Crosswords, Some Tips to Beat the Game

You have been at it all morning and you decided that it is enough. You slowly put down the paper you were reading on the table and placed the pencil you were using beside it. Even if you don’t say it out loud, anyone that is close enough can see the frustration from your face. You have been doing crosswords all morning and despite how hard you tried, you just failed to complete the puzzle grid.

You ask yourself in annoyance, what are the tips to beat a crossword game, if there are any and if there are none, they should come up with some?! Fortunately for you, you’re not the first one to ever been frustrated with not finishing a crossword. And even luckier, some people had the sense to organize a list of tips to solve crosswords faster.

Crossword puzzles have been around since the early 1900s. The first known puzzle ever published was in The New York World in 1913. The first creator who is acknowledged today as the creator of the crossword puzzle is Arthur Wynne. The popularity of the word puzzle received some notoriety in the 1920s but craze eventually waned down a decade later. Nevertheless, the fad might have died down but the popularity was still there which was why by the 1940s daily newspapers and even magazines include in their publications crossword puzzles for the entertainment of their readers.

Now you might already know that as you solve more crosswords, you improve in time. You can to learn more vocabulary and understand better the clues thus you are able to process them quickly than you used to. Even so, you might find yourself occasionally stuck on a puzzle or two.

There are several techniques you can use to make your problem solving easier and a bit faster. First, you need to understand is that puzzle makers would never want to create a crossword puzzle that is practically unsolvable, or at least that’s what I think. Despite the difficulty levels of a crossword puzzle, there are always some give-away clues and easy answers hidden in the clue list and the boxes of the grid. The first thing you should do therefore is browse over the list and look for the easy ones. Start with those.

The next thing you should look for are repetitive clues and answers that most crossword puzzles have. If you have been doing crosswords long enough, you would be able to identify these words easily.

Once you have done both techniques, the next step would be to practice your power of deduction. If you have assembled a number of answers already on the puzzle grid, you can actually deduce the answer to some of the clues by referring to the letters of the words already available. After building your puzzle solving experience, soon enough you will develop a high level of deduction skill.

Also, here’s a very useful tip. When you find that a clue is telling you or pointing you towards an answer that is a singular, present-tense verb or a plural noun, there’s a big chance that the right word ends with an “s”.

And lastly, have a couple of references or at least a dictionary by your side. Crossword puzzles are learning tools. If it encourages you to read and look for the answers, then I don’t see any problems with that. Others might call this cheating but in my book it is not.

Crossword Puzzles for Kids

Crossword puzzles are not only for fun, they can also be used to test our knowledge. Using this as a tool to engage kids in academics is considered to be an effective way.
Educators find these kinds of exercises and puzzles are great way to engage children in participating in class activities.

There are times when children who are attending home school request a lot of breaks. To minimize these breaks, there could puzzles like this. Children would not notice that these are still part of the regular class, they would think that this is an intermission period for rest

Crossword puzzles and other word puzzles can develop the children’s way of thinking and their behaviour. These puzzles can also improve the children’s reading, comprehension, logic and their vocabulary. To answer puzzle questions, children may have to research or look for answers in books, internet, dictionary, atlas and other medium of instruction.

Spelling is also among the grey subjects where a child can improve on while using crosswords are exercises. With regular classes, children are given a list of words they need to be familiar with. With crossword puzzles, children get to remember the words without exerting too much efforts memorizing. Why did they remember? Because they did not merely memorized it, they learned it through looking for its meanings in different ways.

Another good thing about crossword puzzles is that they always provide challenge. Children develop a sense of wanting to find all the answers and completing something academically related. When kids finish the crossword, they experience a sense of achievement and would be encouraged to learn more.

Different parts of language and grammar can be included in word puzzles like crosswords. What are these?

