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GAMES World of Puzzles publishes family reunion puzzles, where ten thematically related answers are clued with anagrams less an extraneous letter, with the theme to be discovered. I thought this type of puzzle might be fun with cryptic clues instead. Since the definition part of a cryptic clue would give away the theme, these cryptic clues use a family member (e.g., mom, sister) to stand in for the definition part of the clue. So for example, if the theme of the puzzle were chemical elements, "Sister picking at nit" would clue "tin". Individual answer lengths are not given, but the clues are sorted in order of increasing answer length. I hope you enjoy!

  1. Grandma looks inside our heads
  2. Mom comes to be more strict when screaming
  3. Dad's dude I most embraced
  4. Uncle emerges from even-numbered street they pass last
  5. Fool takes up cheer for granddad
  6. Daughter's torn it to pieces
  7. Brother has an edge over Nashville's lead prosecutor
  8. Cousin eyed Ed up after mixing with gay men
  9. I interrupted calls to Auntie
  10. Sis rocks nude stocking, lace flip-flops and short shorts
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  • $\begingroup$ Can you confirm the answer to (9) is longer than the answer to (8)? $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Commented May 10, 2020 at 21:38
  • $\begingroup$ @Sid "the clues are sorted in order of increasing answer length" :) $\endgroup$
    – Stiv
    Commented May 10, 2020 at 22:47
  • $\begingroup$ @Sid: verified that clues are sorted in order of increasing answer length. $\endgroup$
    – Jeremy Dover
    Commented May 10, 2020 at 23:27

1 Answer 1

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Partial answer: [edit: added answers from comments to complete solution]

The theme is

Moons in our Solar System

Solutions:

1. IO = I(nside) O(ur) / [from Sid] RHEA = ou(RHEA)ds
2. [from El-Guest] TITAN = "TIGHTEN"
3. DEIMOS = du(DEIMOS)t
4. TETHYS = even letters of (s)T(r)E(e)T(t)H(e)Y + (pas)S
5. [from Sid] CHARON = C(RAH<)ON
6. TRITON = anag. of TORNIT
7. MIRANDA = MIRA< (an edge = a rim) + N(ashville) + DA (prosecutor)
8. GANYMEDE = ED< after anag. of GAYMEN
9. CALLISTO = CALL(I)STO
10. [from El-Guest] ENCELADUS = (anag. of NUDE -> EN(anag. of LACE)DU) + S(horts)

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  • $\begingroup$ I think (1) is supposed to be (rot13) (EURN) and (5) is probably (rot13) (PU(NEB <-)A) $\endgroup$
    – Sid
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 3:33
  • $\begingroup$ For (1) I intended Zimonze's answer, but Sid's answer is equally valid. Zimonze's answers for (3-4) and (6-9) are of course correct. For (5) Sid has the right answer, but I think the wordplay should be (rot13) (P(UNE <-)BA)...a typo maybe? $\endgroup$
    – Jeremy Dover
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 3:47
  • $\begingroup$ 10 is rot13(RAPRYNQHF), because of the anagram from rot13(AHQR-YNPR) and the rot13(svefg yrggre bs FUBEGF). $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 4:10
  • $\begingroup$ 2 is rot13(GVGNA), because rot13(zber fgevpg -> gvtugra, naq gura “fpernzvat” pyhrf “fbhaqf yvxr” -> gytugra fbhaqf yvxr GVGNA). $\endgroup$
    – El-Guest
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 4:27
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ El-Guest has correct answers for (2) and (10), completing the puzzle. And apologies for the imperfect clue for (1), but accidentally creating a Schrödinger clue in a context where the correct answer cannot be distinguished is (pardon the pun) titanically bad luck. $\endgroup$
    – Jeremy Dover
    Commented May 11, 2020 at 11:01

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