These are clues that have been collected over a long period of time after attempting various Crossword challenges mainly in the Daily Telegraph and The Times. A few have been made up. They have been chosen because they are either very clever, amusing or just neat and simple but still appealing in some way.
The table below shows these clues alongside their definitive answers followed by a brief explanation of how they are derived.There are about 150 clues - probably the equivalent of 5 grids of typical newspaper crossword formats.
| clue | answer | definition & explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Spot comes before the boil (6) | seethe | boil: 'the' preceded by a word for 'spot' |
| Go in after fish and chips (9) | carpenter | chips (a carpenter): 'go in' (enter) follows carp, a fish |
| A bird that flies about in two directions (4) | wren | A bird that flies: re (about) inside two directions, W and N |
| Bar of soap (6,6) | Rovers Return | Bar: followers of Coronation Street will recognise it |
| Very big chap who went down to a stone! (7) | Goliath | Very big chap: slain by David using a sling-shot |
| A bird looking for a mate? (4) | rook | A bird: also the name for a chess piece |
| Cox at me (6,3,6) | income tax return | it's a play on words, 'tax' is reversed (returned) within the word 'come' |
| It's found in a church letter (5) | aitch | letter: the word 'it' appears inside 'a' and 'ch' (short for church) |
| Gormless Scottish mountain dog (5) | cairn | dog: drop 'gorm' from Cairngorm (mountain) |
| One letter and the next two for a great man (6) | Gandhi | a great man: one letter (G), and H I, the next two |
| Harassment in MI6 HQ? (11) | molestation | double definition |
| It's OK to use an abbreviation (8) | Oklahoma | OK: the abbreviation for the answer |
| O? (4,6) | love letter | O: represents love and is a letter |
| Satisfaction from varying in bed (7) | comfort | Satisfaction: the word 'from' is jumbled and placed inside cot (bed) |
| Bloody stupid former pupil (3,3) | old boy | former pupil: stupid clues an anagram of the word 'bloody' |
| A car always in neutral (7) | Renault | A car: always clues an anagram of neutral |
| Five for fifty in fast opening (4) | vent | opening: lent is a fast; using Roman numerals the 'l' is replaced (for) by 'v' |
| Slowly move part of foot (4) | inch | double definition |
| It unfolds and gives way (4,3) | road map | the whole clue - it's what a map does |
| Run naked with redhead in small wood (6) | streak | Run naked: redhead is 'r' (first letter), 's' for small placed inside teak, a wood |
| Good ending for dreadful action film (7) | coating | film: anagram of 'action' followed by 'g' for good |
| Fit fifty helium cans into storeroom (8) | athletic | Fit: 'L' (Roman numeral) and He (helium) encloses it (cans) all inside attic |
| Stop driving in Top Gear (8) | pullover | double definition |
| Under pressure, fools around (8) | stressed | Under pressure: fools here refer to desserts which is spelt in reverse |
| Man's man (8) | islander | the whole clue - chap on the Isle of Man |
| Love disturbs virile actor (7) | Olivier | actor: 'O' love followed by anagram of virile, clued by disturbs |
| Departs with boss on elephant (5) | dumbo | elephant: 'd' for departs, with 'umbo', a term for the centre of a shield (a boss) |
| Extracts information by removing underwear ? (8) | debriefs | double definition |
| Loves painting, and leaving no tips, for example (8) | anagram | 'loves painting' is an anagram of 'leaving no tips' |
| Eleven plus two and twelve plus one are examples (8) | anagram | amazingly the two expressions are anagrams of each other |
| Wasted the bacon sandwiches one cut (9) | aitchbone | cut (of meat): wasted clues an anagram of 'the bacon' with 'i' (one) within it |
| A lip-smacking snack ? (7,8) | knuckle sandwich | a play on words |
| Age concealed by fat old artist (8) | Leonardo | artist: age is eon; fat is 'lard', ending in 'o' for old |
| Trouble spending a penny ? (13) | inconvenience | double definition |
| Geese flying east into cover (5) | skein | Geese flying: 'E' for east put into skin (cover) |
| Tousled beauty had fun going topless (11) | dishevelled | tousled: a beauty is a dish; remove first letter from 'revelled' (had fun) |
| Bridge player rubbished this game (5) | whist | game: 'W' (bridge player), followed by anagram (rubbished) of 'this' |
| Slight pains: sore bum (9) | aspersion | Slight: bum clues anagram of pains & sore |
