Anakross

As the name suggests, this puzzle is an amalgamation of an anagram puzzle and a fitword. The unnumbered clues are unscrambled to make nine eight-letter words. These must then be positioned in the grid, each one reading clockwise around one of the numbers, starting at the top of each diamond.

Despite having six starter letters, it's a tricky puzzle. Since the words always read clockwise from a fixed square, the word-fitting part is usually a doddle compared with the real task of cracking enough of the anagrams to get started. It is up to the setter to ensure that some of the starter letters are distinctive enough to allow solvers into the puzzle. It helps that the initial letters of three of the answer words are given by starter letters in the grid.

Anagram-solving skills are key to this puzzle. Positioning one or two words is unlikely to yield enough letter clues for you to proceed unless you have already worked out some of the other words. You may find the answer words easier to spot if you rewrite the letters in a circle, or a random group, rather than reading them conventionally from left to right.