How to use Cryptic Crossword Solver, step by step
- Pick the mechanism you suspect. Anagram, hidden word, reversal, or container, based on the clue's indicator word.
- Use the matching mini-tool. Enter the relevant fragment, the fodder, the phrase, or the two pieces, into that section.
- Confirm against the grid. Take a strong candidate to Crossword Pattern Solver to confirm it fits your crossing letters.
A cryptic clue packs in a straight definition and a separate wordplay recipe that builds the same answer a different way. There's no reliable way to auto-detect which recipe a given clue uses from its text alone, so this page gives you a focused tool for each of the common, checkable mechanisms: hidden words, reversals, and containers. For anagram fodder or a known letter pattern, the links below send you to the right tool for that.
Recognizing which mechanism you're looking at
Cryptic setters lean on a fairly small set of recurring indicator words. Spotting one is usually the fastest way to know which tool to reach for:
| Mechanism | Common indicator words | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Anagram | Drunk, broken, confused, wild, arranged | The fodder's letters get rearranged into the answer. Use the Anagram Solver. |
| Hidden word | Held by, buried in, part of, in | The answer sits in plain sight, spanning consecutive letters across the clue's own words. Use the hidden word finder above. |
| Reversal | Backwards, returned, going west, rising | A word or fragment is read in reverse. Use the reversal checker above. |
| Container / insertion | Inside, holding, wearing, around | One fragment is placed inside another. Use the container finder above. |
| Charade | Beside, following, next to | Two or more short pieces are joined end to end to spell the answer. No dedicated tool, try each piece in the Anagram Solver or Crossword Pattern Solver once you've split the clue into parts. |
| Deletion | Endless, headless, heartless, almost | A letter is removed from a word, often the first, last, or middle one. Use the deletion checker above. |
| Homophone | Said, heard, reported, aloud | The answer sounds like another word or phrase. No dedicated tool, this one's by ear. |
| Double definition | None, just two definitions side by side | Two separate meanings that both point at the same word. No dedicated tool, this one's by inference. |
Hidden words that actually cross a boundary
A worked example
Take the phrase "brave alligator." Run the letters together, bravealligator, and VEAL is sitting right there, spanning the end of "brave" and the start of "alligator." That's the pattern to look for: the best hidden word answers usually straddle two of the clue's original words rather than sitting fully inside just one.
Reversals, containers, and deletions, worked examples
DESSERTS reversed spells STRESSED, both real words, a classic reversal pair. For a container, placing P inside ANTS gives PANTS, the outer word wrapped around the inner one. For a deletion, STARTLING loses its middle T to become STARTING, or its middle L to become STARLING, either one a real word missing just one letter from the original. Try any of these patterns in the matching tool above with your own clue's fragments.
Once you have a candidate
A wordplay mechanism gets you a candidate answer, not necessarily one confirmed against your grid yet. Once you've got a strong guess, check it fits your crossing letters with Crossword Pattern Solver, or add the clue's plain definition as a keyword check on Crossword Solver.
Common mistakes when working a cryptic clue
The most frequent one is mixing up the definition half with the wordplay half, the definition sits at one end of the clue, start or finish, never buried in the middle. The second is assuming every indicator word always signals the same mechanism, several of these words genuinely double up across categories depending on context, so treat the table above as a strong hint, not a certainty. The third is stopping at the first plausible answer instead of checking it actually fits the crossing letters too.
Every word game tool on Words Unscrambler
Word Unscrambler
Every word hidden in a jumble of letters.
Word Descrambler
Same engine, tuned for reordering a near miss.
Unscramble Letters
Turn any set of letters into every real word they spell.
Letter Unscrambler
Board hook filters for a rack of up to 15 letters.
Word Finder
Search words by starting, ending, or contained letters.
Anagram Solver
True anagrams that use every tile.
Word Scramble
Turn any word into a puzzle to solve.
Wordfeud Helper
Built for a 7 tile Wordfeud rack.
Jumble Solver
Unscramble any word from the classic Jumble puzzle.
Word Ladder Solver
Find the shortest chain between two words.
Letter Boxed Solver
Solve any Letter Boxed puzzle in seconds.
Wordle Solver
Narrow today's answer guess by guess.
Quordle Solver
Four boards, tracked side by side.
