A collection of elements commonly used in the wordplay of cryptic crosswords.
This list is not intended to be exhaustive and does not, for example, include:
- chemical symbols such as AG for silver or FE for iron (see Chemical Elements),
- cricketing terms such as BAT for cricketer or ON for leg (see Cricketing Terms and Abbreviations),
- French words such as DE for of and LE for the (see French Words),
- heraldic terms such as OR for gold or SABLE for jet/black (page of Heraldic Terms coming soon),
- Most Latin abbreviations (page of Latin words and abbreviations coming soon),
- IVR codes such as CH for Switzerland or E for Spain (see Countries – Capitals Cities and IVR Codes),
- musical terms such as P for quiet/soft or F for loud (see Musical Terms),
- regular abbreviations such as I for island or O for old; multiple abbreviations, such as NN for news, are included,
- word elements greater than four letters in length.
| Word in the clue | Word element in the answer |
| a / an | PER (as in tuppence a/per pound, penny an/per ounce) |
| abstainer | TT (Teetotaller) |
| actors | CAST |
| African organisation | ANC (African National Congress) |
| airman | AC (aircraftsman); LAC (leading aircraftsman); PO (pilot Officer) |
| airmen | RAF (Royal Air Force) |
| alien | ET (Extra-Terrestrial – movie) |
| ambassador | HE (His Excellency) |
| American soldier(s) | see soldier(s) |
| ancient city | see old city |
| Anglican(s) | CE (Church of England) |
| any number | see number |
| article | A, AN (indefinite articles); THE (definite article) |
| artist | RA (Royal Academician) |
| at home | see home |
| at university | UP |
| banker | name of a river, e.g. CAM, DEE, DON, PO; see also flower and runner |
| * base | E (the base of natural logarithms); TEN (the base of common logarithms) |
| bearing | E, N, S, W (compass bearings) |
| beer | ALE |
| bible | AV (Authorised Version aka the King James Bible); RV (Revised Version) |
| bill | A/C (account); ACT (legal); TAB (tabulation) |
| bird | any one of the many species of bird, including, but not limited to, AUK, EMU, JAY, OWL, TIT, CROW, DOVE, ERNE, GULL. HAWK, KIWI, KNOT, LARK, MINA, MYNA, RAIL, RHEA, ROOK, RUFF, SKUA, SWAN, TERN & WREN; TIME (in prison / Cockney rhyming slang bird lime) |
| bishop | B (chess notation); RR (Right Reverend) |
| blood group(s) | A, AB, B, O |
| book(s) | ACTS (book in the New Testament); EDDA (Scandinavian book); NT (New Testament); OT (Old Testament); VEDA (Hindu scripture) |
| broadcaster | BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation); RTE (Radio Telefis Éireann); SKY |
| by | X (as in 2 by 3 ≡ 2 x 3) |
| cardinal | HE (His Eminence) |
| century | C (one hundred in Roman numerals); TON |
| chessman / man on board | B (bishop); K (king); N (knight); P (pawn); Q (queen); R (rook) |
| chimney | LUM |
| china | MATE (Cockney rhyming slang china plate); PAL |
| church | CE (Church of England); RC (Roman Catholic church) |
| cigarette | FAG; TAB |
| city | EC (postcode of the City of London); ELY |
| cleaner | CHAR (charlady, charwoman) |
| closed | TO (as in “he pulled the door to behind him”) |
| communist | RED |
| companion | CH (Companion of Honour) |
| concerning | RE |
| conservationist(s) | NT (National Trust) |
| constant | C (mathematical constant); G (gravitational constant); K (Boltzmann constant) |
| copper | PC (Police Constable) |
| corporation | TUM (stomach) |
| criminal | CON (convict); LAG |
| currency | name of a river, e.g. CAM, DEE, PO |
| current | I (symbol for electric current); AC (alternating current); DC (direct current) |
