cluemanship

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noun

The art of writing cryptic crossword clues.

Scrabble 20
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Meanings

nouncluemanship (uncountable)
  1. uncountablecrosswordingThe art of writing cryptic crossword clues.

    Among occasional setters I admire for their inventiveness and cluemanship are Phi, Sabre and Kea.

    2018 September 6, Jonathan Crowther, quotee, “Crossword blog: Meet the Setter – Azed”, in The Guardian
    2 more examples

    And if anyone nowadays feels like calling this resort to dull definition a weakness, let him remember that Torquemada was a pioneer, and also that he was a genius of a most original kind; rules of cluemanship are for ordinary mortals, not for such as he was.

    1966, D.S. Macnutt, Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword, page 30

    Neither does JAC bind himself rigorously to the oft-sung and, at times, overstated rules of cluemanship formulated by XIMENES and AFRIT.

    1976, Games & Puzzles

Origin

clue + -manship

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

cluemanship. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cluemanship

MLA

“cluemanship.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cluemanship. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cluemanship,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cluemanship.

Source: cluemanship on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.