Cryptic Crosswords Abbreviations.

Cryptic crosswords use a lot of abbreviations in counstruction of clues, here are a few.


Clues beginning with A
About - c or ca (circa) or re Account - ac Accountant - ca (chartered accountant) Ace - a Advert - ad Afternoon - pm Against - v or vs (versus) Agent - rep (representative) Agricultural - ag Air conditioning - ac Alien - et (extraterrestrial) Also known as - aka Aluminium - al (chemical symbol) America - am, us or usa (United States of America) Amnesty - ai (Amnesty International) Arbiter - ref(referee) Army cop - mp (Military Policeman) Arsenic - as (chemical symbol) Artificial intelligence - ai Artillery - ra (Royal Artillery) Artists - ra (Royal Academy) Attorney - da (District Attorney) or pa (Practicing Attorney) Australia - aus or oz (slang name for Australia) Avenue - ave


Clues beginning with B
Bachelor of Arts - ba Bachelor of Medicine - bm Basque nationalists - eta Bearing - n, e, s, w, ne, nw etc. (compass points) Beginner - l (for Learner) Bend - s or u (U-bend and S-bend) Bill - ac (account) or iou Bishop - b or rr (Right Reverend) Bob - s (shilling) Book (or books) - nt (New Testament), ot (Old Testament) Boy - b Byte - b

Clues beginning with C
Calcium - ca California - ca Car - t (Model T), rr (Rolls-Royce) Care of - co Caught - c or ct Celsius - c Cent - c Centigrade - c Century - c Certificate - x, u, pg, r, g (from the film certificates) Chartered accountant - ca Chief - ch Chlorine - cl (chemical symbol) Chromosome - x or y Church - ch or ce (Church of England)or rc(Roman Catholic) Circa - c Circle - o (the letter O is a circle) City - ny (New York), la (Los Angeles), or ec (postcode for City of London) Coin - p (penny), d (from the Latin denarius) or c (cent) - d or c would usually have "old" or "American" as well as "coin". Colonel - col Colt - c Company - co Compare - cf (abbreviation of the Latin confer) Compass point - n, e, s, w (and other bearings) Conservationists - nt (National Trust) Conservative - c, con Constable - pc (police constable) Copper - p (penny), d (denarius), cu (chemical symbol), pc (police constable) Court - ct Credit - cr Criminal - con Cross - x Current - ac (alternating current), dc (direct current), ad (Anno Domini) or amp Current account - ca Cystic fibrosis - cf

Clues beginning with D
Date - d Daughter - d Dead or Died - d, dec (deceased), ex Debts - ious (IOU (debt)) Deceased - d, dec, ex Decoration - vc (Victoria Cross), gc (George Cross) Degree - deg, c (Celsius or Centigrade), f (Fahrenheit), ba (Bachelor of Arts), ma (Master of Arts). Detectives - cid Detective inspector - di Deutschmark - dm Direction - n, e, s, w (and other compass bearings) Disc - o (the letter O is round, like a disc), ep (extended play record), lp (long play record), cd (compact disc) Doctor of Divinity - dd Doctor - doc, bm (Bachelor of Medicine), mb (Medicinae Baccalaureus), md (Medicinae Doctor), mo (medical officer), gp (General Practitioner), dr Drip - iv (intravenous drip) Drug - c (cocaine), e, x (both short for ecstasy) or h (heroin) Dry - tt (teetotal) or aa (Alcoholics Anonymous) Duck - o (from the cricket score of 0)

Clues beginning with E
Each - ea East - e East Germany - gdr (German Democratic Republic) Ecstasy - e or x (slang names for the drug) Editor - ed Egg - o (the letter O loosely resembles the shape of an egg) Electricity - ac (alternating current), dc (direct current) Eleven - ll (II looks similar to 11), or xi (Roman numerals) Engineer - ce (civil engineer) or re (Royal Engineer) or me (mechanical engineer) English - e Escape - esc Estimated time of arrival - eta Europe - eu (European Union), ec (European Community) Exercise - pe (physical education), pt (physical training) Extra - w (from the extra runs in cricket for a wide ball) Extra large - xl Extra terrestrial - et

Clues beginning with F
Fahrenheit - f Father - da, dad, fr, pa Female - f Fighter plane - mig (type of plane) Firm - co (company) Fifty - l (Roman numeral (lower case L)) Five - v (Roman numeral) Fleet - rn (Royal Navy) Flying bomb - vi (looks like V1) Football association - fa Football club - fc For example - eg (short for the Latin exempli gratia) Former - ex Four - iv (Roman Numeral) France - f Frenchman - m (Monsieur)