• Vowels and consonant sounds
• Syllables
• Singular and plural
• Vocabulary-nouns, verbs, adjectives
• Tenses
• Antonyms
• Synonyms
• Homonyms and homophones
• Anagrams

For younger children, you can include phonics to introduce the relationship between letters and sounds. Puzzles for older children, you can introduce synonyms, antonyms and other types of words. You can also create crossword puzzles to test the level of the comprehension. There could be stories and puzzles can be created out of it.

Make sure that the puzzles are age-appropriate. Also, do not forget to make them the puzzles creative and imaginative. This would make answering crossword puzzles both fun and educational.

The main benefit of letting children answer puzzles is that their imagination, creativity and sometimes even self-respect develop. Patience is also something they learn from puzzles. Children who answer puzzles become familiar with overcoming challenges and having enough patience to do so.

Crossword puzzles can also be a family affair. The whole family can have fun solving them and making the bond among the family members stronger. There are crossword dictionaries that could be purchased which can help in figuring our tricky crossword puzzles.

Technology has made everything easier nowadays. You can make custom crossword puzzles in your home so that you can engage your children with them and make it a daily habit, if possible. You can search for a program over the internet and download it to make your own puzzle. Free downloads are just a click away, while some software for crossword making may cost some serious bucks.

Crossword Puzzle Tournaments

Most people would do crossword puzzles in their homes, in their work stations, and in a very peculiar situation, in their bathrooms. But since the day crossword puzzle became a hit during the 1920s, it became a competitive sport where people would compete with each other to get the best solver of the crossword puzzle.

One of the most famous and widely popular crossword puzzle tournament is the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament or the ACPT. The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament is a annually event organized by Will Shortz. This competition started in 1978 and was first launched in late February of the year. The contest is usually held ruing late February until early March.

The ACPT became the largest and oldest, well attended crossword competition in the United States in 2009 alone, there were about 700 competitors who participated in the event. This competition is held in the United States, for the last 30 years the Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut became its home. Because of in increasing popularity and increasing number of participants, organizers felt the need for looking a bigger place. Thus, the ACPT moved the competition in Brooklyn, New York in Marriott Brooklyn Bridge in 2008.

What is the mechanics of the tournament?

There are seven rounds and in each round there is a puzzle which all of the competitors and participants should solve. Puzzles are different in each round. It is different in terms of sizes and difficulty. Criteria for judging would include the accuracy of solving and the speed of solving the puzzle.

After being judged for the different criteria, they will be scanned, scored and afterwards ranked. There are three divisions: the A, B, and C. In each division, the top three scorers would progress to the final round.

The final round would have a gain crossword puzzle that the final three contestants would be solving in front of the tournament spectators. The contestants would be wearing noise-blocking headphones to block sounds coming from spectators and commentators. The winner of the final puzzle will be declared as the tournament champion.

There are different prizes to acknowledge the range of those who participated in the tournament. There would be prizes for solvers in other skills divisions and for rookies. There are also awards for age and geographical division winners.

The first ACPT only had five puzzles constructed by Maura Jacobson, Jordan Lasher, Jack Luzzatto, Tap Osborn and Jake Steinhardt. The first winner of the tournament was a housewife from Queens, New York named Nancy Schuster.

Tyler Hinman is the current ACPT champion. He has already won the tournament for five consecutive times. He first won at the age of 20 back in 2005, he continued his winning streak after that. That is the longest reign of a champion in the 32 year history of ACPT. He first competed in ACPT at the tender age of 16, he placed 101 out of the 322 contestants.

ACPT is not the only crossword tournament, but it is highly regarded since it is the longest and most participated crossword puzzle tournament in the United States. In London, there is also a crossword puzzle tournament called the Times Crossword Championship.

The Times Crossword Championship started in 1970 where there were 20,000 people who were able to get through the first stage. There were three rounds where each round would have a puzzle they need to work on. Those who have survived the first three rounds were invited to participate in the last round where they would have to answer 4 more puzzles.

