WEEP SOFTLY, TWITCH AND SHAKE FIRST FOR MY FAVOURITE PUZZLES(8)
Started from the Newsletter dated December 2001
INTRODUCTION
Do you understand the heading ? Don't worry. At the end of this article, you will.
Many of us know someone who solves crossword puzzles with some degree of success. If we look at the crossword puzzle in our daily newspaper, however, the clues seem like snippets of overheard conversations in some strange form of English. If we look at the solution published the next day, we may be able to understand a few of the answers. We can make a connection between some of the other answers and parts of their clues, but can't understand what the rest of the clue is about. At this point we may give up, convinced that we are too stupid to solve the puzzles, or that solving them is a black art.
Crossword puzzles are mainly of two types, Cryptic and non-cryptic. Non-cryptic are more in use in USA, while Britain is the home of cryptic crosswords. The non-cryptic puzzles or easy puzzles, as they are sometimes called, generally are one-liner clues. I do not personally derive any joy in solving them. What I propose to teach you is how to solve Cryptic puzzles.
These lessons are intended to help you to understand what cryptic crosswords are, how the clues work, and what you can do to solve the puzzles in newspapers like the Economic Times, The Hindu, Indian Express etc.
I think 'solve' is perhaps a wrong word, maybe I should say 'attempt to solve'. You can't learn to solve cryptic puzzles just by reading these or any other lessons. Real progress requires regular practice. This practice will inevitably include making mistakes, and not getting very far with some puzzles. It may take you several years to reach the point where you can be confident of finishing most newspaper puzzles, but persistence and determination will pay off in the end. The joy of finishing a good Crossword is a great one.
'Regular' means daily if possible. If you attempt less than one puzzle a week, progress will be slow.
All cryptic clues consist of a definition of the answer (usually at the beginning or the end through a key-word), and a separate subsidiary indication which provides a set of instructions for constructing the answer. A cryptic clue is a sentence or phrase, appearing to make some kind of sense and putting ideas into the solver's head. These often have little or nothing to do with the answer, which can be derived by interpreting all or part of the clue in ways which are less obvious.
In other words, some element of bluffing or deception is the whole point of a good cryptic clue.
LESSON 1 - ANAGRAMS
Of the different types of Cryptic clues, ANAGRAMS or a re-arrangement of the letters are the
most popular. For knowing whether the clue is an anagram, look for words that suggest mixing:
"confused", "wild", "upset", "broken" etc. A few simple examples will illustrate this.
The solution to the clue 'Rattan banishes acne (4)' is 'CANE'. The definition
in the form of a jumble is 'ACNE' and the key-word, which leads to the answer is 'Rattan'.
The solution to the clue
'Broken SHELF holds meat (5)' is 'FLESH'
I have given ten anagram clues as exercise before you go to the next lesson. The TYPE OF CLUE,
the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the COMPONENTS of the solution and the
SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by clicking on the button to the right.
Good Luck and get cracking !!
Idler, if disturbed , is irritated (5)
Repartee, 'Alter the growth' (4,4)
Anna, a doc could turn out to be a sinuous creature (8)
List due to age and trembling? (6)
Wild West food (4)
Noises in restless slumber(7)
It rarely turns out like this in books (8)
Flamboyantly heave rod above (8)
This man, Ben, thrown into exile (10)
Watson's kit - or bits of modern office kit (12)
LESSON 2 - CHARADES
In this lesson, 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.
The alternative is South African State (6) The solution is OR-IS-SA (keyword is 'STATE'), which is obtained by ' alternative' (OR), 'is' (IS) and South Africa (SA)
Agriculture in remote Chinese dynasty(7) The solution is FARMING (keyword is 'AGRICULTURE')- 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.
The solution to the clue 'Pour when transport does not start' will be 'RAIN'. 'Transport' is TRAIN and 'does not start' means that the first letter is to be deleted.
