wordplay

A humorous play on words; such plays on words collectively.

Even this modest wordplay was an outlier: Sagers counted only three backronyms across the ’70s and ’80s.

A witty verbal exchange; such exchanges collectively.

The part of a cryptic clue that indicates but does not define the solution.

delete the T from another part in the wordplay

However, some clues include words that do not form part of the wordplay or the definition.