The winner of the Rimes Crossword Championship was Roy Dean, an office diplomat. After the fist year of the tournament, he became consistent in participating in the finals. He is now a crossword puzzle creator for the Times.

Crosswords as a Learning Tool

Crossword puzzles are not just puzzles. Sure, when the first crossword puzzle came in 1913, the intention was to add some for of entertainment in the pages of The New York Globe. And years after that, crossword puzzles became a phenomenon and entered a fad phase. It became such a popular game that libraries fell short of banning people from accessing reference books since they were disturbing those who legitimately need dictionaries and encyclopedias like students, professors, and researchers.

Today, however, the crossword is still a popular medium of entertainment and some people feel that their day is just not complete if they don’t finish a puzzle on their favorite daily newspaper. But crosswords can be more than that. Crosswords as a learning tool can in fact be explored further since the practice of such in a classroom can yield some encouraging and interesting results.

As an educator, you have the responsibility to pass on your knowledge and skills to your students. There are a number of tools at your disposal as well as teaching techniques in order to maximize the absorption and increase the understanding of what you are teaching. May it be English literature, physics, Chemistry, biology, or mathematics, students need to grasp the general concepts, theories, and facts about their field for them to successfully apply their skills when they face the real world after graduation. It is on the educator’s hands to teach or moderate learning.

In some courses, creating crossword puzzles can totally work to increase the learning curve. The difficulty of each puzzle will depend on the level of the students. But, crossword puzzles can be tailored fit for every possible subject. Through creating customized word puzzles, both teachers and students can study their curriculum through a whole new method.

The good thing about crossword puzzles is that they encourage logical thinking. And of course vocabulary can be enhanced and the practice of writing the correct spelling is also a benefit. Reasoning and deduction are also being honed in crossword puzzles. When applied to a certain subject as a teaching tool, students will be able to remember specific subjects, theories or ideas related to their course since in order to fill in the boxes in a crossword grid, people need to answer the clues first which can refer to terms related to the course.

The puzzles are also less intimidating tools for teaching which works well on some people. But expect that some students will not appreciate having this as one of your learning tools. Nonetheless, with crossword puzzles, students will be able to practice their skills in evaluating options and of course drawing up possible conclusions. These of course come from improved deduction skills.

Although, a little minor effect, crossword puzzles can also encourage students to hit the books to get the right answers. Encouraging them to read more on their own is a good thing for any teacher and is beneficial in the long run for students.

Puzzle solving can also be applied outside the classroom. It can be used for adult education especially in areas where people are already hesitant to new knowledge and skills being comfortable with what they have today. The possibilities of using crossword puzzles to teach and educate can still be explored and the techniques further improved.

Crossword Puzzles for Children Development

Generally, puzzles are good tools for the development of young children especially their motor skills and cognitive development. Puzzles like jigsaw are quite popular since the shape sorting and image grouping exercise improves their problem solving skills. Crossword puzzles for children development is also a recognized approach. Of course, the applicability and difficulty of crossword puzzles to be used in order to have the most significant impact will depend on the child’s age and probably their level of learning.

It is indeed important for children to be presented with puzzles appropriate to their age group. The reason behind this is the fact that children can easily become frustrated if they are unable to solve problems or puzzles. This only means that their level of development is not yet ready for a puzzle that complex. It would be best, therefore, to reduce the level of difficulty of the kind of crossword puzzles you give your child.

Other puzzles promote motor skills, but with crosswords memory, language and numeric skills are the ones being honed. With these kinds of puzzles, you don’t leave the problem solving to your child alone. You do the problem solving exercise together at first and eventually reduce the number of times you help him/her until such time that your child can solve the crossword on their own. If children are able to solve puzzles on their own on a regular basis, they feel a sense of accomplishment and they will feel good of themselves.

