In previous crosswords, many solvers have seemed to struggle with one-clue puns, so I'm going to focus on those a bit. ONE-CLUE PUNS give you only one, highly ambiguous definition of the answer. My top tips: [1] The important thing to remember is that IT'S TRYING TO TRIP YOU UP. Therefore, it almost certainly doesn't mean what it seems to mean. Look for EVERY possible meaning of EVERY word in the clue. For example, in the clue to
4 down, what different things can "suggestion" mean? In clue
1 across, what can "Bacon" mean, other than Kevin's surname? And in
2 down, what different people and things are called Jack (sailor? flag? the white ball in bowls? a boy's name? the thing you use to raise cars? absolutely zilch? I could go on)? [2] Be particularly alert for METAPHORICAL PHRASES and IDIOMS. Could they be being used literally? e.g. "have a hand in" usually means "be partly responsible for", but what might Nigella Lawson LITERALLY have her hand in? [3] Also, most crosswords don't demand large amounts of general knowledge, so if a celebrity is mentioned, the reference is likely to be to the most obvious, commonly known facts about them. Think about what facts you know about Kevin Bacon and Nigella Lawson. The first thing that comes to your mind in each case is probably the relevant fact. If it's not, it will be the second thing. [4] Try splitting up the clue in different ways, e.g.
2 down - is it "Jack in/cheese", i.e. GIVE UP cheese? Or is Jack IN the cheese?
1,
6 and
7 across and
2 down in the following crossword are one-clue puns.
1,
3 and
4 down are two-clue puns or building block puns, but they have something of the fiendish quality of a one-clue pun.
5 across is a different type of clue altogether. If you enjoy my crosswords, you'll LOVE the Cryptic Mystic's fantastic YouTube channel, which has been kind enough to feature a couple of my crossword. It's THE best resource for cryptic beginners:
https://www.youtube.com/@The_Cryptic_Mystic