SCMP Cryptic Crossword

About SCMP Cryptic Crossword

The South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's English-language daily, runs four puzzles on SCMP Games, and the cryptic is the one it pitches at experienced solvers seeking a serious mental workout. The casual solver's option is the PostMag Quick Crossword; Mini Sudoku and a word-making game called Word Search complete the set.

Each day's puzzle is a 15x15 grid in the British style, with about thirty clues. Every clue hides its answer twice, once as a definition and once in wordplay such as anagrams, hidden words and reversals, and the enumeration in brackets gives the answer's length, for example Obstinate remnant was brought into the world (8). Clues are listed Across and Down beside the grid, and the current clue sits in a bar above it.

A timer runs while you solve and can be paused, Check/Reveal helps when you are stuck, and Save keeps your progress. Puzzles are filed by date, so every reader solves the same grid that day. The paper says full access to SCMP Games comes with its app or a subscription.

It suits solvers who already enjoy the cryptics in British and Australian papers and want one from Asia.

How to play SCMP Cryptic Crossword

1. Open today's SCMP Cryptic Crossword on SCMP Games.
2. Pick a clue from the Across or Down list, or click a square in the grid.
3. Find the definition at one end of the clue and the wordplay in the rest.
4. Type the answer; the number in brackets gives its length.
5. Use crossing letters, and Check/Reveal if you are stuck, to finish the grid.

Tips

• Look for anagram indicators such as about, wrecks or disperse next to a group of letters.
• Solve the short answers first: they give crossing letters for the long ones.
• A question mark at the end of a clue usually signals a pun or a looser definition.

Questions