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Many cryptic clues use abbreviations and they are often a stumbling block for solvers, especially to the newcommers at this weird cryptic crossword world.
A lot of abbreviations are common, and you probably already know them: west = W, male = M, no = N, for example but these kinds of abbreviations are included in all dictionaries.
Some, however, are less obvious. There are greek letters, chemical symbols, words from other languages, etc. These are in dictionaries, but if you don't know at that setters use these to start with, what hope have you got? We have included some of these in the list below.
Aluminum | AL |
Argon | AR |
Barium | BA |
Boron | B |
Calcium | CA |
Carbon | C |
Chlorine | CL |
Chromium | CR |
Cobalt | CO |
Copper | CU |
Fluorine | F |
Gold | AU |
Helium | HE |
Hydrogen | H |
Iron | FE |
Lithium | LI |
Neon | NE |
Nickel | NI |
Nitrogen | N |
Oxygen | O |
Potassium | K |
Silicon | SI |
Silver | AG |
Sodium | NA |
Tin | SN |
Uranium | U |
Albania | AL or ALB |
Australia | AUS, AU, or OZ |
Belgium | BEL or BE |
Bolivia | BO or BOL |
Brazil | BR or BRA |
Cuba | CU or CUB |
Finland | FI or FIN |
Germany | DE or DEU |
Greece | GRC, GR, or GRE |
India | IN or IND |
Italy | IT or ITA |
Malaysia | MY or MYS |
New Zealand | NZL or NZ |
Peru | PE or PER |
Somalia | SO or SOM |
Switzerland | CHE, CH, SUI, or SWI |
United Kingdom | GBR or UK |
United States | USA or US |
Yemen | YE or YEM |
Alaska | AK |
Arizona | AZ |
Australian Capital Territory | ACT |
Colorado | CO |
Delaware | DE |
Florida | FL |
Hawaii | HI |
Illinois | IL |
Kentucky | KY |
Louisiana | LA |
Massachusetts | MA |
Michigan | MI |
Nevada | NV |
New York | NY |
Northern Territory | NT |
Oklahoma | OK |
Oregon | OR |
Pennsylvania | PA |
South Australia | SA |
Tasmania | TAS |
Texas | TX |
Utah | UT |
Victoria | VIC |
Washington | WA |
Western Australia | WA |
Wisconsin | WI |
batting | IN |
bowled | B |
caught | C |
century | C |
duck | O ( no runs) |
inning | I |
maiden | M |
no ball | NB |
not out | NO |
over | O |
run | R |
wicket | W |
CHI |
ETA |
MU |
NU |
PHI |
PI |
PSI |
RHO |
TAU |
XI |
about, around | CA |
against | VS |
around, about, approx. | C (circa) |
by the day | PD (per diem) |
in this matter, concerning, about | RE |
note well | NB |
see | CF |
that is | IE (id est) |
the same | ID |
thus | SIC |
without issue (children) | SP (sine prole) |
1 | I |
4 | IV |
5 | V |
6 | VI |
10 | X |
11 | XI |
50 | L |
51 | LI |
100 | C |
101 | CI |
150 | CL |
151 | CLI |
500 | D |
501 | DI |
1,000 | M |
1,001 | MI |
alfa / alpha | A |
bravo | B |
Charlie | C |
delta | D |
echo | E |
foxtrot | F |
golf | G |
hotel | H |
India | I |
Juliet | J |
kilo | K |
Lima | L |
Mike | M |
November | N |
Oscar | O |
papa | P |
Qubec | Q |
Romeo | R |
sierra | S |
tango | T |
uniform | U |
victor | V |
whiskey | W |
x-ray | X |
Yankee | Y |
Zulu | Z |
ace | AI (as in A1, the number 1 is read as letter I) |
alien | ET |
ancient city | UR |
article | A, AN, THE |
artists | RA (for Royal Academy) |
beginner | L (for L-plate on a car) |
bend | S or U (for S-bend, U-bend) |
big | OS (outsized) |
bill | IOU (I owe you) |
bishop | B (chess) |
blood group | A, B, AB, O |
bob | S (for shilling) |