Clues beginning with G
Game - ru(Rugby Union) Gas - h (hydrogen), o (oxygen), n (nitrogen), cs (tear gas) German submarine - u (U-boat) Germany - ger, d (Deutschland) Gold - au (chemical symbol), or (in heraldry) Good - pi (pious) Good Man - st (abbreviation for Saint) Graduate - ba, ma (university degrees) Gram - g Grand prix - gp Grand - g, m (Roman numeral for 1000), k (kilo-) Group - gp Gunners - ra (Royal Artillery)

Clues beginning with H
Hectare - ha Helium - he Heroin - h Hire purchase - hp Holy man - st (saint) Home counties - se (South-east of England) Honours - ba or ma (see Degree) Horse - g, gg (slang) Hospital - h Hour - h Houses of Parliament - hp Hundred - c (Roman numeral) Husband - h

Clues beginning with I
Iceland - is (country code) Inch - in Information - gen Information technology - it Intelligence - iq Iodine - i (chemical symbol) Ireland - ire Irish Republican Army - ira Iron - fe (chemical symbol)

Clues beginning with J
Jack - j, tar, ab (sailor) Jet - mig (type of plane) Jolly - rm (Royal Marine) Journalist - ed (editor) Judge - j Junction - t (T-junction) Junior - jr

Clues beginning with K
Kelvin - k Kentucky - ky Key - a, b, c, d, e, f or g (musical keys) Kick off - ko Kilo - k King - k, r (from the Latin rex), hm (His Majesty), or hrh (His Royal Highness), or gr (King George (rex)) Kiss - x (the symbol for a kiss) Knave - j (Jack) Knight - k, kt, kbe (Knight Commander of the British Empire) or kg (Knight of the Garter) or n(The symbol for a knight on a chessboard) Knock out - ko Knot - kt

Clues beginning with L
Labour - lab Lake - l or la Large number - c, d, m (Roman numerals) or k (kilo-) Last month - ult (ultimo) Lawrence - dh (D. H. Lawrence) or te (T. E. Lawrence) Lead - pb (chemical symbol) Learner - l Left - l Liberal l or lib Lieutenant - lt Litre - l Local area network - lan Long playing record - lp Long wave - lw Loud - f (forte), or ff (fortissimo) Los Angeles - la Love - o (zero score in tennis)

Clues beginning with M
Maiden - m (cricket terminology for no runs in an over) Male - m, he or pa Map-makers - os (Ordnance Survey) Marines - rm (Royal Marines) Married - m Master of ceremonies - mc Medal - vc (Victoria Cross), gc (George Cross), obe (Order of the British Empire), om (Order of merit) Medic - doc (short for doctor), bm (Bachelor of Medicine), mb (Medicinae Baccalaureus), md (Medicinae Doctor), mo (medical officer), gp (General Practitioner), dr (short for doctor) Master of Arts - ma Master's - ma (Master of Arts degree) Megabyte - mb Member - mp (same as Member of Parliament (below)) Member of Parliament - mp Messerschmitt - me Middle East - me Midfielder - l (the 'mid' letter of 'fielder') Military Police - mp Ministry of Defence - mod Minute - m Model - t (Model T Ford) Monarch - er (Elizabeth Regina), gr (George Rex), q (queen), k (king) or r (rex/regina) Monsieur - m Morning or Half Day - am Mother - ma Motorway - m or mi (looks like M1)

Clues beginning with N
National Trust - nt Navy - rn (Royal Navy), abs (able-bodied seamen) or tars (slang for seamen) Nazis - ss (Schutzstaffel) Neon - ne (chemical symbol) Never-never - hp (synonym for hire purchase) New - n New Testament - nt Nitrogen - n No ball - nb (cricket terminology) North - n Not applicable - na Note - nb (from the Latin nota bene) or a, b, c, d, e, f, g (musical notes) Nothing - o (the letter O looks like the number 0) Now - ad (from the Latin Anno Domini) Number - v, x, c, d, m, l (Roman numerals)

Clues beginning with O
Odds - sp (starting price) Officer - oc (Officer Corps) Old - o Old person - oap Old Testament - ot One - i (I is the roman numeral for 1) or rarely a, an (not normally used in British crosswords) Operating system - os Operation - op Oriental - e (East) Ounce - oz (abbreviation) Outsized - os Over the top - ott Overdose - od Oxygen - o

