Just to recap, every Cryptic Crossword clue will contain a 'definition' of the answer (usually at the beginning or the end), or the whole clue will be the definition.

I had talked about ANAGRAMS or a re-arrangement of the letters last month. Raghu had given two anagram clues , which are repeated below with the answers.

This month, I shall explain 'CHARADES, which are the bread and butter of Cryptic crosswords. Almost any word can be clued with a charade, and you may find that more than half the clues in a standard cryptic crossword are pure or partial charades. The name comes from the parlour game where you try to convey a phrase like the name of a film, by giving clues to each word or syllable. Similarly a charade clue just breaks up the answer into two or more manageable parts and provides a clue for each part, usually in the same order. The elements may be defined directly or by the use of equivalents. A few simple examples will illustrate this.

Chicago man's publicity a sorrowful(6)
The solution is PRASAD - PUBLICITY is PR, a is A and SORROWFUL is SAD.PRASAD is of course the Chicago man.

SUN-GOD HAD confused editor's niece (5)
The solution is RADHA - Sun-god is RA and confused HAD is DHA. RADHA is my niece.

A skill greeting for this future designer(6) is 'AARTHI'. A SKILL is AART and Greeting is HI, which is AARTHI, who is the future designer.

Agriculture in remote Chinese dynasty(7)
The solution is FARMING - remote is FAR and Chinese dynasty is MING

The wordplay in these examples may seem quite ... well, cryptic; but a little practice will reveal recurring schemes for encoding letters. For example: "Head of ..."/"Leading ..." will mean the first letter, "piece of ..."/"bit of ..." will mean a few letters, "Back of ..." will mean the last letter(s) etc.

Leading Madras follwed by Britain and German for this ensoyable writer(6) will lead to the solution 'MUKUND' - M being 'leading Madras' which is followed by UK (Britain) and UND (which is German for 'AND') and the ensoyable writer is ... who else?

A number of abbreviations are also commonly used by Crossword composers everywhere. Some of the common ones can be seen by clicking here

Prasad found the last clues to be very easy. Well, the first lesson is always easy. I hope this time they are not. At the same time, I don't want them so tough as to drive away prople. The clues this time are either anagrams or charades. Get cracking....

Study about publicity (4)

Point has a need to be put differently (6)

Guy to leave tropical fruit (5)

A music troupe on leave (7)

Rise late perhaps, but still be the first (8)

We shall shortly join firm (4,4)

South American girl's study (7)

Pitch raincoat to asphalt (6)

Floods one sister with appointments(9)

Aunt Mabel when wild is uncontrollable(9)