A good cryptic clue has only three parts: (a) the definition, (b) the wordplay, and (c) nothing else.
In my discussion of Rule #1, I provided the following as an example of a proper cryptic clue”
An acrobat in France: The Copycat
… with the solution LE + APER.
However, I would never use this clue in a puzzle, because it violates Rule #4. The phrase “an acrobat” doesn’t clue the word “leaper.” It clues the phrase “a leaper.”
The clue should actually be:
“Acrobat in France: The Copycat”
(Notice that, just as much as we were required to cut out one article – “An” – it is equally necessary for us to keep the other one – “the” – in the clue.)
What you end up with is stilted language like the phrase above. Articles are a common issue here, so that many cryptic clues end up sounding like comic book superheroes under duress: “Must . . . reach . . . utility . . . belt . . . .”
This all sounds overly picky, I know, but there’s a good reason:
The issue is that cryptic clues are designed to be . . . well . . . cryptic, meaning it’s the solver’s job to figure out what’s going on. Under these circumstances, seasoned puzzlers look at every single word, verb tense, or other nuance when they’re solving a clue. Your surface sense may require an extra word, but it could seriously throw off (and then piss off) your audience.
Here are a few examples of ways extra words tend to creep uninvited into cryptic clues:
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Share in sport I once enjoyed (7) = PORTION (H)
While it’s true that the phrase “sport I once enjoyed” hides the word “portion”, the word “enjoyed” is not actually a part of it. If we allow that sort of thing, someone could legitimately include the entire Gettysburg Address as a hidden word cryptic clue for the word “lyre” (shared between the 227th and 228th words in the speech).
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Bird and swine time (6) = PIG + EON
“swine time” is a good charade, but the “and” here is not a part of it. “Bird, swine time” may sound a lot clumsier but it is more technically more correct. The space between the definition and wordplay halves of the clue is a common place for these extra little words to pop up.
Fortunately, there’s an easy fix.
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