Minute Cryptic Answer: “Mermaid’s heart breaks from salmon being chopped up for shark bait?”

Step-by-step

1. 1Read the clue: "Mermaid’s heart breaks from salmon being chopped up for shark bait?"
2. 2Identify the definition: "Our definition here is 'shark bait?' and, with a bit of stretch (flagged by the question mark), our answer will be a kind of shark bait." points to the meaning of the answer.
3. 3Spot the indicator: "This clue's indicators are 'heart', 'breaks from' and 'being chopped up'. One of these is a selection indicator, naming the position of an important letter in neighbouring fodder. Another is an anagram indicator - some letters will be roughly segmented and won't retain their original form. And a third is a deletion indicator flagging that some fodder will depart other fodder." signals a reversal operation.
4. 4Find the fodder: "This clue's fodder is 'Mermaid' and 'salmon'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s)." is the material to work with.
5. 5Reverse the letters of "This clue's fodder is 'Mermaid' and 'salmon'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s)." to get the answer.
6. 6The answer is: LOANS

Why “LOANS” fits the clue

In Minute Cryptic Puzzle #122 from June 18, 2026, the clue "Mermaid’s heart breaks from salmon being chopped up for shark bait?" is a reversal clue. Reverse the letters of "This clue's fodder is 'Mermaid' and 'salmon'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s)." to read the 5-letter answer LOANS. The definition "Our definition here is 'shark bait?' and, with a bit of stretch (flagged by the question mark), our answer will be a kind of shark bait." confirms that LOANS is the intended Minute Cryptic answer for June 18, 2026.

Minute Cryptic 18 Jun 2026 — Frequently Asked

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