A number of abbreviations are also commonly used by Crossword composers
everywhere. Some of the common ones can be seen by
clicking here
You may have found the clues of the first lesson 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. I have again given ten clues which are either anagrams or charades, as exercise before you go to the next lesson. The TYPE OF CLUE,
the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the COMPONENTS of the solution and the
SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by clicking on the button to the right. Good luck and 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)
LESSON 3 - CONTAINERS or SPLIT WORDS
In this lesson, I shall explain Containers or 'Split words', which are similar
to charades, but to get the answer that fits the definition, one part of the solution goes
inside (or outside) the other, with an indicator to alert you.
A few examples will make this clear.
Decay in vegetable for South African(6) = PROTEA, which is formed when ROT (decay) goes
into PEA (vegetable) as P(ROT)EA, which means a South African. You see in this clue that the
key-word is 'South African' and the components are 'decay' and 'vegetable'.
Essence of article in Country Home(7) = VANILLA (keyword is 'essence') , which is formed when
AN (article) goes into VILLA (country home)
I have again given ten clues which are any one of the three types covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE and SPLIT
WORD, as exercise before you go to the next lesson. The TYPE OF CLUE,
the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the COMPONENTS of the solution and the
SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by clicking on the button to the right. Good luck and get cracking....
Now prosecutor is absorbed in doll(5)
Twisted Sherpa idiom(6)
People hold help inside for lady(6)
Critical of a vehicle I have shortly used(7)
Love the sweater(10)
Friction over the dance club on the way(7)
Linked to way about cheer(7)
Laughter before number one city in Asia(5)
Map house initially in vehicle (5)
I later returned and dined to settle the score(9)
LESSON 4 - DELETIONS
In this lesson, I shall explain DELETIONS, in which the answer is arrived at by removing one or
more letters at the begiining or end of the clue. These clues usually use flags such as
"beheaded", "unbegun", and "after initial" to signal the removal of a word's first letter(s),
and flags such as "endless" and "almost" to signal removal of a word's last letter(s). As with other clues,
DELETION can be combined with ANAGRAM, CHARADE or SPLIT WORD.
Girl from Andean nation decapitated (6)= OLIVIA, which is formed from BOLIVIA [minus 1st
letter].
My wand almost magic(6)= MYSTIC (Magic), which is formed when MY STICK (CHARADE for WAND) gets truncated
I have again given ten clues which are any one of the four types covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, SPLIT
WORD and DELETION, as exercise before you go to the next lesson. The TYPE OF CLUE,
the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the COMPONENTS of the solution and the
SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by clicking on the button to the right. Good luck and get cracking....
Drive to find shelter and gain new (8)
Skills for suit without man (4)
Officer of second-rate outfit takes a ride around (9)
What's left for instance in decorative surroundings (6)
Exaggerate about a party(6)
Only one can work out its royal change (8)
What's believed to be revolutionary in business (5)
Chance to take ring from negligent doorman (6)
Banker slim, but topless (6)
Sadly lacking a final conclusion (4)
LESSON 5 - DOUBLE DEFINITIONS
In this lesson, I shall cover DOUBLE DEFINITION. The double definition clue has no real wordplay. You get two straight definitions or possibly one straight definition and a pun, both of which mean the same thing. The only trick here is to realize that you have two definitions and then determine where they split. Normally, Double Definition clues are very short.Here are some simple examples.
Tough covering (4) =HOOD (which is a term used for 'tough men' and is also a covering).
Carry a teddy (4) =BEAR, which is easy
Shoe coating from Warsaw (6) =POLISH, which has a bit of pun.
I have again given ten clues which are any one of the five types covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, SPLIT
WORD, DELETION and DOUBLE DEFINITION, as exercise before you go to the next lesson. The TYPE OF CLUE,
the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the COMPONENTS of the solution and the
SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by clicking on the button to the right. Good luck and get cracking....
Complain about protection (4)
Ached in torment when not free (7)
Fail spectacularly in attack (4)
Parent loses weight for the lady (3)
Tell people about his first struggle (6)
One makes life difficult for people in high places (9)
Conquer being speechless (8)
Abuse one in exchange (6)
Got up when first course finished (8)
Display catalogue (8)
LESSON 6 - HIDDEN WORDS
In this lesson, I shall cover HIDDEN WORDS. The hidden word clue is probably one of the easiest to solve if you know what you're looking at. To make up for that, the indicators that are used are often the same as CONTAINERS (Split Word) which can make it hard to tell which type you are looking at. In the hidden word clue, you can find the answer hiding in the letters of the clue. For example, Capital city in Czechoslovakia (4) The answer here is OSLO (Capital city) which can be found in czechOSLOvakia.
