For example, in the cryptic crossword “Physician brings fish round (3)”, the answer would be “doc”. This would be made from the “weapon” being a lance, and the Round Table knight would make this Lancelot. Containers and Contents For example, in the cryptic crossword “Yearn for quite a while (4)” the answer would be “long”, as it fits with both parts of the phrase. Hidden words In this case, “Do legal owners” is the anagram fodder, “birds” is the definition hint, so the answer is “Long-eared owls”. Charades

With cryptic definitions, these consist of just a definition and are phrased to be deliberately confusing. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Do legal owners free birds? (4-5,4)”, “free” would be the indicator word alerting you to the fact it is an anagram puzzle. Then you scan the letters for a word fitting the phrase, and the answer is “north”, found hidden between Pakista n or Thailand. Homophones Typically “hidden” indicator words are used, such as “buried in”, “concealed” or even “in” and “from”. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Narrow channel – not winding, we hear (6)”, the answer would be “strait”.Another type is Charades, which is when a word or phrase is broke up into separate parts, as in a game of Charades. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Relative entering Highland dance and showing off (9)” you know the inner word needs to go within the outer word due to “entering”.

Homophones are pairs of words or phrases that have indicators referring to sound, like “so we hear” or “it’s said” or “speech”. There is a full list of them here, and can either mean removing the first letter, last letter, or a central letters, depending on which is used. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Weapon used by many a Round Table knight (8)”, the answer would be “Lancelot”. Your next step is to look at “relative” and “Highland dance and showing off” to get the final answer of “flaunting”, containing “aunt” for “relative” and “flaunting” for “showing off”. Deletions You then look at the other words to reach the answer “tar”, as celebrity is also known as a “star” and you “behead” the first letter. Double definitionsThese puzzles are indicated by a hint word such as “muddled”, “strange”, “wild” or “drunk” – so look out for these words. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Pole coming from Pakistan or Thailand (5)” you can tell it is a hidden word, due to “from” being in the phrase. If the inner word needs to go within the outer word (Content), look for indicator words such as “within”, “filling”, or “entering”. For example, in the cryptic crossword “Beheaded celebrity is sailor (3)”, the word “beheaded” mean that a word loses its first letter. If the word is inside or around the cryptic indicator (Container), look out for indicator words such as “holding”, “surrounding,” or “swallowing.”