In terms of levels, the crossword puzzles should be given to children ages of around seven or younger. At this age, your child is able to identify words and phrases and will be able to understand the clues. Younger kids will learn the blocks of objects puzzles as well as word search puzzles first. And as they grow older, they will move up the ladder of puzzles like the jigsaw and then when they grow a few years older, the crossword would be the one they will tackle next. Crossword puzzles will teach your kid vocabulary, reasoning skills, spelling, and word attack skills.

Parents can easily get some crossword puzzles on the Web. The newspaper published puzzles might be too difficult for your child. Get them the appropriate puzzles or you can create one yourself. Child development experts have already recognized the importance of building vocabulary knowledge and word power through the use of crossword puzzles. The parents can have a specific theme for each crossword puzzle. That would be easier for the kids. Crosswords that have themes like animals in the zoo, pets, shapes, colors, and basic verbs and nouns or even objects found in the room , kitchen or dining area are some interesting theme for children. These puzzles also encourage them to look around their environment and identify the things they see.

Just remember that these kinds of puzzles are just to create a spark of interest in your children. You don’t have to force them to accept the puzzles that you present. Encourage them, that is the main idea. They might protest at some point but let them be. Create more interesting puzzles to keep them interested.

If you find the puzzles to be too easy for them, increase the difficulty of the puzzles you make the next time around. Always observe your kids and see what works for them now.

The Major Variations of Crosswords

If you’re familiar with crossword puzzles, then you know that a typical puzzle consists of white and black boxes. The white boxes would be where you will place the words that are hinted in the clues. But aside from the puzzle boxes you see in newspapers and other publications, there are other major variations of crosswords, some of which you might not have even encountered before.

Let’s go regional first. The American-style of crosswords is quite different from the British and Australian puzzles. For one, the American crosswords usually have word combination were the letters eventually “check” each other. So if you figure out most of the across or down words, you’ll find that the answers for one direction is also basically filled out. Not like the American style, British and Australian crossword puzzles have the white boxes positioned in such a way that half or less of the letters check each other out. In a way, the latter two can be more difficult solve.

Another popular crossword in the UK is the cryptic crossword. This one can actually be more challenging. The reason is that the clues themselves are sort of little puzzles. So you actually try to solve the clues themselves before you get to the crossword.

Code breakers and code crackers are other names for a kind of crossword called cipher. Cipher crosswords are very different from cryptic puzzles. You see in cryptic puzzles, the clues are puzzles themselves but in cipher crosswords, the clues for the white boxes are replaced with number 1 to 26 which serves as a cipher for the letters of the alphabet. Numbers correspond to one letter and when filled out, the boxes should contain valid words. If you look at it, the cipher crossword puzzles seem to be closer to being codes than being puzzles.

Other crosswords include the diagramless and the fill-in crosswords. The former consists of finding out the answers to the clues and at the same time the location where they will place the answers on the puzzle grid. In this kind of puzzle, the clue numbers and black squares are not indicated. So this means, you have to see how your answers can be grouped together to produce additional answers from the clues provided. Meanwhile the latter one, the fill-in crosswords, consists of a list of words and a puzzle grid. The objective is to find how you can fit all the listed words on the grid in such a way that all the resulting words from each intersection are valid.

The cross numbers is another variation but as the name imply, the clues and answers are related to numerical values. The clues can be a mathematical formula where the answer to it is the one you will place in the boxes of the puzzle grid. Some questions or clues may refer to a year of an event or an important date. Whatever the clues are, numbers are usually the answers and depending on the difficulty, the intersections of the numbers can be valid entries as well.

There maybe other variations out there, but what were mentioned are the major kinds. Other crosswords might be just derivatives of those puzzles above. You can check all them out or just focus on the traditional one instead. But to add to the challenge, most people will try out different kinds of crosswords just to test their skills. Just remember to have fun.

Crossword Puzzle Clues

Crosswords have been capturing the interests of many for decades. Since it graced The New York World in 1920s, it never looked back. It became a world-wide phenomenon with a lot of people trying to solve the hardest crossword puzzles ever.

