Famous Cryptic Crossword Clues Explained

Some cryptic crossword clues are so clever they have become legendary. Here are a few of the best.

"Flower holder? (5)" = RIVER

The classic misdirection. "Flower" sounds like it means a plant, but here it means "something that flows" = a river. "Holder" is just there to mislead you into thinking of a vase.

"Crazy artist (5)" = TRAIT

"Crazy" is an anagram indicator. Rearrange the letters of ARTIST to get TRAIT.

"Initially babies are naked (4)" = BARE

"Initially" means take the first letter of each word: B-A-R-E. The surface reading about naked babies is just misdirection.