![]() Other types of cryptic clues exist, but this type (definition with instructions for construction) is the most common in modern cryptic crosswords and will be the focus of this article. The “constructor” can be explained thus: put a word for “dog” (CUR) inside a word for “insight” (SEE) to create SECURE, which can be glossed as “guard.” The coherence of the familiar phrase “guard dog” confounds the solver’s attempt to separate the constructor from the definition, as does the fact that the word “sight” is a noun in the context of the whole clue, but a verb when used as part of the constructor. The definition here is the first word alone. ![]() The words comprising the “constructor” (my term for instructions for constructing the answer) are purposely obscured by their distribution across a phrasal boundary. The answer is PUDDING BASIN, an anagram of “pub sign add in,” defined by “Cook’s vessel.” The instruction to decode an anagram is provided by the word “amending.” The complete clue suggests perhaps the addition of HMS Endeavour to a pub signboard. 2 “Cruciverbalists” (crossword compilers) are customarily known by pseudonyms, a tradition which goes (.)Īmending pub sign, add in Cook’s vessel (7,5).Finally, I present a TEI schema and an approach to encoding the components of cryptic crossword clues in a way that enables algorithmic analysis of trends, features, and clue types, with a view to creating a historical corpus of encoded clues which will illuminate the evolution of the tradition. Many cryptic clues depend for their effect on confusing the solver through the use of overlapping syntactic and semantic hierarchies, so they serve as evidence that overlapping hierarchies are not merely an unfortunate limitation afflicting XML languages but are psychologically and linguistically real. I argue that cryptic crossword clues have a great deal in common with poetry, and that we have much to learn from their structure. This article outlines a short history of the cryptic crossword and explains how cryptic clues work. The cryptic crossword is a highly sophisticated and challenging type of intellectual puzzle that has been a daily feature of British newspapers 1 for nearly a century, and yet the culture and traditions surrounding it have received little scholarly attention.
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