Decryptic #8 - 5th July 2026
Solution & wordplay explained · Published 5 July 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
1B
A
2T
T
E
R
3Y
A
4C
I
5D
6C
O
O
O
H
I
O
7P
R
O
S
8E
C
U
T
I
O
N
N
T
P
M
V
9D
A
H
10I
N
11C
A
P
A
12B
L
E
R
P
N
H
A
L
R
13U
T
I
L
E
A
14N
A
A
N
S
M
C
P
O
Z
C
E
15M
A
K
E
H
A
S
T
E
16K
I
D
A
R
E
L
J
17C
H
I
A
18R
O
S
C
U
R
19O
O
O
N
A
N
A
R
20S
E
E
T
H
E
L
I
G
H
T
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Across
1 Across Corrosive liquid from racy date bit, confused (7,4) → BATTERY ACID Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “racy date bit”.
7 Across Legal proceedings, or the carrying-on of an undertaking (11) → PROSECUTION Double definition
Look for two different meanings of the same word.
9 Across Had going back - a long Morse signal (3) → DAH Reversal
Reverse a run of letters to build the answer, which begins with “D”.
10 Across Fashionable hat-wearer, competent yet powerless (9) → INCAPABLE Charade
Join three pieces end to end, 2, 3 and 4 letters long.
13 Across You tile the floor - that is useful (5) → UTILE Charade
Join two pieces end to end, 1 and 4 letters long.
14 Across Girls' names scrambled into Indian flatbreads (5) → NAANS Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “ANNAS”.
15 Across Steam hake cooked to hurry (4,5) → MAKE HASTE Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “steam hake”.
16 Across Initially, keep it dark to deceive (3) → KID Initialism
Take the first letter of each: Keep, it, dark.
17 Across Artistic contrast achieved as I chorus orca wildly (11) → CHIAROSCURO Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “I CHORUS ORCA”.
20 Across Heel the gist rearranged to suddenly understand (3,3,5) → SEE THE LIGHT Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “heel the gist”.
Down
1 Down Hit found in turbo power station (3) → BOP Hidden word
The answer is hidden inside “turbo power”.
2 Down Fang and choose a slender cleaning implement (9) → TOOTHPICK Charade
Join two pieces end to end, 5 and 4 letters long.
3 Down Second person, reportedly a female sheep (3) → YOU Homophone
The answer sounds like “ewe”.
4 Down Ape, one, and a set of Zs - primates (11) → CHIMPANZEES Charade
Join three pieces end to end, 5, 2 and 4 letters long.
5 Down Initially dreadfully irritating noise makes a racket (3) → DIN Initialism
Take the first letter of each: Dreadfully, Irritating, Noise.
6 Down Cord evens out - talked (9) → CONVERSED Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “CORD EVENS”.
8 Down Pine rein hep broken - adrenaline (11) → EPINEPHRINE Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “PINE REIN HEP”.
9 Down Beat officer, the band's leader (4,5) → DRUM MAJOR Charade
Join two pieces end to end, 4 and 5 letters long.
11 Down A cosh wildly causing disorder (5) → CHAOS Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “A COSH”.
12 Down Clang bulk rearranged - miners' disease (5,4) → BLACK LUNG Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “CLANG BULK”.
17 Down Type of lettuce found in disco song (3) → COS Hidden word
The answer is hidden inside “disco song”.
18 Down Cheer from runners always hustling, initially (3) → RAH Initialism
Take the first letter of each: runners, always, hustling.
19 Down Grain from the philosophical path, mixed up (3) → OAT Anagram
Rearrange the letters of “TAO”.