A beginner’s guide
The one big secret, and the nine little tricks.
A cryptic clue looks like nonsense because you are reading it as a sentence. It is not a sentence. It is two puzzles standing shoulder to shoulder, and both of them point to the same answer.
One part is an ordinary definition, sitting at the beginning or the end, never the middle. The rest is wordplay, a small machine that builds the same answer out of letters.
The syllabus
The clue hands you the exact letters next to a word suggesting disorder ("mixed", "at sea", "badly").
Heart transplanted somewhere to live (5)
gives EARTH.
The answer is printed inside the clue in consecutive letters.
Drink concealed in sweet earrings (3)
hides TEA across the join.
Small pieces are clued one after another and joined.
Pub profit is a good deal (7)
builds BAR plus GAIN into BARGAIN.
One word goes inside another.
A lodged in the chin? Linked rings (5)
puts A inside CHIN for CHAIN.
A word is written backwards.
Pots sent back? Halt (4)
reverses POTS into STOP.
The answer sounds like another word, flagged by "we hear" or "reportedly".
Seven days sounding feeble (4)
gives WEEK, which sounds like WEAK.
Two meanings of one word sit side by side.
Just blonde (4)
is FAIR, twice over.
The whole clue is one definition in disguise, usually with a question mark.
A singer that only performs when steamed up? (6)
is the KETTLE.
A longer word loses letters.
Table loses its head yet remains capable (4)
trims TABLE to ABLE.
Advice from the parlour
Find the definition first. Test the opening words and the closing words of the clue. It is always at one end, never in the middle.
Count letters against the enumeration. If a word in the clue has exactly the right number, suspect an anagram or a hidden word.
Learn the little abbreviations. R for right, L for learner, N for north, EG for example.
Trust the question mark. It signals mischief, and usually means the whole clue is doing something sly.
When you are stuck, reveal the answer and read the explanation without guilt. Worked examples are how every solver learned.
The best way in is simply to play. The Society serves two small crossed clues a day, with hints and a full explanation, plus a lesson on each of the machines above.
Solve today’s crossing