A cryptic crossword is a special sort of puzzle. Each clue in a cryptic crossword is actually a little puzzle of its own. Cryptics were invented in Britain, and continue to be extremely popular there. So popular that a cryptic crossword appears in every major British newspaper on a daily basis. With time, perhaps we'll be so lucky as to see them in every newspaper across our country too. As you'll appreciate when you learn to solve them, they are very addictive!
The charm of a cryptic clue is that it's deceptive at first, yet ultimately unambiguous. Deceptive, since no clue means what it first appears to on the surface. Yet unambiguous, since each clue gives you two ways to confirm its answer. The basic premise of cryptic clue writers is summed up in Afrit's Injunction: "You need not mean what you say, but you must say what you mean". (Afrit is the pseudonym of a famous British cryptician.)
For example, let's look at clues for the answer THERESA CUNNINGHAM(author of a lot of cryptic crosswords)
In a regular crossword, the clue might be:
Cryptic crossword writer
In a cryptic crossword, the clue might be:
Nicer man then hugs a wildly beautiful Canadian woman (7,10)
See how it works? The whole cryptic clue is a set of instructions for solving the answer. The letters in Nicer man then hugs a, when rearranged (written ildly), will spell Theresa Cunningham (a beautiful Canadian woman).
I started solving Hindu crosswords around 3 months back and have solved about 3 of 4 crosswords only completely all this while!!! Today is one of the days :) So I thought i could share some tips to solve any cryptic crossword :)
Here is the solution for today's Hindu crossword (December 10, 2008) :)
Have a look at it and understand the basics of solving a cryptic crossword :)
And some tips are also given below.
Across
1 Opinion found in to misguide arguments (4)IDEA
9 Designed an ice manor in shore regardless of the circumstances (4,4,2,5) COME RAIN OR SHINE
10 Sound of bells in the outer layer, overheard (4)PEAL
11 Refusal of an old style of English bird trap (5) NO OS E
12 Im a leader of Muslim men (4) IMAM
13 Many tear off a large container (5)CRATE
14 Starting off a close association with a friend by making a droning sound (7)HUMMING
16 Strikes out a container for the Church of England left in space (7) CAN CELS
18 Get-together a bit at the end of the day (5) PARTY
22 Black caliph on an island (4) BALI
23 Love the main kind of Arab inhabitant (5)OMANI
24 To start doing every big task is a liability (4)DEBT
25 For keeping secret information edit inflation to be disclosed within the borders of a country (15) CONFIDENTIALITY
26 Go through the net to ride a wave (4) SURF
Down
2 Daughter is keeping good health forever being a resident (7) DWELLER
3 Design of a giant salad sold despite many obstacles (7,3,4) AGAINST ALL ODDS
4 Dirty snowball to be available in a short time (5) COMET
5 Joining of a news agency being broadcast (5) UNI ON
6 Failures of rules by an Iran soldier having single relations (14) IR REGULAR I TIES
7 One saint head is within them having the belief in the existence of God (6) THEISM
8 Too strange for the peacekeepers with a girl unknown (7) UNC ANN Y
15 Father having a large solar shade (7) PARASOL
17 Persons in charge of life energy of the oriental ends of flowers (6)CHIEFS
19 Small child to cross an unusual line for almost an era (7) TODDLER
20 Virtuous person in South Africa is new in Information Technology (5)SAINT
21 To put an end to a mammal in a boat (5) ABATE
A GUIDE TO SOLVE CRYPTIC CROSSWORDS
The following is a list of substitutions which is frequently used :)
Just added up this list from a lot of other websites....
Favourite sources of abbreviations include:
Books of the bible: eg IS or ISA (Isaiah), MIC (Micah)
Bridge players: so, 'partners' might be NS or EW and 'opponents' might be NE, SW, etc
Chemical elements: eg AG (silver), AU (gold), CU (copper), W (tungsten)
Chess notation: B, K, N, Q, R, X
Directions: L, R or E, N, S, W (and compounds). Also note that the compass points are ometimes described as quarter points or cardinal points
Military terminology: eg COL, GEN, GI, IC, LT, OC, OR, RA, RE, TA. Often clued as soldiers', 'officer' or similar
Musical notes: either as a single letter (D, E, G) or as a phonetic note (DO, RE, MI)
Roman numerals: D, I, L, M, V, X. Often clued as 'lots', 'a number' or the specific numeral
Measurement prefixes: eg K, M.
Clue Word Possible interpretations
Appeal IT
Bishop B, RR (Right Reverend) Book B, VOL, any book of the BibleBooks NT, OT
Drug ACID, E, H, HORSE, sometimes even a 'real' drug name (eg ASPIRIN)!
Enemy DEATH
Friend ALLY, CHINA (from the rhyming slang), MATE, PAL
Italian IT (from Italian Vermouth in 'Gin and It')
Jack HANGMAN (after a famous executioner, Jack Ketch), J, KETCH (goes particulartly well with 'sailor'), see 'Sailor'
King COLE, ER, GR, K, LEAR, R
Learn CON
Lights LUNGS, WINDOWS, crossword answers (so, may be self-referencing)
Line(s) L, RY (railway), RWY
Love O (from 'love' meaning zero and the shape)
New N, signpost for anagram
Old O
Peter SAFE (a well-known brand name has become a slang word for safe)
Queen ER, Q, R
Sailor AB, JACK, TAR
See Remember that it can mean 'BISHOPRIC' (ELY most commonly used), signpost for extraction
Ship SS
Short time M, MIN, MO, S, SEC, T, TIM (ie 'time' shortened)
Smell HUM
soldier-GI(government issue)
sailor-AB(able bodied)
Time H, HR, M, MIN, S, SEC, T
Union MARRIAGE, NUR, NUT
Volunteers TA
Way AVE, RD, ST, any direction
worker-ant/bee/hand
Solving crosswords helps a lot in improving your language also :)
happy crossword solving from now on:)
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