| Scandinavian wearing no pants (9) | Norwegian | Scandinavian: pants clues anagram of 'wearing no' |
| Lemon country (6) | turkey | double definition |
| Puzzler continued unnoticed as an example (7) | anagram | Puzzler: 'continued' is an anagram of 'unnoticed' |
| Sign of growth (6) | cancer | double definition |
| Two girls; one on each knee (7) | patella | knee: girls' names joined to give anatomical name for knee(cap) |
| House humour and hotel humour (3,2,4) | put up with | humour (tolerate): 'house' is put up; 'humour' is 'wit', followed by 'h' for hotel |
| Label on back of this animal (4) | stag | animal: 'tag' - a label, is appended to 's' the back (last) letter of 'this' |
| Gosh! Tailless sea birds (4) | gees | Gosh!: 'geese' without the ending |
| Most daring pieces of underwear (7) | bravest | Most daring: bra + vest |
| 4t + 4e + a = 121 (4-1-4) | tete-a-tete | 121: or, one-to-one, made from all the 't's, 'e's and an 'a' |
| HIJKLMNO (5) | water | play on letters!: the character string is H to O (spoken) |
| I say nothing (3) | ego | I: e.g. (say) plus 'o' (nothing) |
| Kiss me Hardy (7,5) | pecking order | play on words, a command to be given a kiss! (Lord Nelson) |
| Lane in the heart of Kent (4) | Lois | Lane: Lois Lane, fancied by Clark Kent in Superman |
| Cat, cat or dog, or dog (7) | whippet | dog: a cat is a type of whip, pet could be cat or dog |
| Cat has favourite dog (7) | whippet | dog: a cat is a type of whip; another word for favourite is pet |
| Didn't feel well (7) | fumbled | play on words |
| Can I like a friend ? (7) | amiable | like a friend: made from 'am' 'I' and 'able'? |
| Flowers make adults into children (6-2-4) | forget-me-nots | Flowers: make means forge; adults are men, placed inside 'tots' |
| Speed trap ? (10) | motormouth | play on words: a trap is a mouth |
| Man finishes off home brew (6) | hombre | Man: take away the last letters of 'home' and 'brew' and join the results |
| High street name in dictionary (6) | stoned | High: street abbreviates to 'st'; OED is a dictionary, insert 'n' for name |
| Item left in car (6) | couple | Item: a couple are an item; insert 'l' for left inside 'coupe', a car |
| Maybe die young, close to home (4) | cube | maybe die: also a cube; a cub is young and the close to the word home is 'e' |
| One is so tired of editors! (7) | anagram | One (an example of): editors is an anagram of 'so tired' |
| Stop going in both directions (4,2) | pull up | Stop going: 'pull up' is palindromic (both directions) |
| Some like it here as one of a twosome (6) | either | one of a twosome: 'some' clues some consecutive letters in 'like it here' |
| Mathematician to overtake doctor (7) | Laplace | Mathematician: to overtake is 'lap'; 'lace' is to doctor |
| Sparkling drink is OK in Bordeaux ? (4) | cava | OK in Bordeaux: or anywhere in France; familiar way to ask how you are (ça va) |
| This is where the young go mad (5) | potty | double definition |
| Underwear thieves picked up (8) | knickers | double definition: the word for thieves sounds like (picked up) the first word |
| Rachel's new name after sex change? (7) | Charles | new name: anagram of Rachel's |
| Makes different V-sign (6) | varies | Makes different: V followed a sign of the zodiac |
| Poor health for one's partner (5,4) | other half | one's partner: poor clues anagram of 'health for' |
| Fellow celebrity (7) | Alister | double definition: a celeb is an A-lister |
| US politician has sex with female (13) | congresswoman | US politician: congress is another word for sex |
| Came by bike? Or by boat? Or by motorway, if picked up? (4) | rode | they (rode, rowed, road) all sound the same when spoken (picked up) |
| Chair is deep but not wide, long but not hard (7) | lounger | Chair: join 'low' (deep) w/out 'w' for wide & 'hunger' (long) w/out 'h' for hard |
| Hamburger off the shelf ? (4) | Frau | Hamburger: maybe a German woman who got married |
| Family member with two sons I don't know (4) | pass | I don't know: 'pa' followed by 'ss' (two sons) |
| Wears effeminate clothes below the belt (15) | unsportsmanlike | below the belt: wears is 'sports'; effeminate clues 'unmanlike' |
| City brothels in kinky shows (8) | Helsinki | City: the name is shown within the clue |
| Most unheard of! (6,8) | silent majority | play on words |
| Fibre optics is altering displays (5) | sisal | Fibre: displayed within the clue |
| Heather's dumped a boy (4) | Eric | boy: erica is another word for heather; remove (dump) 'a' |
