Clued In #342 | How the setter counters your intuition

Read on to figure out how to solve clues like... ‘Carve inside Somerset Church (4)’

Ancient beauties (Clockwise from left) Restoration work in progress; some of the temples that are still standing; and the intricate carvings on terracotta. Biswaranjan Rout

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One of the many tricks that a setter can use to bamboozle the solver is to change up the implication of commonplace indicators and put them to counterintuitive use.

Was the above clue fun to solve? Did you get a kick out of understanding how to work out the answer to a cryptic crossword clue? Did you enjoy being given a random sentence that ultimately leads to a completely unexpected but totally decipherable answer? Do you feel like you could use some help to guide you towards the answer for each of the 20-30 clues that usually bamboozle you in each puzzle? Well, look no further!

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Each annotation will give you helping hints and hold your hand as we work out the answer together. If you liked the long-winded explanation to the above clue, then you will surely enjoy the crisper versions we give you in puzzles, when you click the button ‘Reveal’ and then ‘Show a hint’. The Hindu Cryptic on Sunday

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The Hindu Cryptic #13294 | Incognito | 4 Down

Clue explained:

Carve inside Somerset Church (4) CLUES:

: hidden word Clue type

: carve Definition

: AnswerETCH

We need a 4-letter word for ‘carve’.

The word ‘inside’ is usually an insertion indicator. But it can also reasonably work as a hidden word indicator, suggesting that the answer is nestled inside part of the wordplay.

And sure enough, we can see the 4-letter word for ‘carve’ wedged inside ‘... SomersET CHurch’ — ETCH!