Editing Cryptic crossword (section)

== Bits and pieces ==
Abbreviations are popular with crossword compilers for cluing individual letters or short sections of the answer. Consider this clue:

:''About to come between little Desmond and worker for discourse (7)''

There are two abbreviations used here.  "About" is abbreviated {{sc2|C}} (for "circa"), and "little Desmond" indicates that the [[diminutive]] of Desmond (namely, {{sc2|DES}}) is required.  The {{sc2|C}} is "to come between" {{sc2|DES}} and {{sc2|ANT}} (a worker; note that compilers also use "worker" to stand for 'bee' or 'hand'), giving {{sc2|[[wikt:descant|DESCANT]]}}, which means "discourse".

Compilers use many of these [[crossword abbreviations]].

Another type of abbreviation in clues might be words that refer to letters. For example, 'you' refers to the letter U, 'why' refers to the letter Y, etc. A clue for instance:

:''For example, why didn't you put the country? (5)''

The answer is {{sc2|EGYPT}}. Three abbreviations are used here. "For example" clues the common abbreviation {{sc2|EG}} (for ''[[exempli gratia]]''). "Why" clues the letter {{sc2|Y}}. The phrase "didn't you put" clues the letters {{sc2|PT}} (the word "you" refers to the letter ''U'', and word "didn't" indicates that this should be left out of the word "put"). Adding these together gets "the country".

There are many ways in which constructors can clue a part of a clue. In this clue:

:''Exclamation of surprise about spectacles, from the top (3)''

The word "spectacles" clues {{sc2|OO}} because these letters look like a pair of spectacles "from the top". The answer is thus {{sc2|COO}}, which is an "exclamation of surprise" with {{sc2|C}} coming from ''circa'', clued by "about".

Often, Roman numerals are used to break down words into their component letter groups. E.g. In this clue:

:''A team's first supporter is pivotal (4)''

The answer is {{sc2|AXIS}}, and the direct meaning is conveyed by the words "is pivotal". The first {{sc2|A}} is followed by {{sc2|XI}}, which is 11 in Roman numerals (referring to the number of players on the field in a cricket or [[soccer]] "team"). "First supporter" refers to the letter {{sc2|S}}, which is the first letter of the word "supporter".