Charade clues in cryptic crosswords - Solution for 15 April cryptic crossword clue

Singer Diana follows air conditioning as Down’s alternative (6)

Solution – across

“singer Diana” = Ross as in Diana Ross

"Ross" follows ie is after “air conditioning”


An abbreviation for air conditioning is "AC"


ac + ross = across

So how does that fit with "Down's alternative"?  In crosswords there are across clues and down clues, so across clues are the alternative to down clues.


This is an example of a charades clue.

Charade type clues are very common in cryptic crosswords – up to a third of each crossword will be charade clues or at least partly charade clues.  Why are they called charades?  Some of you will be old enough to remember the party game “charades” where someone acted out the name of a film, book, or song and the others have to guess what it is.

There are2 or 3 parts to a charades clue:

The main definition – ie what the solution will all add up to

The definitions that make up the components of the charade.

And there may also be a position indicator part of the clue.  This will only be there if the different parts of the charade need to be in a different order from which they are found in the clue.  The indicator might be “after” or “before”.

Charades are often combined with abbreviations or first and last letters of words etc.  Things can get a little complicated since one component of the charade could be an anagram, for example.

For the next clue in the series click here