To answer crossword puzzles, of course, you deeply rely on the clues. There are different kinds of clues a crossword uses. Knowing the types of clues make it highly possible for you to answer and finish the crossword.

• Straight or Quick

Simple and quick clues are the most simple definitions. Sometimes they would be in anagrams making it easy to decipher. However, there would be instances when a straight clue is not enough to figure out the answer, like in cases of synonyms.

We should also pay attention in the clues itself, when clues are in past or present tense. The answer would be in the same tense as the clue. Other straight or quick clues are those fill-in-the-blank clues which is where you can start solving the puzzle.

If there is a question mark in the end o the clue, it can be a pun, a metaphor or a wordplay. There are also straight clues which require colloquial answers. Colloquial answers or words would include whaddya, init, asif, etc.

Common three-letter answers are abbreviations are also used as answers. It is included or indicated in the clue. When asking for a PC key, there are also three letter keys like ESC, ALT, etc. Three letter answers can also be used when the clues are asking for directions or compass points.

• Crossword Themes

Crossword puzzles have themes. These themes are great clues when figuring out the words in puzzle. When the theme is identified, then the other words would have some degree of relationship, pun or somehow related with the theme word. An example of a theme, is a category theme where all the answers of the puzzle belong to one set.

Themes can be extremely unusual sometimes. One can identify the theme by answering the longest word or sometimes the constructor would incorporate the theme in the title of the crossword puzzle.

• First Entries

These kind of clues actually combine a few words into a phrase. This kind of clue is popular among British newspapers.

• Indirect clues

Some clues are metaphorical in nature. With this clues, the answer is not in their literal meaning. There would be times when the constructor would end the clue with a question mark to signify that it is a metaphor.

• Clues for cryptic crosswords

The clue itself has its own puzzle. This kind of clue has a definition at the beginning or end of the clue. Most of the times, the length of the answers are stated in a parenthesis after the clue. Cryptics whould also use homophobes and different kinds of wordplays. Cryptics would also include anagram clues and embedded clues. These kind of clues are more prevalent in United Kingdom.

• Double clue lists

There are times when one crossword grid can have two sets or lists of clues, one in straight and the other one cryptic. The solution can be different or the same. When the solution is the same, the straight clue sometimes serves as a reinforcement for the cryptic clue. This kind of format, enables both beginner and experts to work the same puzzle.

Benefits of solving crossword puzzles

Crossword puzzles refer to group of words that are arranged horizontally and vertically. This is designed this way so that each of the word will cross at least one other word though a letter that is common to both. Unlike before that crossword puzzles can only be found in newspapers, now people can solve it through published books and other compilations as well as in online.

WHY SOLVE CROSSWORD PUZZLES?

Many people—especially those that are in the field of computer such as programmers and technician, those in the field of writing such as scribes and editors, as well as those in the field of education such as professors and teachers—are getting hooked in solving crossword puzzles. Their common reason: it is a good exercise for the mind.

Aside from stretching the possibilities of your mind, here are other benefits in solving crossword puzzles:

1. It lightens the person's mood. People who play crossword puzzles are believed to have lighter moods compared to those who don’t because they have an outlet to their emotions. If one solves a crossword puzzle, his or her energy will be diverted into it and will lead him or her to a lighter feeling once the puzzle is finished.
2. It keeps the wits sharp. Puzzle solvers as well as medical experts would agree that by solving crossword puzzles, the wits get sharper and sharper everyday because the mind is being exercised to think more.
3. It gives a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. People who are hooked into solving crossword puzzles agree that after a puzzle has been completed, they get a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment that they don’t get from other activities. This is because crossword puzzles enable the player to see the challenge starting from the very start till the very end. Once the boxes or spaces have been filled out with a word or words, it gives the player a very satisfying feeling for completing a seemingly simple but hard task.
4. It encourages people to have time alone for themselves. Puzzles in general are considered as "solitary activities" because only one person is needed to solve it. But since it is played by a single person only, it encourages people to have some time alone by themselves to think and reflect.
5. When played regularly, it lowers the percentage of risk of dementia, Alzheimer's disease and other age-related neurological disorders. Medical experts reported that people who are solving crossword puzzles at least five times a week have lesser risks for dementia compared to those who solve these only once a week. This is because crossword puzzles encourage the mind to be exercised to find the answers.
6. It aids relaxation. Solving crossword puzzles provides relaxation to the person's the body, mind, and soul. For some, solving crossword puzzle serves as a form of relaxation because it gives the person some time off to the busy world outside.
7. It helps people to live a healthier life in general. Solving crossword puzzles helps people to free themselves from various vices and addictions such as alcohol and cigarettes as well as in various medications such as tranquilizers and narcotics. Since solving crossword puzzles would take so much of the person's time, he or she could veer away from many unhealthy as well as depressing thoughts.

