How to Finish a Crossword Puzzle
Crossword puzzles are a great pasttime and extremely popular. They are great for sharpening the brain, and increasing your vocabulary. They are graded from easy' to difficult, and some seem to be almost impossible to complete. It is recommended that a novice start with the 'easy' ones and progress, according to ability, up the ladder, step by step. Your tools should include a sharpened pencil or two, and an eraser.
[edit] Steps
- Solve the fill-in-the-blank clues first. They're usually easier than many others. From that you'll have a network of answers from which you can work. Solve as many of the squares as you can from the network, and then start at the #1 box, across, then down. Fill in the word if it fits both directions. Then do the same with the next box until you fill in the words you are sure of. If you are not sure, write your potential letters very lightly inside the boxes. Continue in this manner, filling in words that you are not really sure of, but fit into the down and across boxes.
- Return to the start, making a second pass through the clues. Now that you have a few letters pencilled in, the word might just pop up in your memory bank. Make sure that the letters fit into the other numbered boxes as well. It is not a correct word remember, unless it fits perfectly with every box number it touches.
- Repeat these steps until the puzzle is solved or until you are completely stumped. Now the fun begins as you start to find the letters for each remaining word.
- Spend a long time thinking about the "theme" clues. Often times this is the key to solving the puzzle. For example, if the theme clues are based on famous crossword puzzlers and you do not know much about it, look up "crosswords" on Wikipedia.
- Study the missing letters. There are only just so many syllables in the English language and only a few letters will work with both of the words that cross. Take guesses and see if they fit.
- Review the puzzle and the clues you missed or clues that you derived without any knowledge of the subject. Put these to memory.
[edit] Tips
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Crack the code. Look for clues within the clue. If it ends in a question mark, the solution requires an offbeat interpretation (clue: "Mental block?"; answer: RUBIKSCUBE). Clues that have a question mark mean the answer isn’t a perfect answer, but rather a pun, metaphor, or other figure of speech. Also, difficult answers tend to have straightforward clues; easy answers tend to come from trickier clues.
- Remember key words. Some answers crop up all the time. Three- and four-letter vowel-laden words are popular: OLEO ("butter substitute"), OLIO ("hodgepodge"), OREO ("two-toned treat," "Hydrox rival"), AGAR ("ice cream thickener"), and ENT ("ear, nose, throat," "tree creature from Lord of the Rings"). “ORE/S” is a popular answer for anything relating to mining or metals.
- The tense of the clue will always be the same as the answer; that goes for plural, past, present, future, etc. Plural answers are nice because 98% of the time the answer ends in “S” which you can fill in on the puzzle.
- Words that start with capital letters are always proper nouns, whether it is a person, place, or thing, and thus the answer will reflect this.
- Keep an open mind. Don't get stuck on one interpretation of a clue. If it says "perfect prose," you might be tempted to look for another word for prose. But remember: Perfect can be an adjective (PER-fect) or a verb (per-FECT), in which case the solution is EDIT. Also, answers can contain multiple words, like "INIT" for "what's _______ for me?"
- Expand your knowledge of trivial subjects by watching Jeopardy or reading.
- Practice often and don't give up.
- Newspapers that run crosswords will increase the difficulty as the week goes on, meaning Monday’s puzzle will be the easiest and Friday’s will be the hardest. You may notice that the harder puzzles have fewer blocked squares than the easier ones. Always start with the easy ones, to get the idea of how it works. Follow with the medium level until you feel ready for the hard or difficult ones.
- The words in a crossword are usually composed of all common letters.
- Buy a Crossword Book Dictionary. You will need it for the more difficult clues and words.
[edit] Sources and Citations
- Wired Magazine - Original source of this article. Shared with permission. Originally written by American Crossword Tournament champ Tyler Hinman.
- History
- Daily Crossword
