Anagram indicator
vex
“vex” is an anagram indicator in cryptic crosswords.
An anagram clue gives you the exact letters of the answer in a jumbled order, plus a word that signals the mix-up — words suggesting disorder, change, or breakage.
- Clue types
- Anagram
- Forms
- vex, vexed, vexes, vexing
- Subtlety
- subtle
- Part of speech
- verb, adjective, participle
- Themes
- emotion
“Month vexed Amy (3)”
Answer: MAY
Definition: "Month" = MAY. Wordplay: anagram ("vexed", connoting disturbance/upset) of the fodder "Amy" → MAY. The indicator sits before the fodder, never embedded among the letters. Surface reads as a complete sentence ("The month vexed Amy"), with "vexed" functioning as an ordinary verb so the anagram device is buried, and "Amy"/"Month" misdirecting away from the answer.
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