Just what you would expect from a leading crossword publishing house. Try the online sample of these puzzles and you will find that although they look normal, they are very different and much more engaging. True cryptics are the ultimate challenge for solvers. It’s right there in front of us: some (meaning “part of”) larGER UNDies.Īlternatively, you can turn do the Sudoku instead.Print a sample Online sample Sample solution Puzzle pack Meaning, no more.ĭefinition: a type of word of which “wearing” (indicated by maybe) is an example. Made up of? Former lover = EX + can = TIN + court = CT = EXTINCT. Yes, well, that’s all very well (I hear you cry) – so let’s return to the two clues. A question mark means the setter is not quite playing by the rules.Ħ. So should a question mark at the end of a clue. A 10-word clue for a three-letter solution should alert you to something. I know it sounds obvious, but it should shape your thinking. Ten-letter solutions are longer than five-letter solutions. But what’s the definition? Undies? Maybe? Maybe wearing?ĥ. The surface is clearly about people like you and me, those whose better days are behind us and who now shop at M&S. Try, for example, Puck’s clue from a couple of weeks back: Maybe wearing some larger undies (6). The second is by having fun with the surface reading of the subsidiary indicator. It’s still a definition, but it’s cryptic.

The first is by disguising the definition. They have essentially two ways of messing with you. They really are cunning foxes, these setters. It’s probably about death or something.Ĥ. The clue here, on a surface reading, seems to be about lovers and courting and so on. The subsidiary indicator offers a route to the solution – but it also offers the setter the opportunity to lead you down the garden path. Harden your heart against the setter’s siren charms. Court may mean WOO but can also be shortened to CT, as in a street name.ģ. Can sometimes means IS ABLE but can also be a TIN. In the clue above: former lover often means EX. It gives you another way to get the solution. The part of the clue that is not the definition is known as the subsidiary indicator.

Cryptic crossword puzzles online free