She calls this the Penny Drop Moment, from the old English expression for that 'Aha!' instant when you suddenly understand something that has been racking your brain. "Solvers experience a powerful insight moment when they realise how the clue should actually be interpreted," says Friedlander. "The solver has to work out which are relevant to any clue before actually solving it."Īnd three-quarters of solvers in her studies describe cryptic crosswords as a uniquely satisfying puzzle form.
"Cryptic crosswords comprise a compendium of different types of brain teaser, so you get a lot of variety within each puzzle – anagram clues, acronym, puns and riddles," says Kathryn Friedlander, who does research in cryptics at the University of Buckingham's School of Psychology. In a TED talk at London's Royal Albert Hall in 2013, Halpern described them as a celebration of "the hidden magic within language". I see wordplay patterns in the street, on the bus, at parties."Ĭryptic crosswords uniquely combine creativity, knowledge and logic, with a plentiful dash of style and wit. Instead, my first thought was 'It's the word 'men' inside the word 'aria'. Most normal people would immediately think: 'Interesting – tell me something about Armenia'.
"Instead I asked where the name came from. "When she told me her name, the first thing I thought was it's an anagram of 'entail' – though I didn't tell her that!" he reveals. Halpern tells me about the day he met his wife. The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book by Alan Connor, which is partly but not predominantly cryptic, can be obtained from the Guardian bookshop.Let's begin a playful language journey with a dip into the mind of John Halpern, whose brain-teasing puzzles grace the UK's top newspapers under various pseudonyms. Individual letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N. Beginners: any questions? Seasoned solvers: any favourite clothing we should add? More guidanceĬryptic devices: hidden answers double definitions defining by example cryptic definitions soundalikes spoonerisms stammering containers reversals initial letters alternate letters cycling taking most of a word percentages of a word naked words first and last letters middle letters removing middle letters.īits and bobs: Roman numerals Nato alphabet Greek letters chemistry abbreviations for countries points of the compass more points of the compass playing cards capital letters boys and girls apostrophes cricket alcohol the church politics Latin royals newspapers doctors drugs music animals cars cities rivers boats when the setter’s name appears when the solver appears “cheating”. Today, though, it’s an item of clothing, and our last one. I regret to say that we end on another warning: a “cap” can also be a limit, a sporting achievement, something in a toy gun and all the rest of it.
Here’s Paul …Ģ1aOpen spirit, cap removed (4) Sometimes, they invite us to think of that initial letter as a “cap”. We’ve looked at crossword setters’ penchants for doing things with the first letters of words. Norman Wisdom wearing his trademark flat cap. … for SETTEE, though the rest of the puzzle reveals a staggering array of alternative kinds of TEE. That’s what Brendan is up to in this clue …Ģ0dPiece of furniture in which to put a kind of shirt (6) On which topic, the letters TEE appear in words from “absentees” (forwards) to “zebra parakeets” (backwards) and they might be indicated by the word “shirt”. And Arachne deploys her trademark wit in this clue …ġ1aClever fellow’s concealed supporter? (8) īeware, though: a “supporter” might equally be a golfer’s TEE. “Cups”, and “supporter” in the clue, for example, suggest the letters BRA somewhere in the answer. Various words that don’t appear to be describing a bra turn out to be doing just that. ( More on that here.) It’s a handy little three-letter word and it often appears in clues as well as answers. The first time the policemen Morse and Lewis meet, the conversation is about a crossword clue for “bra”. The adjective “pants” has enjoyed a revival in the last quarter-century or so, hence Matilda’s clue …Ģ5aTheir own pants became threadbare (4,4) Of similar vintage is the disparaging use of “pants”, as in the older expression “your name is pants”. So are crossword setters such as Screw:ĩaFootballer in Arsenal trousers who practises first position? (9)
PG Wodehouse was fond of the term journalists still are. Since the 1860s, if not before, someone taking possession of something – especially if the something is money and the taking is underhand – has been said to be “trousering” whatever it is. One of my favourite ways of being misled in a puzzle is when a word looks very much like, say, a noun and turns out to be a verb. But the names of items of clothing don’t always mean what they seem to mean. Not necessarily smartly – and really, there’s no need.
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