Spelling Bee Solver
Every word your 7 letters can spell.
Boggle Solver
Find every word hiding in a letter grid.
Boggle With Friends Solver
Find every word on a Boggle With Friends board.
Crossword Pattern Solver
Fill in the blanks in any word pattern.
Crossword Solver
Pattern search plus an optional clue keyword match.
Cryptic Crossword Solver
Hidden word, reversal, and container tools for cryptic wordplay.
Word Search Solver
Paste a grid and a word list to highlight every hidden word.
Wordscapes Solver
Find every word for your Wordscapes level.
Word Chums Cheat
Find every word your Word Chums rack can play.
Text Twist Solver
Every word hiding in a Text Twist round.
Scrabble Word Finder
Find every playable word for your Scrabble rack.
Words With Friends Cheat
Find every word your Words With Friends rack can play.
Random Word Generator
Pull random words by length.
Check Dictionary
Is it a real, playable word?
Frequently asked questions
Jump to a question (15 total)
- Does this tool automatically figure out which type of wordplay a clue uses?
- What does the hidden word finder actually check?
- How does the reversal checker work?
- How does the container or insertion finder work?
- How does the deletion checker work?
- Can this solve anagram-indicator clues?
- Can I narrow candidates to a specific grid pattern once I have letters?
- Does this tool handle homophone clues?
- Does this tool handle double definition clues?
- Is this Cryptic Crossword Solver free to use?
- Is anything I type here stored or sent anywhere?
- Does letter case matter in any of these tools?
- Why does the hidden word finder return so many short matches?
- Why didn't the container tool find anything?
- Is this affiliated with the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph, or any newspaper?
Does this tool automatically figure out which type of wordplay a clue uses?
No, and honestly no tool reliably does that from clue text alone, cryptic clues lean on context and cleverness that's hard to parse automatically. Instead, use the indicator words below to work out the mechanism yourself, then jump to the matching mini-tool.
What does the hidden word finder actually check?
It strips spaces from whatever phrase you paste and searches every stretch of three or more letters for a real dictionary word, including words that span across where two original words met, exactly how hidden word clues actually hide their answer.
How does the reversal checker work?
It spells your entered word or fragment backward and checks whether that reversal is also a real dictionary word, useful for confirming a reversal clue's answer once you suspect one.
How does the container or insertion finder work?
Give it an outer fragment and an inner fragment. It tries inserting the inner one at every position inside the outer one and reports every resulting real word, mirroring how a container clue combines two pieces.
How does the deletion checker work?
It removes one letter at a time, first, last, or each middle position, from whatever word you enter and checks which results are real dictionary words, matching how a deletion clue points at a specific letter to drop.
Can this solve anagram-indicator clues?
Not directly on this page, use our Anagram Solver for that, type in the letters the clue points to as anagram fodder and it returns every real anagram.
Can I narrow candidates to a specific grid pattern once I have letters?
Yes, once you've got some crossing letters filled in, our Crossword Pattern Solver or Crossword Solver will match a wildcard pattern against real words.
Does this tool handle homophone clues?
No, that needs pronunciation data this site doesn't have. Recognizing the indicator words, like said, heard, or aloud, is still useful, but confirming the actual sound-alike is on you.
Does this tool handle double definition clues?
No, that requires understanding two separate meanings of the same word, which is a judgment call rather than something a pattern search can check. The reference table below explains the pattern to watch for.
Is this Cryptic Crossword Solver free to use?
Yes, completely free, with no account or download required.
Is anything I type here stored or sent anywhere?
No, all three mini-tools run entirely in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.
Does letter case matter in any of these tools?
No, upper or lower case both work identically everywhere on this page.
Why does the hidden word finder return so many short matches?
Three and four letter words hide inside almost any phrase by chance alone. Longer matches, especially ones that cross where two original words met, are the more interesting candidates, and those are sorted to the top.
Why didn't the container tool find anything?
Not every combination of two fragments happens to spell a real word at any insertion point. Double check both fragments are spelled the way the clue actually implies, and try swapping which one is the outer piece.
Is this affiliated with the Guardian, the Times, the Telegraph, or any newspaper?
No. This is an independent, unaffiliated tool with no connection to any newspaper or puzzle publisher.