Clues beginning with P
Page - p Painters - ra (Royal Academy) Paramilitaries - eta (Basque Nationalists), ira (Irish Republican Army), uff (Ulster Freedom Fighters), uda (Ulster Defence Association) Parking - p Party - lab, lib, con or c (Political Parties) Peacekeepers - un (United Nations) Pencil - hb Penny - p, d (old penny), cu (copper) Physical education - pe Physical training - pt Piano - p Plane - mig (type of plane) Plate - l or p (L-plate and P-plate) Poet - ts (T.S. Eliot) Point - n, e, s, w (and other compass bearings) Pole - n (north) or s (south) Policeman/men - pc (Police Constable), di (Detective Inspector), met (Metropolitan Police), cid (Criminal Investigation Department) Politician - mp Posh - u (short for upper class) Post office - po Potassium - k (chemical symbol) Pound - lb (weight) Priest - rev (reverend), rr (Right Reverend), dd (Doctor of Divinity), fr (Father), eli (Eli (Bible)) Prime Minister - pm Prisoner of war - pow Promises - ious (I owe yous) Province - ni (Northern Ireland) Pub - ph (Public House)

Clues beginning with Q
Queen - q, er (Elizabeth Regina), hm (Her Majesty) Quiet/quietly - p (piano)

Clues beginning with R
Railway - r, ry or br (British Rail) Record - ep (extended play record), lp (long playing record) Regina - r Retired - ret Reverend - rr (Right Reverend), dd (Doctor of Divinity), rev Rex - r Right Reverend - rr Right - r Ring - o (the letter O looks like a ring) River - r Road - rd or ai (looks like A1) Rolls Royce - rr Rook - r Royal Academy - ra Royal Artillery - ra Royal Engineers - re Royal Marines - rm Royal Navy - rn Run - r

Clues beginning with S
Sailor - ab (able-bodied seaman), tar (slang), rn, salt Saint - st Sappers - re (the Royal Engineers equivalent of "private") Say - eg (short for the Latin exempli gratia) Seaman - ab (able-bodied seaman) Secret service - ss Setter - i or me (meaning the setter of the crossword) Shilling - s Significant other - so Ship - ss (steam ship) Short wave - sw Silver - ag (chemical symbol) Sodium - na (chemical symbol) Softly - p (musical notation) Soldier - rm (Royal Marine), re (Royal Engineer), gi (General Infantryman) Soldiers - men, or (Other Ranks) Son - s South - s Sportsman - blue(From Oxford - Cambridge Face-Offs) State - any abbreviation of an American State (e.g. CA, FL ..) Street - st Student - l (learner) or nus (National Union of Students) Submarine - u (U-boat) or sub Sweat - bo (Body odor)

Clues beginning with T
Tar - ab (able-bodied seaman) Tax - vat (Value added tax) Teachers - nut (National Union of Teachers) Team - xi (Roman numerals for eleven players in a football or cricket team) Teetotal - tt or aa (from Alcoholics Anonymous) Ten - x (Roman numerals) or io (IO looks like 10) Territorial Army - ta Terrorists - eta (Basque Nationalists), ira (Irish Republican Army), uff (Ulster Freedom Fighters), uda (Ulster Defence Association) That is - ie (from the Latin id est) Theologian - dd (Doctor of Divinity) This month - inst (from the Latin instante mense) Thousand - g (grand), m (Roman numeral), or k (kilo-) Thus - ie (short for the Latin id est) Time - t, s, m Times - x (multiplication symbol) Toilet - wc (water closet) Tory - con (slang for Conservative) Trendy - in (euphemism) Tripod - Y (shape of a Tripod) Tyro - l (for learner)

Clues beginning with U
Ulster - ni (Northern Ireland) Ulster Defence Association - uda Ulster Freedom Fighters - uff United Nations - un Unknown - x, y or z (Mathematical variable) University - u or ou (Open University) or up (in the UK one goes up to university)

Clues beginning with V
Value added tax - vat Variable - x, y or z (Mathematical unknown) Versus - v or vs Very - v Volunteers - ta (Territorial Army)

Clues beginning with W
Way - rd (road), st (street), ave (avenue) Weight - g (gram), lb (pound) Whistle-blower - ref(referee) Wide - w (cricket) With - w Without - wo Work - op (operation), opus (classical music) Worker - ant

Clues beginning with Y
Yard - yd or y Year - y or yr

Clues beginning with Z
Zero - o (the letter O looks like the number 0)