CROSSWORDS: Choose Appropriate Difficulty

Quotes | Summary | Cryptics | References

A crossword
A Crossword Puzzle. Hint: If you ever encounter this puzzle in a crossword app,
just [term for someone with a competitive and high-achieving personality].
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License from xkcd.com

Quotes

Summary

  • Choose a level of difficulty appropriate for you
  • Balance challenge and frustration -- not too easy, not impossible
  • 'mini' (5 x 5) puzzle, e.g., NYT; very easy
  • larger puzzles are not necessarily more difficult,
    but can intimidate and take longer
  • 'commuter' puzzle = same weekday difficulty, e.g., Newsday?, USA Today
  • NYT, LAT (15 x 15): Mon = 'easiest', ..., Sat = 'most difficult';
    NYT Sun (21 x 21) = ~'hard Wed / easy Thu'
  • Crossword difficulty matrix for various mainstream(ish) puzzles, by day of week; 5/15/2021
  • Discussion of crossword (Wed, NYT 9/7/2022),
    whose theme entries described a new solver tackling Mon-Fri crosswords
  • Mon-Sun NYT Crosswords (songs; .mp3) by John Schnall;
    MayasMix @ Mo: 79:49; Tu: 79:54; We: 80:13; Th: 80:52; Fr: 81:54; Sa: 82:47; Su: 83:38
  • Saturday Stumper" (Newsday) themeless -- even harder?
  • Mon-level clues, e.g.: "Nabisco cookie," "Cookie with creme filling", "'Twist, Lick, Dunk' cookie"
  • Sat-level clues, e.g.: "Snack since 1912", "It has 12 flowers on each side", "Sandwich often given a twist"
  • Easy Mode: NYT Friday themeless crossword with easier (Wed-level) clues
  • The New Yorker’s crosswords Mon: hardest; Thu: easiest; Fri: themed
  • supermegaYou can make any puzzle easier, e.g., by asking a partner/friend or using tools (later)
  • How to Tackle a Humongous (50 x 50) Crossword Puzzle 768 clues; mid-week difficulty; NYT; 12/13/2023
  •    -- or harder, e.g., 'Crossword Golf' -- or use ink
  • When you're ready for a bigger challenge,
    try a bigger puzzle: Terminology&Types: Grid Size: examples, e.g., NYT Super Mega
    [right: Steve solving 2022 Super Mega: 67 x 41; 728 clues]
  • or enter a tournament, e.g., American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT)
    -- or at least try their puzzles? others: Fame: Tournaments
  • or maybe a British-style Cryptic (solve one in class -- upon request?) -- see next
British grid
British-style grid by MeekMark,
public domain via Wikimedia Commons

"And Now For Something Completely Different": Cryptics

  • "There are crossword puzzles and crossword puzzles."
    One kind, the conventional American crossword:
    "mechanical test of tirelessly esoteric knowledge
    [that would send you] either to Webster's New International or to sleep.”
    The other kind (cryptic):
    “[possessed of] cleverness, humor, and even a pseudo-aphoristic grace."
    ~Stephen Sondheim, 1968.
  • Wikipedia: Crossword, Cryptic Crosswords
  • British (UK) and US (American) crosswords differ in several ways
    -- these two formats/styles appear in many other countries too,
    but we'll use the terms British & US as convenient labels:
  • Name of Puzzle: British: Cryptic (or Quick/Concise) (sometimes Crossword?);
    US: Crossword; (in 1910s: Word-Cross, then Cross-Word); some US Cryptics, e.g., NYT, New Yorker
  • Authors: British "Setters" or "Compilers" typically use a pseudonym;
    US "Constructors" usually identified with real names
  • Theme: British puzzles are themeless;
    many US puzzles have themes (some with titles),
    some are themeless, e.g., NYT Fri&Sat, Newsday Saturday Stumper
  • Grid: British puzzles normally use an alternate-letter grid pattern;
    US newspaper-style puzzles are fully-crossed;
    free-form / vocabulary-style word puzzles aren't fully crossed
  • Fill: British lattice-like grids allow more word possibilities, spelling & vocabulary differences;
    US puzzles have fewer word options due to more crossings.
  • Clues: Cryptic-style clues usually include two parts:
  • 1) a definition (straight part), usually at beginning or end;
    'Quick' or 'Concise' puzzles use only 'Straight' definitions for clues.
  • 2) a cryptic/'wordplay' part , e.g., anagram, charades (homonyms), deletions, reversals, etc.;
    with a hidden rule for the type suggested by Abbreviations and Indicators
  • Sometimes it's difficult to figure out which part is which;
    occasionally both clue parts might be combined;
    end of clue often includes word lengths for phrases, e.g., (3,2,5).
  • The Browser: Cryptic Clue Quiz
  • video: How To Solve a Cryptic Crossword Games Magazine; 1:21:21; 8/19/2020
  • Cryptic crosswords: A puzzling British obsession BBC; 3/3/2021
  • New Yorker interactive Cryptic clue guide Anagram, Hidden Word, Homophone, Double Definition,
    Assemblage (Charade), Deletion, Reversal, Container, Bits and Pieces, Multiple
  • Cryptics in America: part 1; part 2 Guardian; 7/19/2012, 11/5/2020
  • Comparison of cryptic crosswords difficulty ranked by source
  • For more guides, see: Solving:Refs:Cryptics
  • NYT: Puns and Anagrams (PandAs) crosswords have a fully-crossed grid,
    but use a small subset of cryptic-style clue types
    -- no longer in NYT archive (see xwordinfo.com: Variety)
  • Aries: PandAs
  • Stephen Sondheim Didn't Just Change Musicals Forever Slate; 12/4/2021

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