Lose a letter
Deletions
Take a word (or a synonym), then knock off its head, tail, or heart. Indicators such as headless, endless, and heartless do the cutting.
Deletion clues feel mechanical once you trust the indicator. “Headless ghost” is not a spook without a neck in the surface story; it is GHOST without its first letter.
Some clues name a synonym tip (“endless beer”) rather than the letters themselves. Translate the tip, then delete.
Deletion indicators
Match the indicator to which letter(s) disappear.
| Indicator | What to drop |
|---|---|
| headless / beheaded / topless / leaderless | First letter |
| endless / tailless / unfinished / docked / mostly | Last letter |
| heartless | Middle letter (or middle pair) |
| gutted / peeled / shelled / topped and tailed | Both end letters |
| losing its head / heading off | First letter (phrase form) |
| cut short / not finished / curtailed | Last letter (phrase form) |
Things to watch
- Headless / beheaded / topless → drop the first letter.
- Endless / tailless / unfinished → drop the last letter.
- Heartless → drop the middle letter (or middle pair).
Worked example
Headless ghost entertainer (4)