How to play
Think sideways.
Cryptic clues look like nonsense until you know the rules, and then they look like tiny, perfect puzzles. Here are the rules.
What is a cryptic clue?
A cryptic clue is a short phrase that leads to one answer in two independent ways. One part is a plain definition. The other is wordplay: instructions, in disguise, for building the answer letter by letter. Because both parts must agree, you can be certain when you have it right.
The surface reading of the clue, what it seems to say, is a decoy, so ignore the story and read the words one at a time.
What does the number mean?
The number in brackets is the length of the answer. (5) is a five-letter word. (3,4) is two words, three letters then four. (4-2) is a hyphenated answer. The letter slots above the answer box show the same thing.
Definition versus wordplay
The definition is almost always at the start or the end of the clue, never the middle. Everything else is wordplay. A good first move is to try each end as the definition and ask what the rest would have to do.
Wordplay comes with an indicator: a word that tells you which trick is in play. “Broken” means anagram. “Some of” means hidden word. “We hear” means homophone. Learn the indicators and the clue falls open.
Every clue is a run
Each clue is marked like a ski trail, and you can see the marker before you start.
- GreenA gentle warm-up: spot the indicator and you're down in no time.
- BlueA proper clue with one trick, hidden cleanly.
- Black diamondSteeper than it looks, because the definition may not be the word you think.
- Double black diamondExpert terrain, and nobody will judge you for taking a lift.
How you get down matters too. No hints and no misses is a clean run. One wobble is a nice line. More than that and you still made it down. Reveal the answer and it's a yard sale: skier slang for a crash that leaves your gear all over the slope.
Common techniques
AnagramLesson 1 →
The letters of some words get shuffled, and an indicator like broken, mixed, wild, oddly or rearranged tells you so.
e.g. “Rearranged” next to ARTS could give RATS, STAR or TSAR.
Hidden wordLesson 2 →
The answer is sitting inside the clue, often spanning two words, after an indicator like some, part of, held by or in.
e.g. “Part of the vAST ROnin…” hides ASTRO.
Double definitionLesson 3 →
Two definitions of the same word sit side by side, with no wordplay at all. These clues are often very short.
e.g. “Fair light” could be BLONDE… or could it? Both halves must define the answer.
HomophoneLesson 5 →
The answer sounds like another word, flagged by we hear, reportedly, said, on the radio or aloud.
e.g. “Reportedly” beside a word meaning naked points you at a word that sounds like BARE.
CharadeLesson 4 →
The answer is built from smaller pieces placed one after another, like a game of charades.
e.g. CAR + PET = CARPET.
ReversalLesson 6 →
A word is written backwards, after an indicator like back, returning, over, sent back or, in a down clue, up.
e.g. POTS “sent back” becomes STOP.
ContainerLesson 7 →
One word goes inside another, signalled by holds, around, about, inside, swallowing or wearing.
e.g. COT holding A makes COAT.
DeletionLesson 8 →
A letter is removed from a word: headless drops the first, endless the last and heartless the middle.
e.g. A “headless” BOAR is OAR.
Two worked examples
Horse hidden in a clump on yonder hill (4)
- Try the ends. “Horse” is a plausible definition, so the rest is wordplay.
- “Hidden in” is a hidden-word indicator. The answer is sitting inside “a clump on yonder hill”.
- Read across the word breaks: clum·P ON Y·onder. There it is: PONY.
- Check: PONY is a horse, four letters. Both halves agree.
PONY
Vehicle with an animal provides floor covering (6)
- “Floor covering” at the end is the definition: something six letters long.
- No anagram or hidden-word indicator, so try building it in pieces (a charade).
- “Vehicle” gives CAR. “An animal” gives PET. “With” just joins them.
- CAR + PET = CARPET, a floor covering. Solved.
CARPET
How hints work
You can unlock up to three hints, in order. The first is a gentle nudge about how to read the clue, the second points at the mechanism, and the third gets specific. Each one is counted, and your result shows how many you used. Hints never spoil the answer outright.
If you are truly stuck you can reveal the answer. It ends the puzzle and does not count as a solve, but you still get the full explanation, which is the best way to learn.
How daily puzzles work
There is one clue a day, and everyone gets the same one. A new clue arrives at midnight, New York time. Your streak grows each consecutive day you solve the clue without revealing it. Stats are stored in your browser, so they stay on this device.