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Play Cryptic Crossword Puzzles

If you are a fan of crosswords, then you might like to tackle our cryptic crosswords.

For those who are not familiar with this puzzle type, it is predominantly one that appears in the UK, and has a very different style of clue to any other type of crossword, whether that be quick, general knowledge or a themed puzzle.

With a cryptic crossword, the clues tend to be longer, and they contain two parts: a straight clue: this is a definition to the answer. The second part is the cryptic clue and can contain various different forms of trickery that lead to the answer. Whilst it might seem that having a straight clue AND a cryptic clue would make the puzzle very simple, they are not given separately but rather presented as one clue, and you must work out as the solver which is the straight part of the clue and which is cryptic - this is easier said than done in many cases, and thus cryptic crosswords can be very difficult to solve indeed.

Not only are they cryptic, the answers in cryptic crosswords can be very obscure, from words that you may never have heard of to plays, books and so forth that could not reasonably be considered to be in most people's general knowledge. As such cryptic puzzles have something of a cult following whilst being regarded with some suspicion by many other people. But for those that love them, the pleasure that can be derived from solving a cryptic puzzle or cracking a particularly tough clue and seeing the answer fall into place, is almost second-to-none. There should also be no ambiguity with answers to a cryptic unlike quick puzzles: if you have cracked the clue, then you have worked out the answer, and should be able to place it immediately.

Of course, placing other answers helps give you clues to potential directions to move with your solving of other clues and may help lead you to the answer, but in theory you could solve each clue in isolation without the grid, although it would be harder for obvious reasons.

Why not try a Cryptic Crossword puzzle now and see how you get on?