Looking for a distracting hobby that takes a chunk of time?
Maybe one with a bottomless supply that you can access without going out into the world?
But you find cryptic crosswords baffling?
Here’s a selection of understandable explainers from the Guardian (if you prefer, your local bookshop can get my book for you).
And another thing: crosswords are best learned with a friend or family member. Beginner-friendly puzzles: Observer Everyman; Guardian quiptic; Telegraph; Times2.
Cryptic devices
Right, these are the bits of business like anagrams that you find in cryptic clues: hidden answers; double definitions; soundalikes; initial letters; spoonerisms; Cockney rhyming slang; containers; reversals; alternate letters; cycling; stuttering; taking most of a word …
Bits and bobs
You also come across abbreviations and whatnot: Roman numerals; Nato alphabet; Greek letters; chemistry; abbreviations for countries; points of the compass; playing cards; capital letters; apostrophes; cricket; alcohol; the church; drugs; music; animals; cars; cities; rivers; when the setter’s name appears; when the solver appears …
Individual letters
A surreal set of “interviews” with the alphabet: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L …
Top 10 Crosswords in Fiction
10: Brief Encounter
9: PG Wodehouse
8: The West Wing
7: Martin Amis
6: Madness’s Cardiac Arrest
5: Rubicon
4: Alan Plater
3: Inspector Morse
2: Lord Peter Wimsey
1: The Simpsons
Interviews with setters
What makes these people tick: Paul; Enigmatist; Anax; Tramp; Boatman; Arachne; Rufus; Shed; Puck; Pasquale; Morph; Orlando; Gordius; Audreus; Philistine; Otterden; Doc; Crucible; Picaroon; Nutmeg; Chifonie; Screw; Chalicea; Knut; Styx; Marc Breman; Azed; Navy; Smurf …
Random bits and bobs
100 years of crosswords; commentary from the Times Crossword Championship; rudeness; plagiarism; David Nobbs; Steve Pemberton …
- If you prefer quiz, there’s a book about that too
