How to solve cryptic Piñones
Here are a few tips on how to solve cryptic Piñones:
1. Most cryptic clues have two parts: a definition and a riddle. The definition part is similar to regular crossword clues. The riddle part involves wordplay that will lead you the answer. The wordplay and the definition will lead you to the same solution. In the wordplay, sometimes letters are added, removed, changed, rearranged, and lots of other actions, but the clue will always tell you what you need to do. For example, if part of the riddle was "stirred tea", the clue is telling you to "stir" the letters in "tea", perhaps for "ATE" or "EAT". The definition part of the clue will almost always be at the beginning or end, never in the middle!
2. The number at the end of the clue indicates how many letters are in each word of the solution to that clue. A (4) would indicate a single word of four letters. A (3,1) would indicate an answer of 2 words, the first with 3 letters in it and the second with 1 letter.
3. Most of the time, the wordplay is incredibly literal. Literally do what the wordplay in the clue is telling you to do. You have to use your imagination for a few of them, but think of doing the actions in terms of what would happen to the word if that action was done to it.
4. Cryptic clues love to substitute words for other ways that they are represented in the world. For example, "trademark" could be an indicator for the letters "TM" as that is often how trademark is denoted.
5. A "?" ending means that the definition in the puzzle isn't a direct definition, and is a bit of roundabout way of describing the answer. For example a definition of "sandwich" could be "knuckle" but the clue would need a "?" at the end. It effectively says: "I'm being a bit sneaky here but you'll get it when you see it"