These puzzles are essentially little pictures, which cryptically represent a word, saying song title, object, place or other cultural phrase.
The primary way in which clues are represented are:
| Word position 1 | Word position 2 |
 The
position of a word relative to the other words or the box it’s self is
often a clue. For example the word “moon” is placed over the word
“Miami” and thus the answerer would be “Moon Over Miami” |
 Another common position
clue is to place one word inside of another. In this example the word
“singing” is place inside the word “rain” to give “singing in the rain”
the position strategy can be used to denote over, under, around, by,
out, through, beside, right and left to name a few. |
| Color | Size |
 If
the word or part of the word is printed is some color other than black
the color is probably relevant to the puzzle. In this one the word
“mellow” is printed in yellow so the answer is “Mellow Yellow” |
 Words that are written
unusually large or unusually small are probably tied to the puzzle
answer. In this example a very little fount is used to write the word
“sister” and the puzzle answer would be “little sister” this can also
be used to denote big, large, small wide, long and others. |
| Direction | Quantity and Numbers |
 The direction that a
word is oriented can provide clues as well. In this one the word
“creek” is written going upwards and the word “paddle” is crossed out.
The puzzle answer would be “up the creek without a paddle” direction
can also be used to denote down, backward, back, behind, hind, and turn
to name a few. |
 there
are many puzzles that depend on the number of times a certain word
appears in the puzzle. This can denote the use of that number or simply
that the word should be plural. In this example the letter “a” appears
four times and the answer would be “Queen for a Day” |
| Accentuated | Missing Letters |
 Some of the time when a
word appears in a different text, italicized, or other wise made to
appear different, special attention should be paid to that word in
relation to the other words. This example uses the numbers hint out
lined above and accentuates the eight appearance of the word “Henry” so
this puzzle is “Henry the Eight” |
 Letters will
intentionally be left out of some puzzles. In this example the word
“mice” is repeated three times but the letter “i” is missing from each
of them. This would denote “Three Blind Mice” |
| Graphical | |
 Many
puzzles have graphics added to the words to imply clues. There is a
wide variety of graphics that can be added. In this example the word
“gravy” has been modified to resemble a train. The answer to this
puzzle is “Gravy Train” |
Most of the time a variety of these tactics will be employ within a single puzzle. There are also variations on these clues which have not been outlined here. Also creative members of our community are sure to come up with other ways cryptic ways to express a puzzle.
Many these puzzles are difficult. Some of the clues require knowledge that is not widely known in many sections of society. There are a couple of things that can help. First each and every puzzle has at lest one hint. Second there is a Google tool at the bottom of the page. Do not be shy about undertaking a web search to help you solve the puzzle. Here are some additional web sites that may prove useful.