways of uncovering a clue’s solution. The ones following are in no particular recommended order of importance, except that the first two are often quoted as ways to get started.

       1. Find the definition

      As you know by now, the definition part of nearly all clues is either at the beginning or end of a clue. Identifying it quickly, and assessing the definition in conjunction with word-length shown, allows the possibility of a good initial guess which can then be checked against wordplay before entry.

      2. Find an indicator and/or clue type

      Not all clues have indicators, as we have seen, but where they do, try to use them to identify the clue type. For example, you may spot a familiar anagram indicator such as mixed or battered and thence compare the letters in the anagram fodder with the word-length of the solution given. If they correspond, there is a good chance that you have identified the wordplay element of the clue and can develop that into a possible solution.

      3. Ignore the scenario

      Setters do their best to produce clues which paint a smooth, realistic picture, referred to as the surface meaning or just surface. Try to ignore it however and look at the individual components in front of you. Take the clue overleaf, seemingly about a party:

      ADDITIVE CLUE: Last ones in get no sherry trifle (3)

      You can be pretty sure that recalling memories of children’s parties will not be productive. It’s just a clever deception by the use of ones for letters and a letter selection indicator, last (see Chapter 3, here), leading to trifle = toy.

      TOP TIP – SURFACE MEANING

      The ability to look beyond surface meaning is what newbies find the hardest part of cracking a cryptic clue. My advice can only be to keep trying.

      4. Exploit word-lengths

      Use friendly word-lengths such as 4,2,3,4 with the central two being perhaps something like in the or of the; and 4,4,1,4 nearly always embracing the letter A, from which something like once upon a time may be the guessable answer.

      5. Study every word

      Consider each word carefully, separately and together. Disregard phrases which go naturally together such as, say, silver wedding, and split them into their parts. It could be that the definition is silver on its own and wedding is part of the wordplay.

      In doing this, think of all the meanings of a word rather than the one that comes first into your head.

      For example, forget drink in its marine sense in the next clue and switch to alcohol. The indicator some makes it a hidden clue.

      HIDDEN CLUE: Some termed ocean the drink (5)

      Here is another misleading image in the second example below, which has nothing to do with music:

      HOMOPHONE СКАЧАТЬ