Hello fellow cryptic-solvers! Welcome to a brand new section of The Daily: Cardinal Cryptic! The Cardinal Cryptic is a fun crossword puzzle that contains a hidden word. You can find our first puzzle here.

Here’s how it works: 

Each clue is a sentence with a hidden word inside. Let’s use an example of Cardinal Cryptic to explain.

Kids run around, slip on ice. (4) 

All Cardinal Cryptics have these three elements: Fodder, Indicators, and a Definition. 

Indicators describe some sort of operation you must perform on nearby fodder.

Fodder are words that will have their letters played with.

The Definition will always be a part of the Cardinal Cryptic, and it will be a synonym to the solution.

Let’s turn to the process for solving this Cardinal Cryptic.

We usually start with identifying indicators, and so in this example, “run around” looks to be an anagram indicator. The idea is that the letters in the fodder will “run around”.

So, looking for the fodder, we see “kids” nearby, and sure enough, rearranging the letters of “kids” gives us SKID. But is this correct?

Remember, all Cardinal Cryptics have a definition, and we can be confident that SKID is the solution because it matches the definition of “slip on ice!” We’ve solved it!

It is important to note that Cardinal Cryptics don’t have to be solved in this order. 

Our best beginner advice: look for what element jumps out first, then hypothesise the structure of the clue (where the indicators, fodder, definition are), and try it out! 

Good luck readers! Happy solving!