Reasons for Playing Crossword Puzzles

Crossword puzzles not only entertain you but can also increase the potential of your brain. Like any other mind games, crossword puzzles helps your brain to develop and enhance memory, concentration, and the thought process.

There are studies showing that consistent brain activity would keep your brain healthy and would ensure that your brain would function well as age affects our bodies. There are brain exercises that can be done to keep the brain functioning well. When strengthening the brain functions, the nerve cells in the brain needs to be strengthened too.

Using crossword puzzles and number puzzles help the brain to get stimulated. When done frequently, this would improve the brain’s functions. These kind of puzzles provide the brain with enough intensity that would strengthen and energize the nerve cells in the brain. You have to make sure that the brain gets stimulated with the right amount of time and intensity. Such practices can definitely be beneficial in the long run.

Even if you perform the same task everyday, like redoing a jigsaw puzzle that you have jus completed the other day, it would still be brain stimulation. Another thing about answering puzzles like crosswords and sudoku, you can track your improvement. Of course, the first time you try it, your performance may be a bit slow. But as you get used to it and able to adapt some techniques, then there would be changes on how you answer. When doing sudoku, you can test this by measuring the time while answering the puzzle.

Not only do crossword puzzles enhance the brain functions, but they can also help improve vocabulary. There would be instances where the crossword puzzles will ask about questions which are totally new to you.

Keeping your brain working can be done by answering puzzles that you see every morning with the local newspaper. If somebody is still using or answering the puzzles, then there are online games and websites which you can check. You can even print some puzzles to keep you in company for the next few days.

If you are somebody who does not feel enjoying crossword on your own, then there are crossword clubs that you can join. You can enter these groups. You can learn a lot from them and at the same time they can also learn something from you. Crossword clubs or organizations can be found in small or big groups.

When entering or joining any crossword group. You are still required to provide membership fees. It could be expensive, it can also be cheap. This depends on the size and difficulty of the crossword puzzle.

Crossword clubs can meet over coffee, they can also meet in a member’s home. The venues for meetings and socialization are important. These venues ca open or sometimes even close your brain to close down.

Crossword puzzles are not just adult games. Children can participate and answer their own crossword puzzles. They can also form their own club, children can set-up an organization in schools whose objective is to make sure that those who are playing crosswords can learn and impart their knowledge with thee groups.

Similar to improving your physical health through mobility and exercise, answering crossword puzzles also make sure that your mind is constantly being used and is purring nicely.

Rules in Making a Crossword

Everything has there own conventions. Rules or guidelines are there to help maintain quality and ensure a uniform standard which becomes the basis of evaluation which promotes, eventually, further improvement or development. You might ask why the serious tone. We’re talking about crossword puzzles and the first few sentences you read are about rules and standards like I was talking about ISO standards that need to be followed. You have to pardon me for the seemingly out of place and an over reaction of an introduction. I was so accustomed at enjoying crossword puzzles that it never occurred to be that there are actually rules in making a crossword.