Generally, the answer will also straddle two or more words as in
Teach a chain about dance(3-3)
The indicator here is not the common "in" but "about". The keyword is 'dance' and is hidden somewhere in 'teach a chain'. A little effort should show CHA-CHA in 'teaCH A CHAin'.
There are also some variations to watch out for. The words could be hidden backwards like DATA in 'mATADor holds back information(4)' or on the ends as SEAL in 'Close ends of SEnegAL(4)'. Other favourites are to use only every other letter like SAKE in 'odd ShAcKlEs for foreign drink(4)' or the first letters in a series of words as SANE in 'initially States Are Not Entirely lucid(4)'. In each of these cases, you will be told how they are hidden by the indicator. For these clues, you could have "holds back", "off the borders", "oddly" (referring to the letters in the odd positions) and "heads of" respectively.
As usual ten clues are given below. All the clues are any one or a combination of the six types
covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, CONTAINER (SPLIT WORD), DELETION , DOUBLE DEFINITION and HIDDEN WORD. As last time,
the TYPE OF CLUE, the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the
COMPONENTS of the solution and the SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by
clicking on the button to the right. Get cracking....
Due to having nothing on the side (5)
All the new ways of killing (6)
Display catalogue (8)
It's found underground or in comet Roger (5)
King embraced by subject showing some warmth (6)
Old man's effort takes the cake (6)
Not a full share, but a proportion (5)
The man breaks into a song (6)
Surrounded by stupid rising in a way (6)
Bow to receive a greeting from following (6)
LESSON 7 - HOMOPHONES
In this lesson I shall cover Homophones. Homophones are words or phrases which sound exactly alike such as BEAR and BARE. When they are used in a cryptic clue, both of them will be clued with a definition. Only one of these can be the right answer so the other one has an indicator that tells you that it only sounds like the right answer. Look for phrases such as "we hear", "sounds like", and "audience". Take a look at
Elevate beams noisily (5)
The solution is 'RAISE', which sounds the same (hence the word 'noisily' ) as 'RAYS', which stands for BEAMS.
A more difficult clue is Utter confusion for 24-hour periods (4)
The word utter appears to be an adjective but it is really a verb (meaning 'to speak) because when you utter the word DAZE it sounds like DAYS.
As usual ten clues are given below. All the clues are any one or a combination of the six types
covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, CONTAINER (SPLIT WORD), DELETION , DOUBLE DEFINITION,HIDDEN WORD or HOMOPHONE. As last time,
the TYPE OF CLUE, the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the
COMPONENTS of the solution and the SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by
clicking on the button to the right. Get cracking....
Heard outlawed music group (4)
Pearl's mother in a credible outfit (5)
Seat is prepared for a nap (6)
Beast of burden showing all a marvellous attitude to work (5)
Someone to call when caught in an opening (6)
The line to take to beat the fellow (7)
Fiery bird without a tail (7)
Art genius baffled about what to put on the bottom of his picture? (9)
To save up is difficult with nothing coming in (5)
Reportedly remained dignified (5)
LESSON 8 - REVERSALS
In this lesson, I shall cover REVERSALS. In Reversal clues, the order of the letters in a clue word or phrase are reversed to find the answer. Reversals are always accompanied by a word or phrase that suggests reversal (or rising up, or heading left or west). For example, in the cryptic clue
"Arrest lifting pans (4)" the word "lifting" suggests that either "pans" or its CHARADE must be reversed to create a word meaning "ARREST." When you think about it, you will quickly find that POTS mean PANS and when you reverse POTS, you get STOP, which means ARREST. So the solution is STOP. Another example is
Therefore, monster returned (4)
OGRE is monster and when you reverse OGRE, you get ERGO, which in Latin means THEREFORE.
