Sarah Lolley
  • Mailbox Missions
  • NDG Walks
  • What's New
  • Intro to Cryptic Crosswords
  • CBC/QWF Writer-in-Residence
  • Contact Me
  • Puzzle Tutorial
  • Practice Puzzles

The Palm-Slap Homophone

Picture
Get ready to slap your palm into your forehead: these ones are groaners.

Like the double-meaning variety, the clues are very short and contain only the definition ("front door") portion of the clue. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently.


Unlike anagram and composed clues, homophone clues are quite rare. Any given cryptic crossword puzzle will probably only have one or two, or might have none.

Picture

How Can You Tell if It's a Homophone?

Look for the trigger word

Unlike double-meaning riddles, homophone riddles have a trigger word that makes reference to the sound of the word.

Common trigger words are: “overheard,” “spoken,” “verbal,” “oral,” and “described”. There might also be something like “I hear” or “auditor’s”, or even something very tricky like “over the radio” or “on the record”.

Picture
The answer to this clue is a word that, when spoken, sounds like a word that means "reference" and also like a word that means "point".
Can you think of one?

If you make reference to a particular text, you "cite" it.
A geographical point is a "site".
Picture

How do you know which spelling to use?

The easiest way might be to look at the number of letters in the answer. But if both spellings have the same number of letters, you can confirm by looking at the clue. The meaning that comes after the trigger word, or is the closest to it, is the phonetic one (and therefore not the answer).

So if you have “Auditor’s reference point”, the correct spelling is the one that relates to the "point"; the "reference" is the “auditor’s” spelling, which means it is the phonetic spelling.

Want to Try Some Homophone Clues?

Yes! I can’t wait to try some of these!

I think I’ve got it. Take me back to the list of riddles.

You know what? I think I’m ready to try a practice puzzle!
Try some homophone clues
Return to List of Riddles
Go to Practice Puzzles
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.