indirect anagram

English

Noun

indirect anagram (plural indirect anagrams)

  1. (crosswording) A cryptic device, forbidden in most publications, in which the word to be anagrammed is not present in the wordplay.
    • 1977, Games & Puzzles:
      ... the importance of sound clues: how they must be syntactically correct and how we must shun the indirect anagram and other unfair devices.
    • 2012 June 13, Denise Sutherland, Solving Cryptic Crosswords For Dummies, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 105:
      Most setters do try to avoid indirect anagrams, though.
    • 2012 November 1, David Astle, Puzzled: Secrets and clues from a life in words, Profile Books, →ISBN:
      Never will you be expected to scramble a word that's not presented in the clue. Such a sin is known as the indirect anagram.
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