| debt(s) | IOU(S) |
| deliveries | OVER (cricket) |
| detective | DC (Detective Constable); DI (Detective Inspector); DS (Detective Sergeant); PI (Private Investigator) |
| detectives | CID (Criminal Investigation Department) |
| dictionary | OED (Oxford English Dictionary) |
| doctor | GP (General Practitioner); MB (Medicinae Baccalaureus / Bachelor of Medicine); MD (Medicinae Doctor / Doctor of Medicine); MO (Medical Officer); NO (Doctor No – movie); VET (veterinary surgeon); WHO (Doctor Who – TV program) |
| doughboy | GI (American soldier) |
| drug | E (ecstasy); C (cocaine); H (heroin) |
| economists | LSE (London School of Economics) |
| Edward – King | ER (Edwardus Rex, King Edward) |
| Edward – King and Emperor | ERI (Edwardus Rex Imperator, Edward, King and Emperor) |
| Elizabeth – Queen | ER (Elizabeth Regina, Queen Elizabeth) |
| (the) enemy | TIME |
| engineer(s) | RE (Royal Engineers); REME (Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) |
| exercise | PE (Physical Exercise); PT (Physical Training) |
| expert | ACE, DAB, PRO |
| fashion | CUT; FAD; TON |
| fashionable | IN; HIP |
| favourite | PET (as in teacher’s pet) |
| feathers | DOWN |
| fifty | L (fifty in Roman numerals) |
| fighter | MIG (Soviet Russian fighter aircraft) |
| fish | ID, LING etc. |
| five | V (five in roman numerals) |
| five hundred | D (five hundred in roman numerals) |
| flag | IRIS (plant) |
| flier/flyer | name of a bird, e.g. TIT, WREN |
| fliers | RAF (Royal Air Force) |
| flower | name of a river; see also banker |
| fool | ASS; CLOT, NIT; TWIT |
| footballers | FA (Football Association) |
| former husband | see former partner |
| former partner / former husband / former wife | EX |
| former taxman | see taxman |
| former volunteer(s) | see volunteer(s) |
| former wife | see former partner |
| Frenchman | EMIL; FROG; RENÉ |
| gallery | TATE (Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives) |
| game | see sport |
| gangster | AL (Al Capone) |
| George – King | GR (Georgius Rex, King George) |
| George – King and Emperor | GRI (Georgius Rex Imperator, George, King and Emperor) |
| German article | DER (German definite article) |
| good man | S, ST (Saint) |
| graduate | BA (Bachelor of Arts); BSC (Bachelor of Science); MA (Master of Arts) |
| grunt | GI (American soldier) |
| gunner(s) | RA (Royal Artillery) |
| hand(s) | L (left) and/or R (right); E (East), N (North), S (South) and W (West) – (bridge hands) |
| hat | TILE |
| heather | LING |
| home / at home | IN |
| home counties | SE (South-East England) |
| honour | A, J, K, Q (honours in bridge); CBE, CH, MBE, OBE (honours / awards) |
| hooligan / old hooligan | TED (Teddy boy) |
| hospital | SAN (sanatorium) |
| hospital department | ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat, a specialized field of medicine) |
| hundred | C (one hundred in Roman numerals); TON |
| indefinite number | see number |
| information / info | DATA; DOPE; GEN |
| island / isle | CAY, IONA; IOW (Isle of Wight); KEY, MAN (Isle of Man) |
| Italian article | IL (Italian definite article) |
| Japanese drama | NOH ( traditional Japanese masked drama with dance and song) |
| jazz fan | CAT (fifties slang) |
| jolly | RM (Royal Marine) |
| journalist | ED (editor); HACK |
| judge | REF (referee) |
| key | A, B, C, D, E, F, G (musical keys); ALT, DEL(ete), ESC(ape), INS, TAB (computer keys) |
| king | HM (His Majesty); LEAR (King Lear – Shakespeare); see also “Edward – King”, “Edward – King and Emperor”, “George – King” and “George – King and Emperor” |