books | OT, NT (for Old Testament, New Testament) |
bridge player | N, S, E, W (seating) |
castle | R (rook in chess) |
circle, circuit | O |
clef | C, F |
current | AC, DC |
day | D or V (Victory Day) |
disc | O (it looks like a disc), LP, CD |
dollar | S (similar to $) |
egg | O (similar shape) |
firm | CO (company) |
first class | A or AI (A1) |
former | EX |
forte | F |
French art | ES (I am, thou art, Je suis, tu es, can you believe it?) |
gas | CO (carbon monoxide), HE (helium) etc |
good | A (as in A Grade), G |
hand | AB (see sailor), L, R |
hard | H (pencil) |
high class | U (from upper class) |
journalist | ED (editor) |
key | A, B, C, D, E, F, G (music) |
king | ER (Edwardus Rex), R (Rex), K (chess) |
kiss | X |
knight | N (chess) |
loud | F (forte) |
love | O (tennis score of zero) |
measure/printer’s measure | EN, EM |
model | T (for Model T Ford) |
novice | L (learner) |
old boy | OB |
old city | UR |
Old English | OE |
pawn | P (chess) |
playing, performing | ON (on stage) |
pole | N, S |
quarter | N, S, E, W |
queen | ER (Elizabetha Regina), R (Regina), Q (chess) |
quiet | P, PP, SH, MUM |
railway | RY, BR (British Rail) |
river | R |
rook | R (chess) |
round | O |
Royal Navy | RN |
sailor | TAR, AB (for able-bodied seaman), OS (ordinary seaman) |
saint | ST |
salt | AB (see sailor) |
Saturday | S |
scholar | BA |
second | S |
ship | SS |
silence | SH, MUM |
six-footer | ANT, BEE, etc (an insect has six legs) |
soft | P (piano), B (pencil) |
soldier | GI, RM (Royal Marines) |
state | state abbreviation, often from USA |
street | ST, AVE, RD, WAY |
strings | E, A, D, or G (violin strings) |
student | L (learner) |
support | BRA |
tar | AB (see sailor) |
teas | TT |
times | X (multiplication) |
turn | U (U-turn) |
university | U, OU (Open University) |
unknown | X, Y, Z (unknowns in equations) |
upper class | U (rather dated!) |
variable | X, Y, or Z (see unknown) |
very loud | FF (fortissimo) |
very soft | PP (pianissimo) |
vitamin | A, B, C, D, E, BI (B1) |
worker | ANT, BEE |
a / the / articles | UN, UNE, LA, LE, or LES |
and | ET |
at / in / to | AU |
from / of | DE, DU, DES |
gold | OR |
good | BON |
he | IL |
I | JE |
in | EN |
is | EST |
king | ROI |
man / men | M (Monsieur), MM (Messieurs) |
no | NON |
not | PAS |
nude | NU |
of | DE, DES |
on | SUR |
one | UN, UNE |
said / say | DIT |
sea | MER |
she | ELLE |
that | CA, CELA |
water | EAU |
we | NOUS |
what | QUE |
where | OU |
word | MOT |
yes | OUI |
you | TU, VOUS |
a / an | EIN, EINE, EINER |
and | UND |
I | ICH |
he | ER |
it | ES |
no | NEIN |
one | EIN |
she | SIE |
the / this / that | DER, DIE, DAS |
they | SIE |
we | WIR |
where | WO |
with | MIT |
yes | JA |
you | DU, SIE |
a / an/ articles | UN, UNO, UNA, IL |
but | MA |
east | EST |
I | IO |
I was | ERO |
if | SE |
not | NON |
of the | DEL |
one | UNA, UNO |
six | SEI |
south | SUD |
the | IL |
three | TRE |
two | DUE |
who | CHI |
yes | SI |
you | TU |
a, an | UN, UNA |
articles | EL, LA, LAS, LOS |
exclamation | OLE |
gentleman | DON |
hero | CID (El Cid) |
I | YO |
I am | SOY |
my | MI |
nobleman | DON |
one | UNO |
that | ESE, ESA |
thousand | MIL |
two | DOS |
what | QUE |
yes | SI |
you, your | TU |
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