Yes, believe it or not, that small square of entertainment that you fill out in your daily newspaper does follow certain guidelines during the creation process. Although, it appears that the guidelines may differ depending on the editor of the entertainment section or the editor of the newspaper. For example, some newspapers will require crossword puzzle submissions to be of a symmetrical nature. This basically means you will get the same pattern from the crossword grid when you view it upside-down. But make no mistake, the symmetry is purely the reference for patterns only and does not really affect the answers in the puzzle.

Despite having no standardized guidelines for making crosswords, there are some well accepted rules that most papers follow.

One guideline that seems to be followed by conventional puzzle makers pertains to the use of black squares. Traditionally, only 16% of the squares in a crossword puzzle grid should be black ones. But today, editors and even the target audience frown upon a crossword puzzle with too many black squares clump together. Today the idea is to create a puzzle with as few black squares as possible. It is also now strongly suggested that puzzle solvers can go from one corner of the grid to another.

The minimum length of an answer in a crossword should be less than three letters. Two-letter words should be avoided. You should take care of not accidentally creating two-letter words from the intersecting words. When selecting words for the grid, you get the longest one and make sure that the across and down boxes are symmetrical. I do maintain that this practice is a personal reference. There are several crossword puzzles out there that are not symmetrical in any way. So it would be your decision if you want to publish an asymmetrical crossword grid.

Other guidelines include not repeating words in the grid. This is something that a puzzle maker should do. In the first place, there’s no need to repeat a word in grid since there are a lot of word or terms out there that can be used in a decent crossword. Repeating word entries is inexcusable. Also, inventing your words to accommodate a word resulting from intersecting answers is never allowed. Often, editors will require puzzle makers to produce their set of references for the answers they placed inside the crossword. Also, wrong spellings and punctuations in both the answers and clues are unacceptable.

Speaking of clues, you need to write concise clues. Avoid writing questions as clues. Such practice is often avoided unless absolutely necessary. When writing the actual clues, be sure that you follow proper grammar rules. The first word of each clue should be capitalized as well as proper nouns and names.

When making your own crossword, do not forget for whom you are creating the puzzle. Coordinate with them closely to see if they still have other specific rules and guidelines.

Tips for Finishing Crossword Puzzles Fast

How many times did we give up on crossword puzzles just because we cannot get the words right? There are people who keeps on answering crossword puzzles even if it would take them days, weeks and even months, just to finish them. How we wish we can finish more than one crossword puzzle.

Here are some tips we could use to solve crossword puzzles, fast.

• Never give up. That is the most crucial thing to remember. If you are having difficulties with a crossword, figure it out. Do not just throw it away and hate crosswords forever and curse people who can actually answer them.
• Do the easy crosswords first on your first try. There are newspapers whose crosswords become more difficult as the week progressed. So start with the Monday crossword (sometimes, easiest). You can buy a book. Just make sure that it is within your level.
• You can start with fill-in-the-blanks clues since they are sometimes easier to figure out. Work across and down together. Do not do them separately since they are totally related to each other. Also, it would become easier for you since there are already letters serving as additional clues.
• Boosting your vocabulary will help you solve the puzzle. People would carry pocket sized dictionary or thesaurus with them so they can easily identify the words.
• Answer those clues that you are sure about. After answering them, return again to the first clue. Since there are already words pencilled in the puzzle, there are additional letter clues that can help you remember the answer.
• Pay attention with the theme. Some crosswords would have the theme as the title. The theme can help you a lot with identifying the words. Sometimes the theme is not written as the title, it can be the longest word in the puzzle.
• Think outside the box. Crosswords make you think creatively and imaginatively. Answers are not literal.
• Ask for help. Do not be afraid in asking your friend, family or even the neighbour when answering crosswords.

What if you have encountered a clue ending with a question mark? Question mark clues are usually a pun or metaphor. In crossword, it the question is straightforward, then the answer could be a little difficult to figure out. While, trickier questions have easier answers.

