Cryptic Abbreviations

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.

Chemical Symbols

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

Country Codes

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

States

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

Cricketing Terms

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

Greek Letters

CHI

ETA

MU

NU

PHI

PI

PSI

RHO

TAU

XI

Latin Terms

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)

Roman Numerals

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

NATO phonetic alphabet

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

Lesson common or downright weird abbreviations

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

Words from other languages

French

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

German

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

Italian

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

Spanish

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