How to Solve Cryptic Clues: 5 Worked Examples

Cryptic clues usually offer two routes to one answer: a definition and instructions for building it. The definition often sits at the beginning or end. The number in brackets is the answer length. Start by separating those parts, then test the wordplay.

These five examples come from this site’s original practice bank. Open an answer only when you want the explanation; seeing it here may make that puzzle familiar when you next play.

Anagrams: how to spot the construction

Look for a word suggesting change or disorder, then find a nearby group of letters matching the answer length. Check that every letter is used exactly once.

Try: Quiet after rearranging tinsel (6)

First hint: The decoration is the material. Change the order of its letters.

Reveal answer and explanation

SILENT. Quiet is the definition of SILENT. “Rearranging” asks you to reorder TINSEL: T I N S E L → S I L E N T. “After” links the definition to the construction.

Definition: Quiet. Indicator: rearranging.

Hidden words: how to spot the construction

Read consecutive letters across the clue, including word boundaries. A hidden answer stays in its original order; it does not need a synonym or an anagram.

Try: Pet concealed in music at dusk (3)

First hint: There is no rearranging. Look across the spaces between words.

Reveal answer and explanation

CAT. A CAT is a pet. The consecutive letters are hidden across musiC AT dusk. The phrase “concealed in” signals the hidden answer.

Definition: Pet. Indicator: concealed in.

Reversals: how to spot the construction

Look for an instruction such as returned or backwards. Reverse the supplied word or its synonym, then check the definition at the other end.

Try: Feeling tense, desserts come back (8)

First hint: This time, preserve the letters but change their reading direction.

Reveal answer and explanation

STRESSED. Feeling tense means STRESSED. “Come back” reverses DESSERTS: D E S S E R T S → S T R E S S E D.

Definition: Feeling tense. Indicator: come back.

Charades: how to spot the construction

Split the wordplay into short synonyms or abbreviations. Join them in order. The full result must still match the definition.

Try: Celebrity with swimmer finds a sea creature (8)

First hint: Find two short synonyms and join them in the clue’s order.

Reveal answer and explanation

STARFISH. A celebrity is a STAR and a swimmer can be a FISH. Put STAR + FISH together for STARFISH, a sea creature. “Finds” links wordplay to definition.

Definition: a sea creature. Indicator: with.

Containers: how to spot the construction

Find the outer letters and the part to insert. Words such as holding or inside indicate which piece contains the other. Check the insertion position against the definition.

Try: Vehicle in surf’s edges becomes neckwear (5)

First hint: “Edges” asks for the outside letters of a word. Put a vehicle between them.

Reveal answer and explanation

SCARF. A CAR is a vehicle. The edges of SurF are S and F; put CAR inside them: S + CAR + F = SCARF, which is neckwear.

Definition: neckwear. Indicator: in.

A solving routine when you get stuck

Use the enumeration to rule out answers of the wrong length.
Try the first and last parts of the clue as possible definitions.
Look for an indicator, then identify the letters or synonyms it operates on.
Check both the definition and every letter of your candidate. A plausible synonym alone is not enough.

Practice without a daily limit

Return to Minute Cryptic Unlimited practice and select one clue type at a time. Use the definition hint first, then the wordplay hint. The site has 20 original clues and unlimited replay, so completed sets eventually repeat. It is independent of Minute Cryptic and does not supply official daily answers.

Back to Minute Cryptic Unlimited →