In cryptic puzzles, WORKER often clues the letter combos ANT, BEE, HAND or MAN. e.g. "Switzerland takes worker to provide incantation (5)" (Switzerland = CH) + (worker = ANT) = CHANT = incantation. WORKING can clue ON (as in, "The kettle is WORKING"), but it can also just clue an anagram.
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(Worker = ANT) + (mobile phone company = EE (that could be just a British thing - if so, sorry!) Working = anagrammatised = EATEN = consumed
Amy DiGiovanni 🤓3:02 · 2025-01-29T18:00:31.766Z
makes sense, thanks! I had forgotten that "working" could point at an anagram. also yes I think EE is just a British thing but that's just the nature of global crosswords so no worries! :)
Loved the puzzle! What a great idea to make introductions to certain concepts in cryptics! One small quibble if it’s of any value - as far as I know, it’s a slight faux pas to clue anagram fodder indirectly. Though the clue was very doable, I might not expect to see something like 2D in newspaper crosswords! Ideally, I think this clue would directly give you ‘EE’ as fodder, though this might trivialise the clue for the sake of convention. Thanks for the puzzle regardless!
Thanks for the feedback, Sayuga. My go-to newspaper crossword is The Independent (UK newspaper), which frequently indirectly clues anagram fodder, especially if it's an initialism like EE, but I take your point that it may not have been the best idea to include in a crossword for an international audience - especially not a crossword labelled "beginner"! Good shout.