The Clue Clinic

all about cryptic crossword clues

The Clue Clinic

Welcome to The Clue Clinic – where people interested in solving or setting cryptic crosswords come to learn, sharpen their skills, and get expert guidance from experienced setters.

If this is your first visit, we would recommend visiting the About This Site page to get some ideas about the areas of the site which may be of particular interest to you and the ways in which you can interact with Clinic staff and other readers.

What’s New

The PDF of the latest Gemelo puzzle is available at this link: Gemelo 50. Anagram Act • In order to solve each clue, solvers must act to unscramble a word that has been anagrammed; first letters of the de-anagrammed words explain what must fill the unclued entries
The PDF of the latest Azed puzzle is available at this link: Azed 2,784
The September Digest is now published, with views, news…and a chance to give your opinion on the health of the cryptic
The Forum is now available for discussion of all things crossword-related

Latest Posts

Latest Comments

Latest Forum Topics/Posts

  1. This certainly isn’t one of my strong areas, but I would not immediately have thought of Gideon as being a…

  2. Thank you for the notes. I think this could go up against ‘Spooner or Letter’ for the title of the…

  6. A thematic entry for the non-competition… King John leased it with thanks after distillation of Armagnac (5,5)   (Armagnac)* TA…

  7. My query was the use of “M” in the initial letters of the anagrams for the instructions, which would read;…

  8. Hi John I’m not sure I understand. In 33a the word ‘stream’ is de-anagrammed to MASTER, which in turn yields…

  9. Very good puzzle and more challenging than most so far for Gemelo. In 33A surely the anagram should be of…

  10. I didn’t know the old abbreviation, thanks Jay. I saw a terrible pun, indicated by groan! But I think now…