Decryptic

Decryptic #3 - 30th June 2026

Solution & wordplay explained · Published 30 June 2026

The solved grid and a clue-by-clue explanation of every piece of wordplay in this Decryptic daily. It's a past puzzle, and the archive lets you play older crosswords. Today's crossword is always free to play.

The solved grid

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Across

1 Across Hovering creature born from grim bind hum rearranged (11)HUMMINGBIRD Anagram Rearrange the letters of “grim bind hum”.
8 Across Safety measures taken when caution reps are broken (11)PRECAUTIONS Anagram Rearrange the letters of “caution reps”.
9 Across Bright result when telling tine is scrambled (11)INTELLIGENT Anagram Rearrange the letters of “telling tine”.
11 Across Number found in the eighteenth century (5)EIGHT Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “the eighteenth”.
13 Across Brazilian dance found in Cuba's ambassadors (5)SAMBA Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “Cuba's ambassadors”.
16 Across Gay people emerge when loam houses X is broken up (11)HOMOSEXUALS Anagram Rearrange the letters of “loam houses X”.
19 Across Large freshwater fish - fragrance, an elevated railway, then a lunge (11)MUSKELLUNGE Charade Join three pieces end to end, 4, 2 and 5 letters long.
21 Across Practical politics - like oil trap broken up (11)REALPOLITIK Anagram Rearrange the letters of “like oil trap”.

Down

1 Down Chemical signal found in birth hormones (7)HORMONE Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “birth hormones”.
2 Down Plotting area after a sonar ping (7)MAPPING Charade Join two pieces end to end, 3 and 4 letters long.
3 Down Passive, as it never excites researchers truly, initially (5)INERT Initialism Take the first letter of each: it, never, excites, researchers, truly.
4 Down Indian destination found in ergo along the coast (3)GOA Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “ergo along”.
5 Down Knows instinctively when nit suit is broken (7)INTUITS Anagram Rearrange the letters of “nit suit”.
6 Down Herded animals from Dover, somehow scrambled (5)DROVE Anagram Rearrange the letters of “Dover”.
7 Down A call when revisit loses its opening (5)VISIT Deletion Remove 2 letters from the start of a longer word.
10 Down Rubber from exalt, wildly rearranged (5)LATEX Anagram Rearrange the letters of “exalt”.
12 Down Mosaic tile - seaters oddly rearranged (7)TESSERA Anagram Rearrange the letters of “seaters”.
14 Down The utmost with to stems wildly mixed (7)MOSTEST Anagram Rearrange the letters of “to stems”.
15 Down Creation scrambled from kart row (3,4)ART WORK Anagram Rearrange the letters of “kart row”.
16 Down Dwellings hidden in echo messages sent (5)HOMES Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “echo messages”.
17 Down Hoarder found in optimism is erasing (5)MISER Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “optimism is erasing”.
18 Down Void found in can nullify (5)ANNUL Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “can nullify”.
20 Down Cheek seen in some tulips (3)LIP Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “tulips”.