Hidden answers and reversals
Small clues with crisp rules—and the regional difference that matters.
Hidden means contiguous
A hidden answer appears consecutively across one or more words. Signals include “some of”, “inside”, “part of”, and “in”. Ignore spaces and punctuation while scanning, but keep the original order. **“Some of a wIN DORchester visit (3)”** hides IND across the word break. The definition must still support IND or the candidate is merely an accidental sequence.
Direction changes the rule
In an Across clue, “back” or “returned” can reverse letters. In a Down clue, setters often use “up” or “rising”. Always record clue direction before applying a reversal indicator.
A hidden check
The hidden phrase should account for the indicator and include exactly the enumeration’s letters. If it is one short, check whether a crossing word or punctuation mark is distracting you.