A slightly more difficult example is
Returning students make a mistake (4,2)
The solution is SLIP UP, which is the reversal of PUPILS (Students).
As usual ten clues are given below. All the clues are any one or a combination of the six types
covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, CONTAINER (SPLIT WORD), DELETION , DOUBLE DEFINITION,HIDDEN WORD, HOMOPHONE or REVERSAL. As last time,
the TYPE OF CLUE, the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the
COMPONENTS of the solution and the SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by
clicking on the button to the right. Get cracking....
Argue against returning root (5)
Group of soldiers dependent on other circumstances (10)
A game of tic-tac-toe demonstrates diplomacy (4)
Met punk, perhaps, looking rough (7)
Old Russian City fallen in grading, partly (9)
Care for catching hospital menace (6)
Big embrace before beginning of ecstasy! (4)
Leaderless baronets turn to US politician (7)
His rafts disturb sea creatures (8)
Mouse on the edge? (10)
LESSON 9 - &LIT
In this lesson, I shall cover a special type of clue known as an "&LIT." (short for "and
literally so"), the definition and the wordplay are one and the same.
"Ingredient in rye - a stimulant! (5)" yields the hidden word YEAST;
"Terror's locale, if rickety! (6,7)" yields the anagram ROLLER COASTER, which is a source of terror for some;
"Softly supplemented! (6)" yields the charade P-ADDED. The exclamation point and a short clue will often indicate an "& lit." clue.
As usual ten clues are given below. All the clues are any one or a combination of the eight types
covered so far, viz., ANAGRAM, CHARADE, CONTAINER (SPLIT WORD), DELETION , DOUBLE DEFINITION,HIDDEN WORD, HOMOPHONE , REVERSAL and &LIT. As usual,
the TYPE OF CLUE, the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the
COMPONENTS of the solution and the SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by
clicking on the button to the right. Get cracking....
Terribly angered(7)
With grounds for having ended a journey by air (6)
Crook hiding in safe London house (5)
The quality of the sea Italy's in perhaps (8)
Cloth material is dug up (5)
Indeed not all went (8)
Sailor came up with an article to wash (5)
Silly to be involved in endless dispute(6)
Is splitting the country but facing the facts (7)
Indian like Scotsman (5)
LESSON 10 - STRAIGHT CLUES
This is the last lesson and is on 'Straight Clues.' These use proverbs, quotations etc. But a good Crossword composer will slightly twist the clue. e.g., A clue will not say 'They wait for none(4,3,4)' for which the answer is TIME AND TIDE. The clue is more likely to be 'Don't they wait for anybody?(4,3,4)
The straight clues may also be more direct, as in
Mind the children (4,3) which gives the solution 'BABY SIT'
The solution to 'What moving home entails(6,2,8)' is
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
As usual ten clues are given below. All the clues are any one or a combination of the various types of clues covered in my lessons. The TYPE OF CLUE, the KEY-WORD (which is the synonym of the solution), the
COMPONENTS of the solution and the SOLUTION will be revealed to you only if you want them by
clicking on the button to the right. Get cracking....
Boxer among others has to be business-like (7)
Very good punishment (4)
Go down in the passage (3)
Introduces new price cuts (9)
This by itself indicates equality (5)
One makes life difficult for people in high places (9)
Train ruler to be source of instruction (12)
Killing doesn't start to get an amused response (8)
Smart attempt to finish inside (6)
There may be no work to do in it (10)
Coming back to the heading, can you solve it now?
‘Weep softly, twitch, and shake first for my favourite puzzles (8)’
Of course, you can. WEEP is CHARADE for CRY: SOFTLY is P: TWITCH is TIC and THE FIRST LETTER OF SHAKE is S, which gives us CRYPTICS (a word having 8 letters), which are MY FAVOURITE PUZZLES.
If you want to view the list of abbreviations commonly used by Crossword compilers, you can view them by clicking here. Partha's Newsletter is published only in electronic format.
If you want more information , or if you wish to make comments, suggestions and contributions, please post your feedback and comments to Message Board or send them to spchennai@hotmail.com
