Small pastry to get going (5)

The Main Two Types of Crosswords

So let's start at the basics. If we run to Google and grab the contextual definition for "clue" in the crossword realm, we find: "a verbal formula giving an indication as to what is to be inserted in a particular space in a crossword or other puzzle".

Okay that got a bit dense so let's trim it down and just take "a formula". In regular, or "straight", crosswords, this formula is pretty simple: "definition = answer". The clue can be "flower" which can lead to the answer being "lily". We have a nice direct correlation that is easy to understand, however,  the trouble with straight clues is they almost always have multiple possibilities for answers. If we take the "flower" clue and know the answer is four letters long, the answer could be "rose", "lily", or "iris" (in fact this website here lists 13 possible answers).

Therefore, in order to reliably solve a straight crossword clue, you often need feedback from other words completed in the grid. In our flower example, if we know the third letter is "s" then we can almost guarantee the solution will be "rose" but we needed that external hint to get it. It's also true that sometimes you can solve a crossword clue simply by solving all of the words surrounding it Let's amend our previous formula for straight clues to now be "definition and/or external hints = answer".

The difference in cryptic clues is that extra hint is actually within the clue itself; the clue contains its own hints about the true answer. This allows cryptic clues to be solvable outside of the context of the overall crossword, which also makes them easy to share when you've made or found a particularly clever one!

The Laws of the Language

For most cryptic clues, the formula can then be read as "(definition + internal hint) and optional external hint = answer". You'll note we took away the "or" for external hints. This is because they can no longer replace solving the actual clue! A further quirk about cryptic crossword grids is that not all letters are part of both a down and across word and so in order to complete a grid you must solve each clue; solved words will not completely fill in other words!  However, with the external hints solving most of the word, with the combined internal hints you should be well on your way to solving the word! Going back to our flower example, the internal hint won't usually be as nice as saying "the third letter is "s"" but will instead be wordplay you have to solve. While there are a vast array of cryptic clue types, most follow three major rules:

1. The definition will either be at the beginning or the end of the clue, never in the middle

2. The internal hint (or riddle) will always refer to the entirety of the answer, not just a portion of it

3. The order the components of the riddle, unless otherwise indicated, will appear in the same order in the answer

There are a few other rules, but those are the basics and there's no need to get too political just yet (oh yes, there most certainly are politics).

Let's Give One a Go!

The key to solving the internal hint/riddle is to understand that the words will oftentimes refer to either another way of representing them, or a synonym. I understand that sounds a tad confusing so let's take our first example, the title of the blog post: "Small pastry to get going (5)".

Before we tackle the clue, let's jot down what we already know:

• the answer will be five letters long "(5)"
• because we know the definition will either be at the beginning or end, the answer to the clue will either mean a "small pastry", or "to get going"
• with the above in mind, we also know the riddle to the clue will either be "small pastry" or "to get going"

Any ideas which would be which? Don't worry if you're not sure. As you solve more and more clues, your intuition will start to help you lean towards one side. In this case, "small pastry" is the wordplay and "to get going" is the definition, so let's diagnose the wordplay!

Think for a second of ways in society we represent the word, or the concept of, "small". Think in particular about clothing or coffee sizes... any ideas...? Why, with an "S" of course! (unless you're a Starbucks fan - your first glimpse into potential politics!)

So if we're correct on this, then "S" will be the first letter, since it is first in the riddle (remember rule #3!). Now we'll need a four-letter type of pastry we can pop in there to finish off the 5-letter answer. Are any types of pastries coming to mind? Remember that the overall answer has to mean "get going".

How about "tart"?  

"Small pastry" could be written out as "S+TART" which of course put together makes "start" which, luckily for us, also means "to get going". It looks like we've found the answer!

If you'd like to try solving one on your own, a very similar clue could be: "Pour water on small tree (4)" See if you can work that one out!

Next Steps

In the subsequent blog posts, we'll be going over all the different types of cryptic clues and how to identify them and know what to do with them. In the meantime, I'd encourage you to look at words in a new light. See in what ways you can break them apart, rearrange them, take or add new letters to them, or flip them upside down.

The word "together" can be broken into "to", "get", and "her".

The word "stop" can be rearranged into "post", "pots", "tops", "opts", and "spot".

The word "over" can make "rover", "overt", "mover", "lover" and so much more by adding some extra letters to it.

The word "kayak" can make the word "kayak" when flipped upsi... wait.. well you get the picture.

Also, try and think of some ways we represent letters or pairs of letters. We use "E", "S", "W", and "N" for directions or "points" on a compass, as well as "L" and "R" for relative directions. Can you think of anything for "P"? How about "IOUS"? 

Happy analyzing! 

~Cryptic Wares Team