| learner | L (from the L-plate carried by learner drivers) |
| local | BAR; INN; PH (Public House); PUB |
| London police | MET (the Met, Metropolitan Police Service) |
| love | O (a score of zero in tennis) |
| low | MOO (sound made by cattle) |
| man on board | see chessman |
| many | C (one hundred in roman numerals); D (five hundred in roman numerals); K (Kilo – metric prefix for a thousand); L (fifty in roman numerals); M (one thousand in roman numerals) |
| measure / printer’s measure / space | EM or EN (a unit of measurement equal to the width of the lower-case letter ‘m’ or ‘n’ in 12-point) |
| medic | MD (Medicinae Doctor / Doctor of Medicine); MO (Medical Officer) |
| member | ARM; LEG; MP (Member of Parliament) |
| men | see soldiers |
| military group / political group | NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) |
| miners | NUM (National Union of Mineworkers) |
| motorists | AA (Automobile Association); RAC (Royal Automobile Club) |
| motorway | MI |
| Newcastle area | NE (North-East England) |
| news | NN (N[ew] + N[ew]) |
| newspaper | FT (Financial Times; RAG (low quality newspaper) |
| nil | O (a score of zero in football) |
| note | A, B, C, D, E, F, G (notes of the diatonic scale); DO, DOH, FA, FAH, LA, LAH, ME, MI, RAY, RE, SI, SO, SOH, SOL, TE, TI, UT (notes of the scale in sol-fa notation); MEMO; PS (PostScript) |
| notice | AD (advertisement) |
| number / any number / indefinite number | N (used in mathematical formulae) |
| nurse | EN (Enrolled Nurse); SEN (State Enrolled Nurse – obsolescent); SRN (State Registered Nurse – obsolescent); |
| * odds | SP (Starting Price) |
| old | EX |
| old city | UR (an ancient Sumerian city, formerly on the Euphrates in what is now southern Iraq) |
| old hooligan | see hooligan |
| old soldier | VET (veteran) |
| on horseback | UP |
| one | A; I (one in Roman numerals) |
| opponents | bridge opponents: EN, ES, NE, NW, SE, SW, WN or WS (combinations of east, north, south and west) |
| * papers | ID (identification papers) |
| partners | bridge partners: EW, NS, SN, WE (combinations of east, north, south and west) |
| party | BASH; CON (Conservative); DO; LAB (Labour); LIB (Liberal); RAVE |
| pass | COL |
| peacekeeper(s) | UN (United Nations) or UNO (United Nations Organization) |
| pet | CAT; DOG; SULK; TIFF |
| physicists | CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (French), European Organization for Nuclear Research); NPL (National Physical Laboratory) |
| piece | MAN; see also chessman |
| playing | ON |
| point | E, N, S, W (compass points) |
| pole(s) | N, S, NS, SN (North and South poles) |
| police department | CID (Criminal Investigation Department) |
| policeman | COP (copper); DI (Detective Inspector) |
| political group | see military group |
| politician | MP (Member of Parliament) |
| popular | IN |
| posh | U (upper-class) |
| presenter | DJ (Disk Jockey); MC (Master of Ceremonies) |
| priest | ELI (Old Testament) |
| printer’s measure | see measure |
| prison | CAN; JUG; NICK; PEN (penitentiary); STIR |
| prisoner | CON (convict); LAG |
| prophet | AMOS; ELI |
| promise(s) to pay | IOU(S) |
| promotion | AD (advertisement) |
| provided | IF |
| province | NI (Province of Northern Ireland) |
| * queen | ANNE; CAT (female cat); HM (Her Majesty); see also “Elizabeth – Queen”, “Victoria – Queen” and “Victoria – Queen and Empress” |
| record | EP (extended play record); LP (long play record) |
| religious | PI (shortened form of pious) |
| Republican Party (USA) | GOP (Grand Old Party) |
