There are a number of phrases or words that keep cropping up time and time again in cryptic crossword clues.  These often indicate abbreviations that form part of the answer.  For example take the following clue that I saw in todays paper:

Former Pupil finds setting lewd (7)

At first glance the above clue looks quite difficult. However, Former Pupil in this case refers to ‘old boy’ or the abbreviation OB …. add this to a ’setting’ or SCENE and you’ll come to the answer OBSCENE which of course means ‘lewd’

Of course its a bit of a stretch if you didn’t know that ‘Former Pupil’ means OB but after a while you will get to know these ‘code words’ as they are used quite often.

Tip : When you see a phrase that indicates an abbreviation it is quite easy to separate the Cryptic part of the clue from the straight part.  Once the straight part of a cryptic clue has been identified it makes the solving of the cryptic so much easier.

Here is a list of the Abbreviations I have discovered:

Former Pupil = OB (old boy) 

Point = N,E,S,W (points of a compass)                                                     

Church = C or CE (Church of England)

Left = L

One = I

First = IST

Frenchman = M (Monsieur)

2000 = MM (Roman Numerals)

Energy = E

Technorati Tags: Abbreviations, crossword help

Tags: Abbreviations, crossword help