Clued In (Blogs)

Clued In #321 | Lead us from ignorance to the solved grid!

Mihir Balantrapu  |  07 June 2021

Hey there, and welcome back to Clued In!

As we always advocate on this blog, it certainly helps to have a general grasp of one or two foreign languages to get an edge in solving cryptic crosswords. It guides or chaperones you to the answer.

Was the above clue fun to solve? Did you get a kick out of understanding how to work out the answer to a cryptic crossword clue? Did you enjoy being given a random sentence that ultimately leads to a completely unexpected but totally decipherable answer? Do you feel like you could use some help to guide you towards the answer for each of the 20-30 clues that usually bamboozle you in each puzzle? Well, look no further!

Ok, look just a little further. Because, every Sunday, The Hindu Crossword Plus posts a ! Go ahead and bookmark that link and play the latest puzzle.new The Hindu Cryptic puzzle with annotations for each clue

Each annotation will give you helping hints and hold your hand as we work out the answer together. If you liked the long-winded explanation to the above clue, then you will surely enjoy the crisper versions we give you in puzzles, when you click the button ‘Reveal’ and then ‘Show a hint’.The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday

And guess what, is .The Hindu Cryptic on Sundayabsolutely free! All you have to do is sign up to play

To become better at solving cryptic crosswords, you should do one simple thing. Just subscribe to The Hindu Crossword Plus. That’s the place where you can solve cryptics live to your heart’s content. Come over to Clued In to get your doubts cleared and your craft honed.

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The Hindu Cryptic #13268 | Arden | 8 Down

Outstanding! Girl picked up an escort (6)CLUE:

Clue explained:

: reversalClue types

: escortDefinitions

:AnswerDUENNA

We need a 6-letter word that means, or is an example of, ‘escort’.

Another word for ‘outstanding’ is DUE.

A common name for a ‘girl’ is ANN. In a Down clue, the phrase ‘picked up’ is a reversal indicator, telling us to reverse the letters of ANN into NNA.

And altogether, that spells DUENNA, which is the 6-letter word used to refer to a Spanish chaperone or governess or ‘escort’ for children!