Clue Type

Hidden Word Clues

A hidden word clue conceals the answer inside a span of consecutive letters within the clue text itself. The indicator tells you the answer is literally hiding in plain sight among the words of the clue.

How to identify hidden word clues

Look for indicator words that suggest concealment or containment within the clue's own text. Then scan consecutive letter sequences across word boundaries for the answer.

Common indicators

hiddeninwithininsidepart ofheld bycontainedsomeburiedconcealedamong

Worked examples

#14713 Jul 2026

Magnificent ring found in ruins of Isengard(9)

Definition
Our definition here is 'Magnificent', and our answer will be another word for that.
Indicator
This clue's indicators are 'found in' and 'ruins of'. One is an anagram indicator flagging that some neighbouring letters will be in a state of disorder, rearranging. The other is a containing indicator - some fodder will go inside other fodder.
Fodder
This clue's fodder is 'ring' and 'Isengard'. We'll need to find a short substitute for one of these and use it with the letters of the other to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s).

Answer: GRANDIOSE

Full breakdown
#14612 Jul 2026

Bob, Deb and Jacob all have these kinks(5)

Definition
Our definition here is 'kinks', and our answer will be another word for that.
Indicator
This clue's indicator is 'all have these' and it's asking us to recognise a pattern - what characteristic is shared by the parts of the fodder? It might be helpful to categorise this clue as a type of rebus, where you 'say what you see': the fodder all have ____!
Fodder
This clue's fodder is 'Bob, Deb and Jacob'. We'll use these words as the raw ingredients to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s).

Answer: BENDS

Full breakdown
#14410 Jul 2026

Our cousins and grandparents playing “Duck Duck Goose”?(4)

Definition
Our definition here is 'Our cousins', and our answer will be a word can represent that.
Indicator
This clue's indicator is 'playing Duck Duck Goose', and it's a selection indicator (Duck Duck Goose is literally a game of selection and non-selection). If we apply this selection idea to our fodder we can arrive at our answer.
Fodder
This clue's fodder is 'grandparents'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s).

Answer: APES

Full breakdown
#13602 Jul 2026

In public? Kissing? Ew!(3)

Definition
Our definition here is 'Ew', and our answer will be another word for that.
Indicator
This clue's indicator is 'In', and it's a hidden word indicator. Our answer will be hiding, in order, 'in' some neighbouring fodder.
Fodder
This clue's fodder is 'public? Kissing'. We'll use these letters (or some of them) to construct our answer, as guided by the clue's indicator(s).

Answer: ICK

Full breakdown
#13228 Jun 2026

Path between what looks like a pair of snakes & rocks(5)

Definition
Our definition here is 'rocks', and our answer will be another word for that.
Indicator
This clue's indicator is 'between', and 'what looks like'. One of these is a homoglyph indicator - we'll need to pay attention to the appearance of some neighbouring fodder and replace it with one or more lookalike letters. The other is a containing indicator guiding us to place some fodder inside other fodder.
Fodder
This clue's fodder is 'Path' and 'a pair of snakes'. We'll need to find substitutes for both of these - one a synonym, the other something else.

Answer: SWAYS

Full breakdown

Practice tips

1Run your finger across the clue text, ignoring spaces, and look for the answer spanning word boundaries.
2The answer length (enumeration) is your best friend — count letters carefully.
3Hidden word clues are often the easiest to solve once you recognise the indicator.
4The definition is at whichever end of the clue the hidden span is NOT.

Related glossary terms

Explore other clue types