I learned to solve American cryptics years and years ago. I was spending the summer at my parents' while earning money to buy a car, when I found the puzzles in The Atlantic. I sent away for the instructions and proceeded to tackle six months' worth at once. When I got well and truly stuck I would move to another puzzle. By working back and forth for probably weeks, I finally completed one...and then there was nobody around who could appreciate what that meant! I've been doing them ever since.
I wish some enterprising crossword editor out there would convince Stephen Sondheim to let them update and reissue his book of cryptics. I was given a set of photocopies because the book was out of print. The one specific thing I remember -- spoiler alert! -- was that to solve one of the puzzles you had to figure out that you were to go look up one answer to one of the *other* puzzles! Really evil...loved it!
English puzzles are a whole other thing. I'll look at them again, but I am dubious. They seem to not adhere to a consistent set of rules...
P.S. Games Magazine has 4 cryptics per issue - 2 basic and 2 "variety." meaning anything goes. I rip the latter out to solve on the subway because I know it'll take a while!
I wish some enterprising crossword editor out there would convince Stephen Sondheim to let them update and reissue his book of cryptics. I was given a set of photocopies because the book was out of print. The one specific thing I remember -- spoiler alert! -- was that to solve one of the puzzles you had to figure out that you were to go look up one answer to one of the *other* puzzles! Really evil...loved it!
English puzzles are a whole other thing. I'll look at them again, but I am dubious. They seem to not adhere to a consistent set of rules...
P.S. Games Magazine has 4 cryptics per issue - 2 basic and 2 "variety." meaning anything goes. I rip the latter out to solve on the subway because I know it'll take a while!
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I wish we had the opportunity to do the English puzzle! I adore cryptics and don't understand my fellow Americans dislike of them. I prefer wordplay to obscure references. As to idea that the clues are arbitrary, they are not. You just have to learn the standards!
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Hi JR,
You can print out and solve the Times of London puzzle! With their kind permission, I provided links to a PDF of their puzzle and the solution in this Wordplay column:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/25/crosswords/alchemists-quest.html
You can print out and solve the Times of London puzzle! With their kind permission, I provided links to a PDF of their puzzle and the solution in this Wordplay column:
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/25/crosswords/alchemists-quest.html
You'd have to be either an idiot or a savant to solve this. The rules are beyond arbitrary ("We'll use the first letter of some words and not others or substitute numbers whenever we feel like it.") All credit to those who can work these out, but I'm damned if they hold any interest for me.
I felt exactly the same way about cryptics and just avoided looking at them for decades... Then I tried one and got some of it after a few hours... then another which went a little better and now I cannot wait for the next cryptic to appear. They give me a feeling as if I have made a telepathic connection to the puzzle writer and gotten the message. Just like in some WWII spy thriller. Don't be afraid to not get it all the first and second time your try... sooner or later, something is going to suddenly click and then ...
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Mr. Sondheim's buddy, Richard Maltlby, Jr., has been constructing cryptics for years in Harper's magazine - always a monthly treat for me. For some inexplicable reason, The Atlantic dropped the monthly cryptics of Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon after some 20 plus years. No explanation was ever offered as to why that absurd decision was made. They are sorely missed. For a real challenge for cryptic fans, try the offerings of Azed in The Observer. He (Jonathan Crowther) is the worthy successor of the daunting Toquemada and Ximenes: hours of fun(?) to be had.....
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I just bought myself The Times' "How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords" by Tim Moorey, and that, along with some other cryptic books, are my summer reading.
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Those puzzles in the Atlantic were beyond cryptic. Each one had new rules ... the answer was going to be one letter longer than the space it fit in; the answer was some random number of letters longer than the space allowed; the answer might or might not slop over into the space of the next answer; the answer might take a right angle turn somewhere... etc... It was always amazed when I was actually able to solve any of them... amazed and delighted. I cancelled my Atlantic subscription when they stopped running them.
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Hi Deb! I've been doing the London TImes Cryptic for years. Last year, I was one of the first 50 persons to complete (correctly) the qualifying puzzle for the annual championship held at the Times' Offices in London. I was so excited to qualify that I decided to attend! The competition took place in October 2016 and I was quite surprised to learn from the organizers that I was the first and only American ever to qualify for the event. There were 200 qualifiers and we were required to complete three puzzles in one hour. Not surprisingly, I did not win but I did place somewhere in the middle of the pack. (The winner did all three puzzles correctly in 21 minutes!)
In many respects, it was the experience of a lifetime!
In many respects, it was the experience of a lifetime!
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The Times of London puzzles are blogged in Times for the Times. I am a blogger at that site, and I have recently volunteered to run it. The Guardian puzzles are blogged at Fifteensquared.
Both blogs welcome newbies, and if you still don't understand how a clue works, one of the regulars will be quite happy to help you. While Times for the Times places some emphasis on solving times and competition, many of our regulars and bloggers are not really that fast.