Frequently Asked Questions
Why Do You Like Cryptic Crosswords So Much?
If your experience is like mine, once you start doing cryptic crosswords, you won’t be able to go back to regular crossword puzzles. They will seem too simple. You will find yourself missing the richness and cleverness of the cryptic.
Cryptics are appealing for two other reasons. The first is the lack of trivia knowledge. With a regular crossword puzzle, you either know the completely random bit of trivia they’re asking (like the initials of the 28th president of the United States) or you’re out of luck. Cryptics, on the other hand, can be solved without knowing any trivia. (Or very little, anyway.) The next is the deliciousness of certainty. Figuring out both components of the clue (the definition and the solution to the riddle... it'll make sense once you start the tutorial) is not only satisfying, it also gives you rock-solid certainty that you’ve gotten the right answer, even if none of the other letters are filled in yet. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do you like them? What makes a person good at them? Take me to the Cryptic Crossword Tutorial Take me back to the main Cryptic Crossword section |
What Makes a Person Really Good at Cryptic Crosswords?
Practice is essential to becoming good at cryptic crosswords. But two other things are very important.
The first is a very wide vocabulary. The more synonyms and alternate definitions you know, the more you’ll have to work with.
The second is an ability to think laterally. People who set cryptic crossword puzzles, like the great Fraser Simpson of the Saturday Globe and Mail, design them to trick your mind into reading the clue a certain way. For example, you might be tricked into reading “lead” as the verb, “to lead” and not as the substance found in the middle of a pencil. Once you start thinking that way, it can be hard to switch out of it and see the words in a different light.
The first is a very wide vocabulary. The more synonyms and alternate definitions you know, the more you’ll have to work with.
The second is an ability to think laterally. People who set cryptic crossword puzzles, like the great Fraser Simpson of the Saturday Globe and Mail, design them to trick your mind into reading the clue a certain way. For example, you might be tricked into reading “lead” as the verb, “to lead” and not as the substance found in the middle of a pencil. Once you start thinking that way, it can be hard to switch out of it and see the words in a different light.