CROSSWORDS: Decode Clues

Summary | Quotes |
Interactive Examples | Clue Examples | Annotated NYT Example |
References

misery
"I need an 8-letter word that means 'misery.' 'Homework'
"Thats funny, because I thought the word was D E A D L I N E"
by Graela is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Summary

  • The format/syntax of the clue is often as important as its content.
  • Part of speech -- noun: singular/plural; adjective; adverb;
    verb tense: present, past, infinitive, gerund;
    -- in clue will usually be mirrored in the answer.
  • Are you sure about part of speech?
    e.g., clue: "Red cards" could be a verb (ans: ejects) or a noun (ans: hearts)
  • First name of an actor/author mirrors first name of role/character; ditto for last name.
  • Is first letter of clue capitalized because it's first word or because it's a proper noun? (a 'veiled capital')
  • Abbrev. or ACRONYM or other letter sequence in clue will usually be reflected in answer.
  • Language of the answer often indicated by language of clue, e.g., French, Spanish, Latin,
    or inhabitant's name, e.g., Pierre, Juanita, Caesar,
    or place name, e.g., Riviera, Guanajuato, ancient Rome
  • "___" in a phrase: FITB (Fill in the Blank)
  • Expect ambiguity and humor -- and exceptions to 'rules'.
  • "?" may indicate esp. tricky, non-obvious answer from an unexpected context
  • ? might be omitted in crosswords that are expected to be more difficult in general, e.g., later in the week
  • "Let's look at 4 examples of when we would use a question mark in a clue:
    1. Clue: "'The meeting hasn’t started yet, has it?'" Answer: AM I LATE?
    The question mark in this case simply indicates that the answer itself should be read
    as a question. Clues in quotation marks generally mean that the answer will be a
    spoken phrase, and in this case, it's a spoken question.

    If the question mark is not part of a quotation, it is there to indicate that there's some
    kind of wordplay. A question mark is like a little elbow nudge.

    2. Clue: "Cool-sounding body part?" Answer: HIP
    This is an early-week question mark clue. There's nothing particularly misleading;
    the question mark is here to signal that this clue is just plain goofy.

    3. Clue: "Took on a pet project?" Answer: CAT SAT
    The question mark here indicates that you should look out for wordplay, and it's
    a little more misleading than in the previous example, because "pet project" is
    an idiom that typically doesn't involve cat sitting.

    4. Clue: "Does the rite thing?" Answer: ANOINTS
    This is another pretty silly clue, and the humor is in reading the clue out loud. No one will
    be fooled into thinking the clue is asking for something that means 'doing the right thing.'
    The question mark indicates that the clue is playing off a familiar phrase, in this case
    with a homophone." ~Christina Iverson, NYT Wordplay newsletter; 11/24/2023
  • "There are different types of themes, and they generally get trickier as the week continues.
    On Monday, it’s rare to see question mark clues in the theme, except for in the revealer,
    which might be a punny descriptor of the rest of the theme answers. For instance, in a recent
    Monday puzzle, each theme entry had the circled letters I, C, U and T, which gradually got
    closer together. The clues for these entries were straightforward, but the revealer was a goofy hint:
    '... what you gradually do with this puzzle's circled letters?' The question mark lets you know
    that this is a joke, and that you should interpret the answer CONNECTICUT in a goofy way --
    you're connecting the letters I-C-U-T.

    Non-thematic clues will still hint at the actual meaning of the words in the grid, but the clues
    might be interpreted in a surprising way. In themes, though, the wordplay can take all sorts
    of goofy twists. Some themes involve reinterpreting common phrases as if they mean
    something completely different, as with this puzzle, which imagines a THREE-WAY TIE a
    neckwear for a trio. Or you’ll have to parse phrases differently, perhaps imagining
    there's an extra space or a missing space; in this puzzle, we have to parse “Partner in crime”
    as 'Partnerin' crime' — 'Bigamy, legally speakin’?' Themes could also have completely made-up
    phrases; maybe the same letter(s) are added to (or deleted from) common phrases to make
    goofy new ones; maybe a common phrase will use a homophone of one of the words instead
    of the usual one. For any wordplay like this, the same gimmick will be used throughout the
    puzzle in a consistent way so that once you understand the trick, you can deduce more
    theme entries." ~Christina Iverson, Wordplay newsletter; 12/1/2023
  • "How to interpret a clue that ends with the word 'say'?
    Crossword constructors and editors like to keep clues varied.
    A puzzle would be boring if every clue were pulled from a
    dictionary or a thesaurus. However, if a constructor writes
    an overly specific clue, a solver can become confused.
    For instance, if the clue for AGE were 'Sit in a cellar,'
    a solver could rightfully say, 'Not necessarily!'

