Cryptic clues — 2 October 2026

Answers & explanations

1. FELL (4)

   Scout-hut plan for a rainy weekend away from town. Part of flags fellowship, where FELL opens the word as FELL-owship. Hide is the fell sense — an animal skin on the bunk — and the camping chatter smuggles the letters while the host stays untouched.

2. STAIN (5)

   Laundry sink when the bleach still bites. Essentially plucks the heart R from strain, leaving STAIN. Spot is that mark or blot. Soft pegs and lukewarm water cloak the middle cut as washday mutter rather than a sieve lecture.

3. THEME (5)

   THEME means subject. The clue's last letters, taken from its word list, spell THEME.

4. STEP (4)

   Twin defs: step as a maneuver or pace, and step as travel on foot. Dance floor and pavement both fit.

5. BORNE (5)

   Anatomy lab when the tray still gleams. Rex maps to R; holding slots it into os (BONE) — BO(R)NE. Produced is the borne sense, carried forth. Soft glass and a humming hood sell the container as wry bench mutter, not a birth certificate.

6. PILE (4)

   Site sketch. Edifice is a pile; pale after a letter swap turns A into I, giving PILE.

7. NEST (4)

   Clutch is the definition. Taking the even-positioned letters of intensity gives NEST.

8. BERET (5)

   Cap is the definition. Taking the last letter of each word in the clue gives BERET.

9. WASHY (5)

   Regatta bank when the tide still lifts. Race maps to WASH; yards supply Y — WASH+Y spells WASHY. Watery is the thin, diluted sense. Wet rope and a bent flag sell the short symbol join as quay mutter, not a colour chart.

10. EVALUATE (8)

    After the mock, phone buzzes. Assess is the brief; 'evalu8' spoken becomes EVALUATE. Eight for the ATE ending — marking as leetspeak.