Acrostic indicator

to begin with

“to begin with” is an acrostic indicator in cryptic crosswords.

Also called letter-selection: you read the initial or final letters of consecutive words to spell part of the answer. Indicators point to beginnings, ends, or leaders.

Clue types
Acrostic
Subtlety
moderate
Part of speech
phrase
Worked example

Still, yoga eases tension to begin with (3)

Answer: YET

Definition: "Still" — as in "even so", "nevertheless". "to begin with" signals initial letters. Take the first letter of each word in "yoga eases tension": Y, E, T. Y + E + T gives YET.


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