| Hot country short of a language (5) | Hindi | language: hot (h) followed by India without the 'a' |
| Get lost in Oxford, by the sound of it? (4) | shoo | Get lost: sounds like shoe (Oxford) |
| Reversal of number, current, current, number (7) | edition | number: in reverse order put number (no), current (i), current (tide) |
| I see what you're saying (3-6) | lip-reader | play on words |
| Guardian's role beyond 2020? (11) | supervision | double definition: guardian's role & better than 20:20 vision |
| Somewhere in France that's cleaner and very French! (8) | Chartres | Somewhere in France: a char is a cleaner; très is French for very |
| A single amount of DNA that I'm allotted? (2,10) | My Generation | A single: album by The Who; gene ration is a DNA allotment |
| Where Parisians stroll in leisure time, half drunk (9) | Tuileries | Where Parisians stroll: drunk clues an anagram of 'leisure' and 'ti' (half of time) |
| Drop a little lower, keeping length in mind (5) | calve | Drop a little lower: cow giving birth; put 'l' (length) inside 'cave', Latin for beware (mind) |
| No good going in without answer ready (5) | wonga | ready: slang for money; 'ng' (no good) inside 'wo' (without) and 'a' (answer) |
| Filmgoer sees this game between Mike and Oscar (4) | Golf | game: Golf is 'g' in phonetic alphabet; similarly Mike & Oscar which sandwich 'g' in the word filmgoer |
| Male Hollywood star runs away from female Hollywood star (5) | Gable | Male Hollywood star: remove 'r' (runs) from (Betty) Grable to get (Clark) Gable |
| Free suffering birds: they're tied (4,5) | reef knots | they're tied: suffering clues anagram of 'free'; knots are birds |
| Girl from Llandudno possibly eating a chop from Shrewsbury? (8) | Salopian | from Shrewsbury: Sian is Welsh (e.g. Llandudno) girl's name containing (eating) 'a lop' (a chop) giving name of someone from Salop (now Shropshire) |
| It helps to climb, walk and run (10) | stepladder | It helps to climb: step (walk) with ladder (run, as in nylons/ stockings) |
| American can celebrate with an encore (4,4) | Sing Sing | American can: can is slang for a prison; sing (celebrate) twice (encore); Sing Sing was a NY State prison |
| Providers of support for those with decreasing work? (7,6) | ironing boards | Providers of support: ... for those who de-crease (iron) |
| Wife's left at Crewe, due to change train again? (2-7) | re-educate | train again: wife (w) is removed from 'at Crewe' & combined with 'due' in an anagram (to change) |
| Cricket supporter Down Under? (9) | jockstrap | probably needs no explanation! |
| A new hair product, darling (5) | angel | darling: a (A), n(new), gel (hair product) |
| Type of cricketer in Anglo-French dictionary? (7) | seamer | Type of cricketer: 'mer' is French for 'sea' |
| Nuts only 40% chewed (4) | mast | Nuts: take the first 4 letters (40%) of masticated (10 letters), another word for chewed |
| Go crawling along out of gear? (6-3) | skinny-dip | Go crawling along: swimming (crawling) in the nude (out of gear) |
| Barely crawls? (6-4) | skinny-dips | Expression for swimming in the nude |
| Those playing rugby leap, but only the backs land (5) | Egypt | land: join together the last letters ('only the backs') of each of the first 5 words in the clue |
| I eat after ten (6) | Iodine | I: I is the chemical symbol for iodine; eat (dine) follows ten (io) |
| Leader of orchestra regularly broke wind (4) | oboe | wind: First letter (leader) of orchestra is 'o'; add the odd letters (regularly) of 'broke' |
| Aussie state nurses rest in the heat (6) | siesta | rest in the heat: consecutive letters within 'Aussie state', clued by 'nurses' |
| Asian mountaineer eats her partner's sandwiches (6) | sherpa | Asian mountaineer: answer hidden (sandwiched) in the clue |
| Apple from which grub might emerge? (6) | cooker | Apple: type of apple and a cooker is often used to prepare meals (grub) |
| Topping for a French loaf? (5) | beret | Topping: loaf is slang for head; a beret is often worn by a Frenchman |
| Letter from nine written in reverse (4) | iota | Letter: write the 9 letters a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,i ('a' to 'i') in reverse to give 'iota' |
| Third note, second note (4) | memo | note: the third note is 'me' (do, re, me ...); mo(ment) is another word for a second, giving memo (a note) |
| Weakness arrivin' ? (11) | shortcoming | Weakness: a shortcoming; 'coming' is a synonym for 'arriving'; a short coming is comin' |
| In hot pants, topless woman dresses (2,4) | at home | In: pants clues anagram of hot; topless woman (first letter missing) is (d)ame; 'ame' wraps round (dresses) 'tho' |
