They’re cryptic crosswords, so there’s more of a puzzle to the clue. e.g. with a proper noun
1D: Confused ham set London flower? (6)
Answer: Thames. (Confused Ham set = “this is an anagram of ham set, which is Thames”; London flower = a thing that flows in London = Thames)
e.g. without a proper noun
5A) Perhaps hawk’s attempt to catch rook (4)
Answer: bird. “Perhaps hawk” is a bird; another word for attempt is “bid”, if “bid” captures the rook - for rook in chess notation you’d write “r” - so bid capturing r is bi + r + d = bird.