Cryptics (2 of 12): Insertions and Deletions

Basic math.

Installing small bit into neutral particle (9)—INSERTION

The “small bit” in this case is the letter s—a little bit of the word small—inserted into a neutral particle—an inert ion. IN(S)ERT ION…INSERTION, which means “installing.”

Insertion clues (AKA container clues) are like nested Russian dolls: there’s meaning on the outside, meaning on the inside, and yet more meaning in the whole. Unlike Russian dolls, they usually stop at two levels.

Indicators for insertion need some reference to an inside/outside relationship, but they can go in either direction. “Installing neutral particle around small bit” doesn’t conjure up as good of an image as “Installing small bit into neutral particle.” But both play by the rules.

(The word “about,” thanks to its many meanings, works as an indicator for insertion or for anagrams.)

Rule of thumb: both the insertion and the container should usually be altered by the use of synonym or abbreviation but not both. “Installing small bit into inert ion” would be too easy. “Installing tiny bit into neutral particle” would be unfair.

Single-letter units are useful for this kind of insertion. You can get them by taking a piece off a larger word, as in “Small bit,” “Safety first,” “central fisSure,” or “end up helplesS”—all options for S. You can also get them by resorting to words commonly abbreviated as the letter. For S, I’d consider fair ones to be Saturday, Sunday, second, sulfur, small, and south. Maybe sierra, from the NATO alphabet. Possibly brands with famous S-logos like Skype and Superman.

(I still grimace at British cryptics a bit here, as they tend to drag in words like saint, sabbath, September, society, son, and shilling. I get that last one if you’re buying a U.K. paper, but who looks at “s.” in any context and thinks “Ah, yes, clearly this is an abbreviation for ‘sabbath,’ a useful shorthand I see and/or use in writing all the time”? Like, come on, guys. If we Yanks can admit that nobody talks about olios or oleos as often as our crosswords would have you believe, then you Brits can admit you’ve stretched this “common abbreviations” thing pretty far.)

The inserted part can be longer than a single letter, too. “What’s inside ears” could give you AR. And the insertion can be a full word just like the container outside it.

Nerdiest online message is overbearing? Checks out (9)—TWEE(DIES)T (TWEET+DIES)

A deletion clue’s the opposite of an insertion clue, and there are multiple kinds—taking something from the front to get the answer is called a beheading, from the end is a curtailment, and from the middle—nobody knows. Maybe a “heart-ripping,” these names seem macabre like that.

Gospel truth needs no introduction in Bible book—ACTS (FACTS, Gospel truth, doesn’t “need its introduction,” its first letter)

Tailless beast shows irrational soul—ANIMA (ANIMAL is “tailless”)

My favorite kind of deletion, though, is the kind that doesn’t specify where the deletion has been made, but what has been deleted. Which is also the trickiest kind, so I usually resist the temptation. Usually. Well, often.

Cut exhaust cap bottom missing—DELETE (p “missing” from DEPLETE, exhaust)

Cleansing weightless president—WASHING (WASHINGTON has no TON because he’s “weightless”)

Developing an eye for which words will respond well to these treatments is part of the game for a crossword-maker. There are tricks you can pull on OneLook to get, say, six-letter words that have the letters in L-E-A-V-E in order…but that’s a lot of trouble to go to. Just like with American-style “simple” clues, it’s often better to train your brain so that something like CLEAVE or LEAVEN just pops right into it.