| rescue boat / rescue craft | (Noah’s) ARK |
| rescue service | AA (Automobile Association); RAC (Royal Automobile Club) |
| revolutionary | CHE (Guevara); RED |
| right | LIEN (legal right) |
| runner | name of a river; see also banker |
| sacred river | ALPH (from Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge) |
| sailor | AB (Able-Bodied seaman); OS (Ordinary Seaman); PO (Petty Officer); SALT; TAR |
| sailors | RN (Royal Navy) |
| salesman | REP (representative); TOUT |
| sapper(s) | RE (Royal Engineers) |
| scientists | RS (Royal Society, a body of eminent scientists) |
| Scotsman | IAN; MAC |
| see | ELY (diocese) |
| service | RAF (Royal Air Force); RN (Royal Navy); TREE (a Eurasian tree) |
| sex appeal | IT |
| sheep | EWE; LAMB; RAM; TEG/TEGG (in second year); TUP (ram) |
| ship | SS (steamship) |
| socialite | DEB (debutante) |
| soldier | ANT (soldier ant); GI (American soldier); MAN; PARA (paratrooper); RA (Royal Artillery); RE (Royal Engineers); |
| soldiers | MEN; OR (Other Ranks); RA (Royal Artillery); RE (Royal Engineers); plurals such as ANTS, GIS |
| space | see measure |
| Spanish article | EL, LA, LAS, LOS (Spanish definite articles) |
| speed of light | C (as in e = mc2) |
| spies | CIA (Central Intelligence Agency); MI (Military Intelligence) |
| sport | RL (Rugby League); RU (Rugby Union) |
| spy | MOLE |
| state(s) | one (or more) of the two-letter codes for US States |
| students | NUS (National Union of Students) |
| support | TEE (a support for a golf ball) |
| supporter | BRA (brassiere) |
| tantrum | PET |
| take | R (℞ ≡ recipe [Latin for take]) |
| tax | SCOT; VAT (Value Added Tax) |
| taxman / former taxman | IR (Inland Revenue, now superseded by HMRC / Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) |
| teachers | NUT (National Union of Teachers) |
| ten | IO (visual representation of 10); X (ten in roman numerals) |
| test / vehicle test | MOT (A compulsory annual check made by order of the Ministry of Transport – now Department for Transport) |
| the German | DER (German definite article) |
| the Italian | IL (Italian definite article) |
| the Spanish | EL (Spanish definite article) |
| theologian | DD (Divinitatis Doctor, Doctor of Divinity) |
| thousand | K (Kilo – metric prefix for a thousand); M (one thousand in Roman numerals) |
| tile | HAT |
| times | BY (as in 2 times 3 ≡ 2 by 3); TT (T[ime] + T[ime]); X (as in 2 times 3 ≡ 2 x 3) |
| tom | CAT (male cat) |
| training | PE (Physical Exercise); PT (Physical Training) |
| * unknown (number) | see variable |
| US soldier(s) | see soldier(s) |
| * variable / unknown (number) | X, Y, Z (mathematical variables or unknowns) |
| vehicle test | see test |
| Victoria – Queen | VR (Victoria Regina, Queen Victoria) |
| Victoria – Queen and Empress | VIR (Victoria Imperatrix Regina, Victoria, Empress and Queen); VRI (Victoria Regina et Imperatrix, Victoria, Queen and Empress) |
| volunteer(s) / former volunteer(s) | TA (Territorial Army, now called the Army Reserve) |
| whistler | REF (referee) |
| wife | RIB (from Bible, Genesis 2.21–23) |
| wine | ASTI; CAVA; HOCK; RED; ROSÉ; SACK; SEC; TENT; VIN; VINO |
| work | OP, OPUS (a work, especially a musical composition) |
| worker | ANT (worker ant); BEE (worker bee) |
| workers | TU (Trade Union) |
| working | ON |
| writing(s) | MS (manuscript); MSS (manuscripts) |
| * added/changed since version 1.19 | 239 |
Further entries may be be added during periodic updates.
| < Crosswords |
Created 24 Jan 2014
Version 1.19: 20 Aug 2018
Updated 23 Jul 2021