Solution for 10 June cryptic crossword clue

Veiled nun ordered outside diocese (6)

Solution – unseen

This is a quirky clue.  Reading it you first think that "veiled nun" must refer to the same thing.  But in fact "veiled" is the word that suggests the solution with the rest of the clue being built up to point to the same word.  It is one of the pleasures of cryptic crosswords that once you guess the solution you can be sure you got it right.

So here we have the word "nun" "ordered" ie letters jumbled put "outside" a word that means "diocese"

So you have un + see + n

So there is not only an anagram involved (of "nun") but also a container element – ie one word containing another.  For more explanation of different cryptic crossword clue types, see the sidebar under the list of popular posts.