We met yesterday after the Christmas break and had fun solving 3 crosswords

Here are some clues and explanations from yesterday’s meeting

Having a banquet? Order neat figs! (8) - Order suggests anagram - neat figs gives us the letters - Having a banquet is the definition - FEASTING is the solution

Resolute detectives in action (7) - in suggests a sandwich clue - we need a term for detectives (in this case CID) and a synonym for action (in this case DEED) - Resolute is the definition - DECIDED is the solution

Hearing vowels in comfort (4) - Hearing suggests a homophone (word that sounds like) - we need something that sounds like vowels - comfort is the definition - EASE is the solution

Common food that comes from no shops (4) - comes from suggests a hidden word - so we looked in no shops to find the answer - common food is the definition - NOSH is the solution

One that we all liked and all got - but we then had to look carefully to see how the clue worked was

Enter with a pair of boots, possibly to resolve Hamlet’s dilemma (2, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2) - we had no problem calling out ‘To be, or not to be’ - so how did this clue work?

• possibly to resolve - indicating an anagram
• enter + boot + boot gives us our letters
• and we knew the definition was Hamlet’s dilemma

These are just some of the clue types we are learning to spot and unravel - join us in February if you would like to try your hand at some cryptic crosswords - just drop Nancy a line first