There’s a certain thrill, isn’t there, to staring down a fresh
crossword clue
? That blank grid, those cryptic lines, and the promise of an “aha!” moment waiting to burst forth. Some days, they’re gentle nudges; other days, they’re intricate puzzles wrapped in riddles. Today, I found myself wrestling with one that’s a perfect example of the latter, a real head-scratcher that embodies the best (and sometimes most frustrating) aspects of our beloved pastime.
The clue that stopped me in my tracks today reads:
“I would break up comfort of reinforcement (13)“
.
Thirteen letters. A decent length, offering plenty of room for creative wordplay, but also enough complexity to hide the answer cleverly. My eyes immediately latched onto “break up.” If you’ve spent any time with cryptic crosswords, that phrase is an instant, blaring siren for one thing:
anagram!
It screams, “Rearrange some letters, my friend, and behold your answer!” My mind, ever eager to oblige, immediately started eyeing “comfort of reinforcement.”
But then, the classic cryptic curveball. I quickly tallied the letters in “comfort of reinforcement.” C-O-M-F-O-R-T (7) O-F (2) R-E-I-N-F-O-R-C-E-M-E-N-T (12). That’s a grand total of 21 letters. And our target word is only 13 letters long. Uh oh. The immediate anagram hypothesis, while strong, clearly isn’t as straightforward as simply rearranging
all
the letters. This is where the real fun, and the real challenge, of a compelling
crossword clue
begins.
So, if it’s not a full anagram, what else could “break up” mean? In the world of complex wordplay, “break up” could still hint at an anagram, but perhaps one of a
subset
of the letters from the given phrase. Or it could be a signal to
remove
letters from the fodder to form the answer. The possibilities are suddenly wide open, and the direct route has been delightfully blocked.
Then there’s the enigmatic “I would.” Is “I” simply the letter ‘I’ to be incorporated into the wordplay? Or is “I would” part of the definition, suggesting an action the solver might perform, or an intention? In many a
cryptic crossword clue
, pronouns like “I” can be incredibly tricky, serving as misdirection or an integral, yet subtle, component of the solution. Do we need to think about something
I
might do to break something up? Or is “I” just one more piece of the puzzle to be rearranged or combined?
And let’s not forget the other major component of the clue: “comfort of reinforcement.” Beyond being potential fodder for an anagram or letter extraction, what does this phrase
mean
? It evokes ideas of support, ease, stability, bolstering. So, if the answer is something that “breaks up” this comfort or reinforcement, we’re looking for a word that signifies disruption, dismantling, or perhaps even challenging established structures or ideas. This semantic layer is crucial for confirming a potential solution once the wordplay starts to reveal itself.
This particular
crossword clue
demands a multi-pronged attack. We have the strong anagram indicator “break up,” but its application is not immediately obvious. We have the complex phrase “comfort of reinforcement” that needs to be dissected for potential hidden letters or a more subtle rearrangement. And we have the mysterious “I would” to decipher. It’s a beautiful dance between literal interpretation, metaphorical meaning, and the precise rules of cryptic wordplay.
It’s clues like this that make the daily puzzle such an addictive mental workout. They force you to think beyond the obvious, to consider every angle, and to appreciate the sheer ingenuity of the clue-setter. The satisfaction, when you finally piece together the logic and the letters click into place, is unparalleled. It’s a testament to the brilliance of a well-crafted
crossword clue
that it can be both frustratingly opaque and ultimately, incredibly rewarding. What a gem!
Available Answers:
CONSOLIDATION.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: Metro Cryptic Crossword Clues Monday, 14 July 2025