Anagrams And Answers In Cryptic Crosswords
Anagrams And Answers In Cryptic Crosswords,
Cryptic crossword setters have much more tricks up their sleeve than a cartload of monkeys and we who may have to operate them out need to attempt to get into their minds to believe as laterally and as zanily because they do. Problem is of course that not every setter thinks the same way, and just as you think that youre on top of one setters style youll experience anothers style that nearly sends you back to scratch.
Fixing the initial clue is incredibly crucial
Numerous a cryptic puzzler is in the scenario when, after searching by way of all the clues, nothing has immediately arrive to thoughts. Absolutely nothing! But after persistence theyve solved one particular or two clues, developed on them, after which gone on to resolve the full puzzle. The morals are fix that very first clue or two & never give in.
Even if you fix only a few clues, look in tomorrows paper for the solutions and operate out how theyve been derived. Thats far and away the best way to lift you skills so keep at it and youll get there.
Its especially true for cryptics not to dwell too long on trying to resolve a clue. If youre not getting anywhere with one particular clue move on quickly to the next before you get frustrated and want to give up entirely. Here are a couple of hints that may help you in your early days
HINT 1 – Have a go at the 4 or 5 letter answer words very first because theyre often (but not always thoughts you!) much more easy than the others.
HINT 2 Look for clues that are framed in a fairly standard manner (Well, as standard as things get in cryptics!) such as clues with only 2 words like Just blonde where the answer has to suit both clue words in this case FAIR.
Heres another example for you to operate out:
CLUE: Depressed fight (4) ANSWER: ???? (See below)
Another standard clue is the anagram, and nearly every cryptic crossword youll ever do will have at least one particular anagram, so fixing anagram clues is another good way to get started. So lets now look in detail at how anagrams are used.
Analysing The Anagram
Anagram is defined in the Macquarie Dictionary as a transposition of the letters of a word or sentence to form a new word or sentence
STRAW for example is an anagram of WARTS
DORMITORY is an anagram of DIRTY ROOM
Anagram clues can be identified by what we might call anagram pointer words, words in the clue that indicate that the letters of a word or phrase should be rearranged
Here are some common anagram pointer words that you should be on the lookout for:
ALTER/ED; ARRANGE/D; BROKE/N; COULD BE; CHANGE/D; CRUSH/ED; DOCTOR/ED; MAKE; MADE; OFF; OUT; REVISE/D; SHATTERED; SMASH/ED etc. But there are many much more up the sleeves of our not so friendly setters.
Heres one particular example of how an anagram clue might be posed:
CLUE: This bird will MAKE us legal (7) ANSWER: Seagull
There are two anagram indicators in this clue:
- the word MAKE
- the fact that the words us legal contain the required number of letter to help us find our bird
Its crucial to note that there are two features common to Each and every anagram
1. the pointer word/s
2. the appropriate letter count
Anagram sidelines: Always searching to be tricky, setters sometimes use other anagrammatic ploys such as the two illustrated below.
(1) by having the anagram pointer, and the letters to be changed in the one particular word. From the example below the letters to be changed are underlined.
CLUE: Breakfast oils (4) ANSWER; Fats
(2) by having the anagram as just PART of the answer eg
CLUE: Police raids broke up the ball game (9)
ANSWER: Billiards (Police = BILL; raids broke becomes IARDS)
So theres the anagram for you in its various forms. Its the cryptic setters standby and often your friend – a great way to find your very first answer allowing you to go on to bigger and better things.
Just What Is The Setter Searching For?
Its one particular thing not to know an answer to a question, but in cryptic crosswords you very first need to know what the question is before you can go on to the answer. This is far and away the biggest issue for cryptic puzzlers and the setters raison detre is to make it much more difficult for you.
Your success as a puzzler is going to depend largely on your ability to see what the setter is searching for.
Much of the time youll find clues where it appears that no question is being asked. For example:
CLUE 1: Swung hammer wide and led (7)
CLUE 2: Hear the new bit is baked clay (7)
I mean. Who do they believe we are? The wording just doesnt make sense, but thats all part of the cryptic game. And where are the questions in these two clues? you might well ask.
Fortunately in most clues there are some indicators (well call them answer words or answer pointers) that can lead you in the right direction so lets start thinking about them.
A Start To Finding The Answer Words
The simplest example is when the clue is like a simple mathematical equation where verbs like is, are, for, produce, create, to be etc are used like an equal (=) sign. Theyre constructed like this:
(Word or phrase) is/are/for (ie =) (Another word or phrase)
CLUE: Finnway queen IS (=) a pedlar(7)
Heres how the answer is developed up to mean a pedlar
Finn = HUCK;Way = ST ie a street; Queen = ER
ANSWER: HUCKSTER
The second sure-fire answer pointer words are words such as This, These, They, He, She, It, where the answer comes from the word/s that arrive immediately after them.
Heres a clue where both of the answer indicators are evident
CLUE: These dogs ARE (=) born raptors ( 7)
These indicates that the answer has to be some sort of dogs.
Born raptors is how you build to that answer, ie
born = B ( a common shorthand for born)
raptors = EAGLES
Put them together and what do you get? BEAGLES, the quite sort of dogs youre searching for
These two hints will get you started on finding answer words.
Happy crypticking!
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