Cryptic crosswords for beginners – unpicking the dress codes

In the example clues below, I explain the two parts of each one: there is a definition of the answer and there is some wordplay – a recipe for assembling its letters. In a genuine puzzle environment, of course, you also have the crossing letters, which should alleviate your solving load. Hence “crossword”. Also, the setters’ names tend to link to profiles of the individuals behind the pseudonyms.

The words we use for everyday things lend themselves well to slang and figurative use. We’ve considered animals and cars; we haven’t yet looked at food but we have looked at drink. What else?

I bet you’re dressed as you read this. Not necessarily smartly – and really, there’s no need. We’re friends. But the names of items of clothing don’t always mean what they seem to mean.

Trousers

One of my favourite ways of being misled in a puzzle is when a word looks very much like, say, a noun and turns out to be a verb.

Since the 1860s, if not before, someone taking possession of something – especially if the something is money and the taking is underhand – has been said to be “trousering” whatever it is. PG Wodehouse was fond of the term; journalists still are. So are crossword setters such as Screw:

… in a clue for BALLERINA.

Pants

Of similar vintage is the disparaging use of “pants”, as in the older expression “your name is pants”.

The adjective “pants” has enjoyed a revival in the last quarter-century or so, hence Matilda’s clue …

… for WORE THIN.

Bra

The first time the policemen Morse and Lewis meet, the conversation is about a crossword clue for “bra”. (More on that here.) It’s a handy little three-letter word and it often appears in clues as well as answers.

Various words that don’t appear to be describing a bra turn out to be doing just that. “Cups”, and “supporter” in the clue, for example, suggest the letters BRA somewhere in the answer. And Arachne deploys her trademark wit in this clue …

… for BRAINBOX.

Tee

Beware, though: a “supporter” might equally be a golfer’s TEE.

On which topic, the letters TEE appear in words from “absentees” (forwards) to “zebra parakeets” (backwards) and they might be indicated by the word “shirt”.

That’s what Brendan is up to in this clue …

… for SETTEE, though the rest of the puzzle reveals a staggering array of alternative kinds of TEE.

Cap

We’ve looked at crossword setters’ penchants for doing things with the first letters of words. Sometimes, they invite us to think of that initial letter as a “cap”. Here’s Paul …

… with a clue for AIRY. I regret to say that we end on another warning: a “cap” can also be a limit, a sporting achievement, something in a toy gun and all the rest of it.

Today, though, it’s an item of clothing, and our last one. Beginners: any questions? Seasoned solvers: any favourite clothing we should add?

More guidance

Cryptic devices: hidden answers; double definitions; defining by example; cryptic definitions; soundalikes; spoonerisms; stammering; containers; reversals; initial letters; alternate letters; cycling; taking most of a word; percentages of a word; naked words; first and last letters; middle letters; removing middle letters.

Bits and bobs: Roman numerals; Nato alphabet; Greek letters; chemistry; abbreviations for countries; points of the compass; more points of the compass; playing cards; capital letters; boys and girls; apostrophes; cricket; alcohol; the church; politics; Latin; royals; newspapers; doctors; drugs; music; animals; cars; cities; rivers; boats; when the setter’s name appears; when the solver appears; “cheating”.

Individual letters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N.

The Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book by Alan Connor, which is partly but not predominantly cryptic, can be obtained from the Guardian bookshop.