Editing Cryptic crossword (section)

=== Anagrams ===
[[File:Animation for the anagram CORSET = ESCORT.gif|thumb|Animation for the anagram CORSET = ESCORT]]
An [[anagram]] is a rearrangement of a certain section of the clue to form the answer.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=GAMES–World of Puzzles |date=September 2021 |issn=1074-4355 |volume=45 |number=7 |last=Parr |first=Andrew|title=Cryptic Classroom #1: Anagrams |page=33}}</ref> This is usually indicated by a codeword which indicates change, movement, breakage or something otherwise amiss.{{efn|Anagram indicators, among the thousands possible, include: ''about'', ''abstract'', ''absurd'', ''adapted'', ''adjusted'', ''again'', ''alien'', ''alternative'', ''anew'', ''another'', ''around'', ''arranged'', ''assembled'', ''assorted'', ''at sea'', ''awful'', ''awkward'', ''bad'', ''barmy'', ''becomes'', ''bizarre'', ''blend'', ''blow'', ''break'', ''brew'', ''build'', ''careless'', ''changed'', ''chaotic'', ''characters'', ''clumsy'', ''composed'', ''confused'', ''contrived'', ''convert'', ''cooked'', ''corrupt'', ''could be'', ''crazy'', ''damaged'', ''dancing'', ''designed'', ''develop'', ''different'', ''disorderly'', ''disturbed'', ''doctor'', ''eccentric'', ''edited'', ''engineer'', ''fabricate'', ''fake'', ''fancy'', ''faulty'', ''fiddled'', ''fix'', ''foolish'', ''form'', ''free'', ''fudge'', ''gives'', ''ground'', ''hammer'', ''haywire'', ''hybrid'', ''improper'', ''in a tizzy'', ''involved'', ''irregular'', ''jostle'', ''jumbled'', ''jumping'', ''kind of'', ''knead'', ''letters'', ''loose'', ''made'', ''managed'', ''maybe'', ''messy'', ''mistaken'', ''mix'', ''modified'', ''moving'', ''muddled'', ''mutant'', ''new'', ''novel'', ''odd'', ''off'', ''order'', ''organised'', ''otherwise'', ''out'', ''outrageous'', ''peculiar'', ''perhaps'', ''playing'', ''poor'', ''possible'', ''prepared'', ''produced'', ''queer'', ''questionable'', ''random'', ''reform'', ''remodel'', ''repair'', ''resort'', ''rough'', ''shaken'', ''shifting'', ''silly'', ''sloppy'', ''smashed'', ''somehow'', ''sort'', ''spoilt'', ''strange'', ''style'', ''switch'', ''tangled'', ''treated'', ''tricky'', ''troubled'', ''turning'', ''twist'', ''unconventional'', ''undone'', ''unsettled'', ''unsound'', ''untidy'', ''unusual'', ''upset'', ''used'', ''vary'', ''version'', ''warped'', ''wayward'', ''weird'', ''wild'', ''working'', ''wrecked'' and ''wrong''.}} One example:

:''Chaperone shredded corset (6)''

gives {{sc2|ESCORT}}, which means "chaperone" and is an anagram, indicated by the word "shredded", of {{sc2|CORSET}}.

Anagram clues are characterized by the codeword (the ''anagram indicator'' or – among enthusiasts – ''anagrind'') placed adjacent to a word or phrase made up of the letters to be rearranged (the ''anagram fodder''). The indicator tells the solver an anagram exists, and the fodder provides the anagram to be solved. Indicators can come either directly before or directly after the fodder.

In an American cryptic, only the words given in the clue may be anagrammed; in some older puzzles, the words to be anagrammed may be clued and ''then'' anagrammed. This kind of clue is called an ''indirect anagram''. For example, in:

:''Chew honeydew fruit (5)''

"chew" is the indicator, but "honeydew" does not directly provide the letters to be anagrammed. Instead, "honeydew" clues {{sc2|MELON}}, which can be rearranged to form the solution {{sc2|LEMON}} – another "fruit". Indirect anagrams are not used in the vast majority of cryptic crosswords, ever since they were criticised by Ximenes in ''On the Art of the Crossword''.{{efn|A minor exception to this general rule is that simple abbreviations are sometimes used to add variety or challenge. For example, "Husband, a most eccentric fellow (6)" for {{sc2|THOMAS}}, where the anagram is made from {{sc2|A MOST}} plus {{sc2|H}} for husband.}}

It is common for the setter to use a juxtaposition of indicator and fodder that together form a common phrase, to make the clue appear as normal as possible.  For example:

:''Lap dancing friend (3)''

uses "dancing" as the indicator because it combines naturally with the fodder {{sc2|LAP}}, disguising the anagram. The solution is {{sc2|PAL}} ("friend").