Deletion Indicators in Cryptic Crosswords Expulsion, Departure and Reduction

This list is long but not exhaustive – in general, any term which suggests something being removed from something else is likely to be acceptable, although setters should avoid ones which are normally used only in a restricted context (eg ‘disembarks’, which relates specifically to ships). Where the indicator is a verb, other forms are possible, such as the infinitive (eg ‘right to avoid exercise’ for DRILL – R = DILL). With past participles or adjectives, the form in the wordplay will be along the lines of ‘X with Y removed’, eg ‘depressed when stripped of diamonds’ for DOWN – D = OWN. Note that a few verbs, such as ‘leave’ and ‘abandon’ can be used to indicate either expulsion or departure (‘I left the broccoli’ / ‘I left the table’). Reduction indicators direct the solver to remove letters from a specific position in the target word(s) – at the start, at the end, or in the middle (eg ‘nearly finished’ for DONE without the last letter = DON). Setters should be aware that some publications will not accept first letter reduction indicators that suggest decapitation.

The wordplay in the clue “Burn piece of furniture I rejected” for CHAR (CHAIR – I) contains what is often termed an ‘invisicomma’ between ‘furniture’ and ‘I’; the solver is being asked to infer a comma which is not there, because in order to be grammatically sound the wordplay needs to read ‘assertion, I rejected’. The comma isn’t there, of course, because the surface reading would then make no sense, but that is surely something that the setter should have dealt with, rather than presenting the solver with an unsound cryptic reading. Some editors may accept clues that involve an invisicomma, but I would strongly suggest rewording such clues, since what they say does not lead cryptically to the intended answer.

The Variety (expulsion/departure) and Type (standard/advanced) can be selected using the column filters. In addition, the ‘Possible Parts of Speech’ filter allows the selection only of indicators which can provide misdirection by acting as different parts of speech in the wordplay and surface reading (eg ‘bins’ – select ‘Multiple’ from the dropdown), and the ‘Voice of Indicator’ filter allows the selection of those indicators where the focus is on the subject of the indicator (Active,  eg ‘exiting’) or on the agent (‘Passive’, eg discarded by’). Multiple filters can be applied, so selecting ‘Departure’ and ‘Active’ will give indicators such as ‘escapes’ and ‘leaves’ but not ’emits’ or ‘omitted from’.