    'Say,' 'perhaps' and 'maybe' are all words that constructors
    or editors tack onto a clue to indicate that the clue isn’t
    necessarily a one-to-one synonym. 'Perhaps' and 'maybe' might
    be seen as a little more weaselly than “say,” but there are
    many occasions when any of the three will do. We call these
    words 'tags,' a label we also apply to indicators like
    'for short,' 'for example' and 'casually.

    Here are a couple of examples:
    For RATE, the clue 'Give stars, say' works because someone
    could rate something without necessarily giving it stars.

    For ALE, the clue 'Bartender’s serving, perhaps' makes sense because
    not all ale is from a bar and not all drinks at a bar are ale.

    For YOLO, the clue 'Exclamation before an ill-advised action, maybe'
    is similar to the above case in that not everything someone does after
    saying YOLO is ill advised." ~Christina Iverson, Easy Mode newsletter, 2/9/2024
  • "When Will Shortz was hired as crossword editor of The NYT in 1993,
    he made waves by cluing the entry OREO as 'Cream-filled sandwich.'
    Until then, it had always been clued as 'Mountain: Comb. form.'
    In the last 30 years, Mr. Shortz has worked on making clues more
    relevant to the average solver. More recently, especially since 2020,
    people of all ages, races, genders and backgrounds have been making
    puzzles, and their voices are evident. Clues are changing as well --
    they feel less stuffy than they used to, and generally more approachable.

    As our editorial team grows, we’re also starting to call into question
    some of the more formal conventions of crossword cluing. We’re beginning
    to favor language like 'Cat, in Spanish' over 'Cat: Sp.' We still want
    solvers to grapple with challenging puzzles, but we’d rather have the
    difficulty come from clever wordplay than from obscure trivia and
    potentially confusing wording." ~Christina Iverson, Easy Mode newsletter, 3/8/2024
  • "*" often suggests a theme answer -- look for commonalities between other *-entries;
    the center or last theme clue might "explain" the theme (aka 'the reveal / payoff');
    next section: Themes
  • A blank clue (or "-") -- it depends, e.g., reuse a neighboring clue
  • 'Cousin', 'relative' or 'partner' often indicates something in same category.
  • Occasionally both a constructor and an editor might miss a mistake.
  • Clue difficulty can vary by day of week, e.g., BACON (from Quigley):
    Mon: "Strips with fried eggs"
    Wed: "Sir Francis"
    Sat: "Strips in a club"
  • e.g., STRAP:
    Mon: "Subway rider's handhold"
    Wed: "Part of a bike helmet"
    Sat: "What might keep a watch on you"
  • ACPT division examples: A (advanced), B (intermediate), C (beginner), from Romano:
    1D: FIEDLER
    A. Boston leader for half a century
    B. Longtime Boston pops leader
    C. Conductor Arthur

    19A: DESERTBLOOM
    A. Symbol of beauty in harsh conditions
    B. 1986 coming-of-age movie set in Las Vegas
    C. Cactus flower

    30A: DANDELION
    A. Plant named for the teeth of a big cat
    B. Kind of wine
    C. Yard nuisance
  • The puzzle editor may prefer certain definitions, e.g., OREO
    pre-Shortz era (< 1993): prefix for mountain -- as in “oreortyx,” a mountain quail
    Shortz era: creme-filled cookie -- and many variations, esp. for day of week
  • The year of the puzzle may suggest what slang and pop culture references were possible;
    also a country's currency, e.g., before or after EU
  • Is date of puzzle on/near a holiday/event/anniversary?
  • Be prepared to think both literally and metaphorically
    -- and outside the box(es):
  • The 'meaning' of a clue may not be a definition, but literally the name or sound of a clue letter,
    e.g., "Head of cattle?" = HARD C;
    "Carriage part?" = SILENT I;
    or a letter sequence, e.g., "RV center" = STU
  • A clue might "break the 4th wall" and refer to the solver,
    e.g., using pen or ink, looking up hints
  • Some clues might be modified by theme to make sense, e.g., Univ, 1/10/2021
    23A. Cement made with 2.5% copper = COPPER PENNY
    32A. Theme present = THIS DAY AND AGE
    51A. Painfully meshy chaps, perhaps = SHRINKING VIOLETS
    68A. Firmest lights = DAYBREAKS
    70A. Amexes used by some Native Americans = TOMAHAWKS
    87A. Romeo's friend = CHRISTOPHER ROBIN
    104A.They circle a games giant = RINGS OF SATURN
    121A. "Pretend I'm not here" -- and a hint to the two extra letters in each starred clue = JUST IGNORE ME
  • An answer square might contain more than 1 letter, e.g., rebus (next section: Themes)
  • A block (dark square) might stand for an 'empty' word in a phrase, e.g., "BOX", "BLOCK", "HOLE"
  • Online tool, e.g., crosswordgiant.com: enter a clue to find possible answers;
    or enter an answer (or pattern) to find possible clues
  • For UK cryptics (described earlier: Solving: Choose Difficulty), clues are quite different:
    e.g., New Yorker interactive Cryptic clue guide Anagram, Hidden Word, Homophone, Double Definition,
    Assemblage (Charade), Deletion, Reversal, Container, Bits and Pieces, Multiple

