Established established pilot-training mnemonics for compass topics (all from FAA-H-8083-25, FAA-H-8083-15, AOPA training material):

Mnemonic	Meaning
"Variation East, Magnetic least"	With east variation: Magnetic heading is less than True heading
"Variation West, Magnetic best"	With west variation: Magnetic heading is greater than True heading
"Deviation East, Compass least"	With east deviation: Compass heading is less than Magnetic heading
"Deviation West, Compass best"	With west deviation: Compass heading is greater than Magnetic heading

From Compass to True (e.g. for navigation on an ICAO chart in True track):

code

C  ompass     (what the compass reads)
± D eviation  (from the compass correction card)
= M agnetic
± V ariation  (from the chart)
= T rue

Or in reverse (True → Compass):

code

T  rue
± V ariation
= M agnetic
± D eviation
= C ompass

Mnemonic: "Can Dead Men Vote Twice" (CDMVT) — initial letters in order.

Mnemonic	Meaning
ANDS	Accelerate North, Decelerate South (Northern hemisphere, on E/W heading)
UNOS	Undershoot North, Overshoot South (Northern hemisphere, turning through N or S)

Given: True heading 060°, variation 5°W, deviation 2°E. Find compass heading.

Solution via CDMVT (T → C):