| Information given to communist in return for sex (6) | gender | sex: Information is 'gen'; communist is 'red', or 'der' in return |
| Pineapple rings in syrup (9) | grenadine | syrup: Pineapple is an informal word for a grenade; this encloses (rings) the word 'in' to give grenadine - a syrup |
| Make love, being a macho actor (6) | Brando | a macho actor: a make is a brand; love is O, giving (Marlon) Brando |
| English novel that's On Chesil Beach? (7) | shingle | (something) On Chesil Beach: novel clues an anagram of English, giving shingle, found on the beach |
| You need pros and cons re-evaluated (6,6) | second person | You: re-evaluated clues an anagram of 'need pros cons'; the pronoun 'you' is second person (singular & plural) |
| West and east winds blow (5) | waste | blow: West (w) and an anagram of east clued by 'winds' (twists) giving a word for blow, in this case meaning to waste |
| A riddle with no conclusion? Pull the other one! (2,2) | as if | Pull the other one!: to sift is to riddle, so A followed by 'sif' (no conclusion) gives the expression |
| Things that can get you down (8) | feathers | play on words |
| Be bright: if G is 2 and L is 5 then this must be true (7) | glisten | Be bright: g (2) times l (5) is ten |
| Island piglet? (3,6) | New Guinea | Island: guinea is a type of pig; a new (recently born) guinea could be a piglet |
| He perhaps is in Tangiers working (5,3) | inert gas | He perhaps: He is the chemical symbol for helium (inert gas), derived from an anagram of Tangiers, clued by 'working' |
| A bit of work that's key for raising capital? (5) | shift | A bit of work: ... but also a double definition, since the 'shift' key is used to get capital (letter) |
| 8th-century Pope's a pioneer in quantum science (5) | Pauli | a pioneer in quantum science: Paul the First was Pope during that period |
| How to make Elba popular (11) | fashionable | popular: 'fashion' (or rearrange) the word Elba into 'able'; the clue is like an instruction to get a word for popular |
| Logical operations run a small country (7) | Andorra | small country: 'and' & 'or' are logical operations; follow these with 'r' (run) & 'a' to give name of country |
| What's to the south of the Himalayas? Not a poor state (13) | indisposition | poor state: India's position is south of this mountain range; remove the letter 'a' (Not a) to give an answer meaning poor state (feeling unwell) |
| Girl doing housework with a cheerful expression (2,4) | au pair | Girl doing housework: 'a' followed by 'up air' (a cheerful expression) |
| Parisian in purple trousers meeting with everyone (6) | plenum | meeting with everyone: plum (purple) contains (trousers) 'en' (French for 'in') |
| Purple's second and blue's third in red fish (5) | trout | fish: the 2nd letter of Purple and the 3rd in blue is 'u'; this is put inside a word for red ('trot') (short for Trotskyite) |
| For example, Homer's Greek character gone travelling (6) | pigeon | Homer: example of a type of pigeon (homer) - 'pi' (Greek character) and an anagram (clued by 'travelling') of 'gone' |
| One's neither civil nor polite, but rude or foul! (4-6,4) | four-letter word | One: ... (example of a) 4-letter word. 'civil' & 'polite' aren't 4 letters & not considered rude words but 'rude' & 'foul' qualify! |
| Idiots providing clue for Women's Institute? (8) | halfwits | Idiots: half of the word 'wits' gives 'wi' - the acronym for Women's Institute |
| S, perhaps, for sport here? (7,6) | leisure centre | sport here?: the centre of the word leisure is the letter S |
| Got into bed with a criminal (8) | obtained | Got: 'criminal' indicates an anagram of 'into bed' and 'a' |
| Parent at the start of the 6th century (3) | Dad | Parent: D is Roman numeral for 500, giving 500AD |
| The exact thing (8,7) | definite article | The: exact (definite) + thing (article); together they define what 'The' is |
| Buy polish off singer who's often high (7) | swallow | The clue has 3 definitions of the answer: Buy/ polish off/ singer who's often high - they can all mean 'swallow' |
| Dinosaur droppings collected by institute's top academic (9) | iguanodon | Dinosaur: (bird) droppings are 'guano', put between (collected) 'i' (institute) and 'top academic' (don) |
| Four German couples appearing at the end of Huckleberry Finn? (5) | yacht | Finn: 'acht' is German for eight (4 couples), placed after the last letter of Huckleberry to give a class of sailboat |
