Possible Clues:

• RAC stoic (anag) - lines of writing where certain initial letters form a word or proverb
• Problem solvable when characters first come together?
• Word puzzle using initials of lines of poetry
• A cunning ruse - one selects the initial characters? That's it!
• Socratic code?
• Verse where eg the first letters in each line form a word or message
• Wordplay of the Socratic kind
• Puzzle starts to yield solution
• Account on 'Cristo' with bad write up? That's puzzling
• Socratic kind of old word puzzle