Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part 1: Diving Into the World of Cryptic Crosswords 5

Chapter 1: Introducing Cryptic Crosswords 7

Chapter 2: Untangling Anagrams 23

Chapter 3: Charade Clues: Piecing Together Linked Words 33

Chapter 4: Putting Words Inside Words 45

Chapter 5: Using Subtraction 53

Chapter 6: Examining Reversals 61

Chapter 7: Decoding Homophones 69

Chapter 8: Interpreting Double Definitions 79

Chapter 9: Revealing Hidden Words 89

Chapter 10: Letter Gathering: Abbreviations and Other Oddments 97

Chapter 11: Enjoying Cryptics Around the Globe 111

Part 2: Sample Cryptic Crosswords 119

Chapter 12: Easy Peasy Cryptics 121

Chapter 13: Challenging Cryptics 139

Chapter 14: Treacherous Cryptics 149

Part 3: Hints and Answers 159

Chapter 15: Hints 161

Chapter 16: Answers 167

Part 4: The Part of Tens 173

Chapter 17: Ten Tips for Being a Better Solver 175

Chapter 18: Ten (Plus Two!) Puzzling Resources 181

Appendix: Word Lists 187

About the Author

Denise Sutherland is a syndicated puzzle author. Her crosswords, word searches and other puzzles appear in a range of publications around the world, and she has written many puzzle books, including Cryptic Crossword Puzzles For Dummies and Word Searches For Dummies.