Every cryptic clue uses one of eight tricks.

Anagrams · Shuffle the letters.

This is the most common trick: some letters in the clue get rearranged into the answer, and a nearby word tells you so.

Hidden words · It's already there.

The answer is sitting inside the clue, spelled out across word boundaries. You just have to see it.

Double definitions · Two meanings, one word.

There is no wordplay at all, just two separate definitions of the same word side by side, and the clue is often very short.

Charades · Build it in pieces.

The answer is assembled from smaller words placed one after another, each clued separately, like the parlour game.

Homophones · Say it out loud.

The answer sounds like another word in the clue, and an indicator about hearing, speaking or broadcasting tells you to listen rather than read.

Reversals · Read it backwards.

A word is written in reverse, after an indicator that suggests going back, returning or, in a down clue, going up.

Containers · One word inside another.

One word is wrapped around another, after an indicator about holding, swallowing, wearing or being inside.

Deletions · Take a letter away.

A letter is removed from a word, from the head, the tail or the heart, and the indicator says which in disguise.