In this post we shall stick to Anagrams. This is a very common type of clue and you can expect most cryptic crosswords to carry at least 5 or 6 clues of this type. These clues contain wordplay in which a part of the clue has to be re-ordered to get the answer. You will recognize this clue type when you see words such as ‘mad’, ‘scrambled’, ‘ordered’ and ‘slipped’. These anagram indicators (known to setters as anagrinds) are virtually endless.

Here are a few examples:
Tragic starship – terrible designers (7,7)
Here, the setter uses the word terrible to indicate that the previous 14 letters need to be re-ordered to give us ‘designers’. And so we get GRAPHIC ARTISTS
Jetty‘s ripe for renovation (4)
The 4 letter answer must be an anagram of ‘ripe’ and that means ‘jetty’, which gives us PIER.
Negotiate drop: a toll a high price to pay (3,6)
The word ‘negotiate’ tells us we are in anagram country. (3,6) tells us we need 9 letters to rearrange to get our answer. And so by rearranging ‘drop a toll’, we get TOP DOLLAR.

Sometimes, the setter reverses the anagram clue’s direction and includes a question mark to tell us to be alert to some clever wordplay. These clues are pretty tough and quite rare, I must admit.

Gegs for breakfast? (9,4)
This is one of my favourite clues. The answer is SCRAMBLED EGGS
Painful below? (10,5)
The length of the answer helps us. The answer here is DISLOCATED ELBOW

Here are a few ANAGRAM clues to try on your own:
1) Board’s responsibility can never go wrong (10)
2) Destroy or leave a plant? (4,4)
3) Lowest point of dinar after conversion (5)
4) Now, regrettably, Dad’s eating hay (4,3,3,3)
5) Instrument altering circles (8)
Caution: you may think that the anagrind here is ‘altering’ but it isn’t. It is ‘circles’.
6) Herb, duck and orange cooked (7)