14 October 2026 — 10 clues, easiest first. Answers overleaf.
Built-in hidden in inherently damp cellar walls (8)
8 · Hidden word · difficulty 2/5
List from cleaning, tip removed (7)
7 · Deletion · difficulty 2/5
Still remaining once departed (4)
4 · Double definition · difficulty 2/5
Break, last of all, magic player anna eric risk (5)
5 · Letter selection · difficulty 2/5
Behalf with energy in means collar (5)
5 · Container · difficulty 2/5
Swindle from teach battered (5)
5 · Anagram · difficulty 2/5
Snoop after one letter change from N to C will dredge (5)
5 · Substitution · difficulty 2/5
Reportedly rood is indecent (4)
4 · Homophone · difficulty 3/5
First of all, clever host announces funny fare — banter (5)
5 · Letter selection · difficulty 3/5
Always, kids type '4ver' (7)
7 · Glyph rebus · difficulty 3/5
Answers & explanations
INHERENT(8)
Basement steps with a torch beam wobbling. Hidden in lifts INHERENT from inherently. Built-in is the underlying sense — inherent — and white bloom, a wine rack and the smell of coal cloak the long hide as house-survey chatter.
LEANING(7)
Ship's rail when the deck still lists. List is the lean sense — a tilt to one side. Tip removed docks the opening letter of cleaning and yields LEANING. Soft brine and a lukewarm mug cloak the chop as crew aside rather than housework talk.
LEFT(4)
Station platform when the train still clears. Still remaining is left as residual; once departed is left as gone. Same four letters for what stays and for who went.
CRACK(5)
Break is the definition. Taking the last letter of each word in the clue gives CRACK.
SEIZE(5)
Custody desk when the form still cools. Energy maps to E; in plants it inside behalf (SIZE) — S(E)IZE. Collar is the seize sense, take hold. Soft plastic and a humming strip-light sell the container as station weather.
CHEAT(5)
'Battered' beats TEACH about and it comes back CHEAT — a swindle, a bilk. The classroom is the cloak.
SCOOP(5)
Nosy neighbour digs dirt. Dredge is scoop; snoop after one letter change turns N into C, giving SCOOP.
RUDE(4)
Church porch when the stone still chills. Indecent is the rude sense — coarse or uncivil. Reportedly flags rood as a homophone for RUDE. Soft hymn books and a leaning umbrella sell the crucifix word as parish mutter while the ear strips the courtesy away.
CHAFF(5)
Dinner-party wit: a sharp host introducing comic dishes or jokes. Lead letters of clever host announces funny fare, under 'first of all', make CHAFF. Banter is the light ribbing — chaff in the old sense — so definition and wordplay meet without a colon template in sight.
FOREVER(7)
Teen thumbs, no capitals. Always sits up front; '4ver' spoken is FOREVER. The four stands in for the FOR sound — pure rebus, no other trick.
About this page
Last updated 2026-10-14
Source Daily cryptic-clue column published by TappyPotato. The clue bank and its schedule are generated deterministically and never change once a set is published.
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Covers The 10 clues for 14 October 2026 with their device and difficulty, plus links to the previous and next published sets
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