Reversal Indicators

Reversal indicators tell the solver to reverse the order of the letters in a piece of text (eg ‘turning nasty’ = BAD reversed = DAB). A few indicators (eg ‘westbound’) are only suitable for use in the clues to across entries, whilst a substantial number (eg served up’) are only appropriate in down clues. The indicators marked as ‘Standard’ in this list are generally acceptable, but setters should be aware that many of the indicators shown as ‘Advanced’ (eg ‘towering’) could be rejected by crossword editors – whilst ‘tower’ does have a meaning of ‘to rise into the air’, one could reasonably question both whether the word implies movement (rather than a state) and whether the letters in a crossword grid could ‘tower’.

Date last modified: 27/11/23
Nature of change: Baseline date established

Indicator	Alternative form(s)	Across or Down	Type
about	right about	Either	Standard
arising	arises	Down only	Standard
around	all around	Either	Standard
ascending	ascends/ascendant	Down only	Standard
back	backwards/backward	Either	Standard
back to front		Either	Standard
backing	backs/backed	Either	Standard
backsliding		Either	Standard
backtracking	backtracks	Either	Standard
boomerangs		Either	Standard
boosted		Down only	Standard
brought about		Either	Standard
brought up		Down only	Standard
capsizing	capsizes/capsized	Down only	Standard
cast up		Down only	Standard
climbing	climbs	Down only	Standard
cocked	cocked up	Down only	Standard
coming back	comes back	Either	Standard
coming up	comes up	Down only	Standard
converse	conversely	Either	Advanced
counter		Either	Advanced
doubling	doubles	Either	Advanced
dressed		Down only	Advanced
ebbing	ebbs	Either	Standard
elevated		Down only	Standard
erected		Down only	Standard
falling back		Either	Standard
fixed up		Down only	Standard
flipping	flips/flipped	Either	Standard
from below		Down only	Standard
from the back	from back	Either	Standard
from the bottom		Down only	Standard
from the east		Across only	Standard
from the right		Across only	Standard
from the south		Down only	Standard
going back	goes back	Either	Standard
going north	goes north	Down only	Standard
going round	goes round	Either	Standard
going up	goes up	Down only	Standard
going west	goes west	Across only	Standard
hauled up		Down only	Standard
head over heels		Down only	Standard
headlong		Down only	Advanced
held back		Either	Standard
held up		Down only	Standard
hinging	hinges	Either	Standard
hoisted		Down only	Standard
in recess		Either	Advanced
in retrospect		Either	Standard
in return	in turn	Either	Advanced
in reverse		Either	Standard
inverse		Either	Standard
inverted		Either	Standard
keeling over	keels over	Down only	Standard
kept back		Either	Standard
knocked back		Either	Standard
lifted		Down only	Standard
lifting	lifts	Down only	Advanced
looking back		Either	Standard
looking up		Down only	Standard
lying about	lies about	Either	Standard
lying around	lies around	Either	Standard
making a comeback		Either	Standard
mounting	mounts/mounted	Down only	Standard
northbound	northward	Down only	Standard
on head	on its head	Down only	Standard
on reflection		Either	Advanced
on the up		Down only	Standard
over		Either	Standard
overthrown		Either	Standard
overturned		Either	Standard
peaked		Down only	Advanced
propped up		Down only	Standard
put back		Either	Standard
put up		Down only	Standard
raised		Down only	Standard
rampant		Down only	Advanced
rearing	rears	Down only	Standard
rebuffed		Either	Advanced
recalled		Either	Advanced
receding		Either	Standard
recoiling	recoils	Either	Advanced
recurrent		Either	Advanced
redirected		Either	Advanced
reflecting	reflects/reflected	Either	Advanced
reflex		Either	Advanced
regressing	regressive	Either	Standard
repelled		Either	Advanced
repulsed		Either	Advanced
retiring	retires	Either	Standard
retorted		Either	Advanced
retracted		Either	Standard
retreating	retreats	Either	Standard
retrograde		Either	Advanced
retrogressing	retrogressive	Either	Advanced
retrospective		Either	Advanced
returning	returns	Either	Standard
reverse of		Either	Standard
reversing	reverses/reversed	Either	Standard
reverting	reverts/reverted	Either	Advanced
revolutionary		Either	Standard
rising	rises	Down only	Standard
rocketing	rockets	Down only	Standard
roll of		Either	Advanced
rolling	rolls	Either	Advanced
rotating	rotates/rotated	Either	Standard
round		Either	Standard
rounded	rounds/rounding	Either	Advanced
scaling	scales	Down only	Advanced
sent back		Either	Standard
sent up		Down only	Standard
served up		Down only	Standard
set back		Either	Standard
set up		Down only	Standard
shown up		Down only	Standard
shrinking	shrinks	Either	Advanced
skied		Down only	Advanced
slewing	slews/slewed	Either	Advanced
soaring		Down only	Advanced
somersaulting	somersaults	Down only	Standard
spinning	spins/spun	Either	Standard
standing	stands/stands up	Down only	Standard
stuck up		Down only	Standard
swivelling	swivels	Either	Standard
taken aback	aback	Either	Standard
taken up		Down only	Standard
tipping	tips/tipped	Down only	Standard
topsy-turvy		Down only	Standard
towering	towers	Down only	Advanced
tripping	trips	Down only	Advanced
turning	turns/turned	Either	Standard
turning over	turns over/turned over	Either	Standard
turning up	turns up	Down only	Standard
turnover of	turnover in	Either	Standard
twirls		Either	Advanced
twisting	twists/twisted	Either	Standard
up	upwards	Down only	Standard
upending	upended	Down only	Standard
uplifted		Down only	Standard
upright		Down only	Standard
uprising		Down only	Advanced
upset		Down only	Standard
upside down		Down only	Standard
upturn in		Down only	Standard
upwardly mobile		Down only	Standard
used up		Down only	Standard
vice versa		Either	Advanced
westbound	westward/westwards	Across only	Standard
wheeling	wheels	Either	Standard
withdrawing	withdraws/withdrawn	Either	Standard
written up		Down only	Standard