Abbreviations in Cryptic Crosswords - Solution for 16 April cryptic crossword clue

FM’s opposite has deep voice, and nearly adores emissaries (11)

Solution – Ambassadors

FM, the radio band’s opposite could be said to be the “AM” band. AM stands for amplitude modification (I looked it up on wiki).  And FM is Frequency Modulation.


A deep voice could be “bass”.


Adding “am” + “bass” to “nearly adores” which is “adors” ie “adores” "nearly" ie the whole word missing one letter.  


You then get “ambassadors” who are emissaries for their countries.


For the next clue in the series, click here




This is a clue that involves abbreviations.  This is very common in cryptic crossword clues.

It is impossible to give you a list of all of them but here are some of the more common ones:

Type	Examples
Dates	Mon, Tues, Wed etc Jan, Feb, Mar etc AD, BC About – circa, c
Roman numerals	I-X L (50) C (100) D (500) M (1000)
Music	Keys eg A-G Solfa – do, re, mi etc
Measurements	Weights – Lb, Oz, K, Gr, T Currencies – USD, GBP, E etc Length – in, ft, m, km, cm etc Time – s, m, min, h, hr
Elements	H – hydrogen O – oxygen Fe – iron Pb – lead Al – aluminium K – Potassium Ag - silver
Directions	N = north, W = west, E = east, S = south NE, NW, SE, SW Poles – N, S
Places	States Eg FL = Florida, CA = California etc Countries eg CH = Switzerland, ESP = Spain Cities eg NY = New York, LA = Los Angeles, Lon = London

And there there are a huge number of other possible abbreviations.  Wikipedia has a list.  Some of the more common ones I have seen are:

About	C, ca or re
Account	Ac
Advertisement	Ad
Afternoon	Pm
Ambassador	HE (for His/Her Excellency)
Anglican	CE (for Church of England)
Artists	RA (for Royal Academy)
Lawyer (or similar)	DA (for District Attorney)
Avenue (or other word meaning road)	Ave
Bachelor	BA (Bachelor of Arts)
Beginner or learner	L
Bishop	B
Bob	S (for Shilling)
Book or books	OT or NT (Old and New Testaments)
Care of	Co
Caught	C or ct
Church	Ch or Ce
Company	Co
Conservative, Tory	C, con
Copper	P, d, cu or pc
Daughter	D
Dead, died	D, ex
Debt, promises	Iou’s
Doctor	MO, doc, DR, MD, MB, GP
Duck	O (cricket score)
Electricity	AC, DC
Engineer	RE
Europe	EU, EC
Exercise	PE, PT
Father	Da, Dad, Pa, Fr (religious)
Female	F
Former	Ex
Frenchman	M (monsieur)
Good	Pi
Good man, holy man	St (Saint)
Horse	GG (gee gee)
Hospital	H
Information	Gen
Jack, sailor	J, tar, ab
King	K, R or GR
Last month	Ult
Record	LP, EP
Loud	F, FF
Model	T (Model T)
Morning	Am
Navy	RN
Note	Nb (Latin), or a-g (musical)
Page	P
Queen	Q, ER, HM
Railway	R, Ry, BR (British Rail)
Say	Eg
Setter	I or Me (the crossword setter)
Ship	SS
Soft, softly	P
Soldiers	Men, OR (other ranks)
Son	S
Street	St
Team	Xi (Roman numeral for 11 as in cricket team)
University	U or up
Wife	W
With	W
Year	Y or yr