Want to know if you can build a reversal clue for an answer? It’s simple. And easy! Flip it backwards. Have you got a word (like STRESSED for DESSERTS), or a string of words you can do something with (like RED RUM for MURDER)? If so, you’re good!
Got back
prize money from person who writes the checks (6)—DRAWER (reversing REWARD)A little crazy to
do backstroke with
public gym swimming facility (5)—LOOPY (reversing Y POOL)
Overturned
hiding place; radical blamed (9)—GODDAMNED (reversing DEN (hiding place), MAD DOG (radical))
And if you snag a word that reverses to itself—a palindrome—it seems almost a crime not to exploit that. “Vehicle going back and forth”
is a great clue…for KAYAK if it’s five letters, RACECAR if it’s seven.
Want to know if you can build a homophone clue for a word or phrase? It’s simple. Though I wouldn’t say easy. Homophones listed on RhymeZone are easy, sure, but what about multi-word puns (like plan it/planet)? (Image by Arseniic.)
Sound your answer out, one sound at a time, and see if its parts sound like anything else. If the answer’s no, move on. Move on. Don’t keep sounding it out and wondering why you don’t have more of an ear for this. Move on to the next thing.
First-ever hunter
sounds
skilled (4)—ABEL (ABLE)
Talking
doll’s line: “Cook the meat!” (8)—BARBECUE (BARBIE QUEUE)“Take control of that routine, darling,”
I say
(10)—COMMANDEER (COMMON, DEAR)
Very occasionally, you might indulge a spoonerism, which is like a homophone with the beginnings of two parts swapped. The indicators on these usually reference Spooner, the guy spoonerisms are named for. Wouldn’t be fair otherwise…though I might lower-case his name, if I was feeling saucy.
Dark flier’s tail moved too quickly to be recorded
by Spooner
(9)—BLACKBIRD (BACK BLURRED)
Want to know if you can build a double definition? Does your answer have at least two distinct meanings? If so, outlook good.
(And OUTLOOK can mean “prospect for the future,” “e-mail program,” and “perspective,” so…outlook for OUTLOOK, good!)
Double defs arguably use wordplay by using no wordplay at all. They’re just two parts that could each be a straight clue for the word, but they express two of the word’s different meanings. They have no indicators.
Rush to teleconference (4)—ZOOM
Horror movie is hilarious thing (6)—SCREAM
Firmly refuse to eat (4)—FAST
Pursues pets (4)—DOGS
It might be better to call the answer a “string” than a “word,” because as I pointed out in another post, an answer like ONE can be parsed as “one” or “on E.”
Tripping individual—ON E/ONE
Next up, we start putting all the traditional forms together.