Quotes

Interactive Examples

Some Interesting Clues I've Collected

An Annotated NYT Example

  • NYT 1/23/2011 puzzle(blank): [.pdf]; solution: [.pdf] neat, [.pdf] handwritten
  • FITB (Fill In The Blank): 32-A, 36-A, 79-A, 85-A (!), 97-A, 128-A, 2-D, 9-D, 11-D, 41-D, 87-D, 95-D*, 121-D
  • first name: 1-A, 39-A, 65-A, 67-A, 96-A, 101-A, 118-A, 8-D, 66-D ('familiarly'), 116-D
  • last name: 24-A, 89-A, 5-D, 9-D, 58-D
  • *-prefix (theme answers): 6-A, 12-A, 17-A, ...
  • plurals: 22-A, 47-D ('they'); 42-A&45-A (repetition); 61-A ('and the like'); 8-D ('and others'); 37-D ('array');
    28-D, 81-D, 86-D ('?'); 31-A, 46-A, 59-A, 71-A, 124-A, 1-D, 3-D, 16-D, 27-D, 33-D, 46-D, 60-D ('-s')
  • abbrev./acronym: 28-A ('briefly'), 100-A ('Vette); 105-A, 70-D, 85-D ('org.'); 10-D ('sch.'); 23-D ('Trig');
    33-D ('R.N.s'); 81-D ('letters'); 96-D ('acronym'); 112-D ('abbr.'); 82-A, 94-D (?)
  • singular: ('when repeated'); prefix: 74-A, 114-A; tense: 50-A ('-ed'), 35-D ('took'), 99-D ('-ing')
  • adverb/adjective: 18-A, 126-A, 21-D, 51-D, 78-D, 79-D, 105-D
  • literal: 22-A(año), 42-A & 45-A ('N N N'); refs to other clues: 61-A
  • pop culture/music: 1-A, 24-A, 26-A, 29-A, 36-A, 39-A, 65-A, 67-A, 88-A, 96-A, 101-A, 122-A, 127-A,
    8-D, 9-D, 13-D, 38-D, 40-D, 42-D, 54-D, 66-D, 73-D, 77-D, 92-D, 116-D, 117-D
  • literary (2 Shakespeare!): 32-A, 2-D, 5-D, 52-D; slang/current: 38-A, 85-A, 104-A, 7-D, 92-D, 109-D
  • geographical/historical/political: 12-A, 29-A, 89-A, 118-A, 9-D, 14-D, 68-D, 70-D, 87-D, 102-D
  • Roman numerals: 78-A
  • math/science: 12-A, 23-D, 58-D, 64-D, 87-D, 111-D
  • crosswordese: 62-A ('as is'?), 96-A ('Ara'), 28-D ('A-one')
  • languages: Spanish: 30-A, 63-A; French: 59-A, 103-A; Greek: 42-A; Latin: 86-D; (?): 93-A ('whence the word')
  • compass heading: 48-D
  • puns: 76-A ('carrying a toon')
  • 10 crypticambiguity: 31-A ('winds'), 34-A ('touch'), 49-A ('slant'), 68-A ('hood'), 69-A ('shocker'), 90-A ('King'),
    98-A ('Numbers'), 116-A ('don't get it'), 114-A ('opening'), 124-A ('homes'), 125-A ('house'),
    1-D ('heads'), 6-D ('party'), 15-D ('in a way'), 12-D & 16-D ('pointer(s)'), 28-D ('tops'),
    32-D ('prone'), 43-D ('hitch'), 47-D ('keys'), 57-D ('opening'), 81-D ('letters'), 106-D ('bit'),
    115-D ('revealing'), 119-D ('straight')

References