| We hear a girl will pull, which encourages a kiss? (9) | mistletoe | which encourages a kiss: sounds like 'miss will tow'; mistletoe encourages a kiss |
| What is forgiveness? (6) | pardon | double definition: What? and forgiveness both mean pardon |
| Railway not smooth enough? (11) | underground | play on words: ... if it were ground a bit more it would be smoother! |
| Duck with large hooter (3) | owl | hooter: join duck (o), with (w) and large (l) |
| Problem with corruption in China? (3,7) | tea service | China: 'tea ser' is a problem; vice is a synonym of corruption |
| Equal it, shot for shot (7) | tequila | shot: the first 'shot' hints at anagram of 'Equal it' |
| Ruddy duck? That's a wader! (8) | flamingo | wader: mild expletive (flaming for ruddy), followed by 'o' for duck |
| Take off bra - clasp loose at the back (3) | ape | Take off: 'ape' can mean 'imitate' (take off); join last letters (at the back) of bra, clasp & loose to get 'ape' |
| Safari, say, with giraffe or deer? (7) | browser | double definition: Safari is the name of Mac's Browser; giraffe & deer are examples of animals that browse (for food) |
| Personality problem exemplified by Gregory? (11) | egocentrism | Personality problem: the centre of the name Gregory is 'ego' |
| Stop working with backside visible? (3,2) | end on | backside visible: end (Stop), working (on) for the view you get |
| Island where three houses sound upside down (8) | Trinidad | Island: triad (three); houses means 'contains' a word for sound (din, upside down) |
| Crop frame of blue movie (4) | beet | Crop: frame of 'blue' is 'be' (first & last letters), with ET (movie) |
| Work by The Third Man novelist (8) | fielding | Work by The Third Man: Third Man is a fielding position in cricket. His work is 'fielding'. Henry Fielding is a novelist but he didn't write The Third Man, that was Graham Greene (I think). This is another cunning piece of clue mis-direction. |
| Loiter in van in Hereford with some deliveries (6) | hover | Loiter: here, van means the front of, giving 'h'; an over in cricket has deliveries |
| Go to bed with gigolos, initially in rotation (7) | turning | in rotation: turn in (go to bed), gigolos initially gives 'g' |
| In which soldiers sometimes take a dip? (6,3) | boiled egg | play on words: thin strips of toast are often referred to as soldiers |
| Dove perhaps, but not swallow (4,10) | past participle | Dove: Americans often use 'dove' for the past tense of 'dive'; swallow is present tense |
| Unlimited calls with numbers ending in eight (2-7) | no-strings | Unlimited: numbers is represented by 'nos' & the last letter (ending) of eight is appended; 'rings' (calls) is then added |
| Key figure in report of Nessie apparently (9) | locksmith | Key figure: locksmith sounds like Loch's myth |
| Protection from propriétaires (6,7) | French letters | Protection: FLs is slang for condoms; propriétaires is French for landlords (letters) |
| Worn out after sex (4,2) | past it | Worn out: past (after) with 'it' (sex) |
| Thick old Peruvian cries at night (2,7) | in cahoots | Thick: Thick, as in e.g. thick as thieves; inca is an old Peruvian; hoots (owl cries at night) |
| It can be used for sex? (9) | euphemism | the word 'it' is often used as a euphemistic reference to 'sex' |
| Tablet providing IT support? (6) | viagra | Tablet: although capitalised, IT is being used as a euphemism for 'sex' |
| Soldier, nod off (8) | commando | Soldier: clever use of punctuation (comma) with an anagram of nod |
| Very small interval, this (5) | comma | double definition: another example using punctuation |
| Chief Of Staff leaves function (3) | cos | Triple definition - acronym, cos lettuce leaves, cos(ine) trigonometry function |
| One half provided in two quarters (4) | wife | One half: endearing term for a married partner defined by 'if' (provided) inserted between w(est) & e(ast) |
| Modern Madras shows boundless colour (5) | henna | colour: Madras has been renamed Chennai; when boundless (first & last letters removed), henna is left |
| Female called, about to leave Calais in LeShuttle? (9) | Franglais | LeShuttle: example word that mixes the languages - Female (F), called (rang), Ca (about) taken away from Calais to leave 'lais' |
| Unclad Roman lady entertains backward people (11) | ignoramuses | backward people: remove (unclad) first & last letters of signora (Roman lady) and add amuses (entertains) |
| Egg on anorak finally wiped (3) | gee | Egg on: remove last letter from 'geek' (an anorak) |