![]() ![]() For the purposes of this post, a "definition" isn't necessarily what you might find in the dictionary. NAIL-BITING or NAIL BITING, the entry is the same. Here's a Sunday Telegraph clue by Virgilius, known locally as Brendan:įirst as a noun, then as a verb, both times LAUNCH. He and other setters, though, won't always put descriptions of two nouns next to each other, or of two adjectives or of whatever. Now, there's a reason we kicked off with Rufus and Dante: they're the same setter, and one I associate with an especially nifty double definition. The two definitions are "religious experience" and "necessary to achieve a goal" the goal is the rugby kind and the answer is CONVERSION. Here's one from Dante in the FT:ġ6ac Religious experience necessary to achieve a goal (10) ![]() The double-definition clues above have only two words others have more. That's cryptic crosswording right there: a misleading image which hides the fact that it contains two fair indicators. You read "kind disposition" and you think of Richard Briers or Peppy, the Fox's Glacier Mint bear you read "quits flat" and you think of Liam Fox packing up his belongings. The fun, of course, is that at the same time as making things easier, putting together the two hints like this creates a distraction. which might be TEMPER or TALENT or SPIRIT or LAYOUT (it's none of those) - and now another from Rufus. You can write in EVEN without even waiting for any of the letters from other answers. It's not likely to be "quits" as in "Brooks quits as chief exec", but it could be quits as in "let's call it quits" - and there's only one answer that fits both criteria. Okay, so this time we want a four-letter word that means "flat" and can also mean "quits". Here's a cryptic clue from a puzzle by Rufus with the same answer: Until you have some of the letters from other answers, this could be any of many four-letter words: WEAK, perhaps, or DULL. If you're thinking of making that leap, what I'm about to claim may sound deranged, but hear me out: cryptic clues are easier than quick ones. How does it work?įor the beginner, the double definition can be a fast, effective gateway drug from the quick crossword to the serious stuff. All of us love an anagram - and it seems from talking to setters that jumbling can creep from habit to compulsion - but the double definition is the cryptic clue at its cleanest and clearest. ![]() "I kinda expected anagrams." All in good time. ![]()
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