Decryptic

Decryptic #10 - 7th July 2026

Solution & wordplay explained · Published 7 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

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Across

1 Across Scorch discovered in fuel using energy (5)SINGE Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “fuel using energy”.
4 Across Dance arranged from vote tag (7)GAVOTTE Anagram Rearrange the letters of “vote tag”.
7 Across Speedy birds making track for athletes (11)ROADRUNNERS Charade Join two pieces end to end, 4 and 7 letters long.
9 Across Wordplay devices in noises romps, rearranged (11)SPOONERISMS Anagram Rearrange the letters of “noises romps”.
12 Across Pole: banner for office workers (9)FLAGSTAFF Charade Join two pieces end to end, 4 and 5 letters long.
13 Across Believability - incredibility lacking its opening (11)CREDIBILITY Deletion Remove 2 letters from the start of a longer word.
14 Across Direction found in oration, tine rearranged (11)ORIENTATION Anagram Rearrange the letters of “oration tine”.
17 Across Most secretive - cage, its contents scrambled (7)CAGIEST Anagram Rearrange the letters of “cage its”.
18 Across Entrances in some delegates (5)GATES Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “delegates”.

Down

1 Down Not natural - itchy nets all jumbled up (9)SYNTHETIC Anagram Rearrange the letters of “itchy nets”.
2 Down And not found in minor opus (3)NOR Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “minor opus”.
3 Down Girl by the Po given a ration - that's drying out (11)EVAPORATION Charade Join three pieces end to end, 3, 2 and 6 letters long.
4 Down Rag sent back as fish (3)GAR Reversal Reverse a run of letters to build the answer, which begins with “G”.
5 Down African pest emerging from style fest in disarray (6,3)TSETSE FLY Anagram Rearrange the letters of “style fest”.
6 Down Printing measures: initially, exact margins set (3)EMS Initialism Take the first letter of each: exact, margins, set.
8 Down Renormalizing, lacking its introduction, is standardizing (11)NORMALIZING Deletion Remove 2 letters from the start of a longer word.
9 Down Furs feign in rough seas - distress (9)SUFFERING Anagram Rearrange the letters of “furs feign”.
10 Down Japanese American concealed in tennis either way (5)NISEI Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “tennis either way”.
11 Down Hoots oust wildly - these are tiebreakers (9)SHOOTOUTS Anagram Rearrange the letters of “hoots oust”.
14 Down Monster found in floor covering (3)ORC Hidden word The answer is hidden inside “floor covering”.
15 Down Wild rat displays creative skill (3)ART Anagram Rearrange the letters of “rat”.
16 Down Negative - primarily neither one thing (3)NOT Initialism Take the first letter of each: neither, one, thing.