Homophone cryptic clue
The fodder is not spelled like the answer — it only sounds like it.
How it works
The answer does not appear in the clue at all — a word that sounds like it does. Reportedly, we hear, they say, or on the radio flags the switch from spelling to sound.
Say the suspicious word out loud. If it could be spelled two ways, the setter has found the seam.
Worked example
KNIGHT heard aloud spells a different word entirely.
After dark, a mounted soldier, we hear (5)
AnswerNIGHT
- Definition: after dark — NIGHT.
- We hear says the wordplay is a sound-alike: mounted soldier = KNIGHT.
- KNIGHT and NIGHT are perfect homophones — keep the spelling the definition wants.
Spotting it in the wild
- Indicators: heard, sounds like, reportedly, we hear, aloud, they say, on the radio.
- The definition always decides which spelling wins.
- Silent letters — KN-, -GH, -MB — are homophone gold.