Also take not of the tenses used in the clues. The tense used in the clues will require the same tense in the answer. Plural clues also have plural answers. Just remember that not all plural words end with an “S”. The answer will also reflect proper nouns. Words with capital letters are always proper nouns.

Improve your vocabulary and basic knowledge. You can watch trivial game shows and enhance your reading. Also there is a crossword dictionary. This would greatly help you. Just like any other sport, hobby or talent, proficiency improves through practice. So do not be afraid to take on crossword puzzles. Practice answering until you get familiar with it.

There would be moments when you will feel extreme frustration and anger for not getting or understanding any clues. If you have reached that point, then breathe for a while. Put down the crossword and get some fresh air. Drink coffee or tea. Eat lunch. Do something that would make you full refreshed. Sometimes just seeing something aside from the crossword puzzle, will make it easier for you to finish the entire thing.

Getting Started on Crossword Puzzles

On December of 1913, a man called Arthur Wynne gave birth to one of the most beloved past times of people today—the crossword puzzle. It was very different from way back then because aside from being called "Word-Cross" it also had a different format—a diamond shaped puzzle without internal black squares in it.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The newspaper is the most common avenue where one could see a crossword puzzle. Almost all broad sheets and dailies carry crossword puzzles because these are one of the main reasons why people buy them. But many hobbyists of crossword puzzles cannot wait for the next issue of the newspaper that is why they resort to books that contain compilation of different crossword puzzles.

Today, there are so many books that are published that would suit the person's level of expertise. There are those who are for beginners that contain easier words to fill out. There are also those who are for advanced hobbyists that would contain difficult words and combinations.

In most bookstores today, crossword puzzles are also categorized depending on the age. Many crossword puzzle books are available now for kids such as "Wordbook Game for Kids" that contains easy word puzzles and with big and attractive illustrations. For adults who want to start slow, they can buy the "The Outrageous Crossword Puzzle" which is more laid back and easier to solve. For those who learns fast, there's the " The New York Times Monday Through Friday Easy to Tough Crossword Puzzles". And, for those who are planning to get hooked into it, it is best to purchase the "The New York Times Crossword Omnibus: 1,001 Puzzles from the NYT" which is considered as the biggest book of crossword puzzles that was ever produced or published.

STARTER TIPS

Aside from being an entertaining hobby, the most important benefit the one can get from solving crossword puzzles regularly is that they exercise their minds. Experts say that those who solve crossword puzzles have lesser risks for dementia and other age-related neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. People who also solve crossword puzzles regularly are known to have lighter moods compared to those who don’t since they have an outlet for their emotions and other frustrations in life.

If you would want these benefits, now is the time to get started with crossword puzzles! Here some tips that can help you get by:

1. Learn how to solve it. If this is the first time that you will be solving a crossword puzzle, what you can do is grab a pen and start looking for the clues. By doing this, you will know which are the ones you can answer first. Once you have a word depending on the clue, you can look for more words until you finish the entire puzzle.

2. Read, read, and read! Since solving crossword puzzles is all about words, it is best if you update your vocabulary with new words as often as possible. This can be done by reading reference materials such as dictionaries, almanacs, and even novels. If you read these stuff regularly, you will be able to learn as many ambiguous words and phrases. If you are familiar with as many that words or phrases s possible, it will be easier for you to solve crossword puzzles.

Crossword Puzzle History

The first crossword puzzle graced the pages of the Sunday New York World on December 21, 1913. The first crossword puzzle was created by Arthur Wynne. After the first issue, it never looked back. It became a weekly feature until it became a craze.

Word puzzles can be traced until the Roman period. Actually, remains of a word squares can be found in the Roman ruins of Pompeii. A word square is composed of words which can be read horizontally and vertically. The words are the same in both directions. But there would be instances where the horizontal word is different. This is referred to as the double word square.

A famous word square was discovered in the Herculaneum ruins in Pompeii. The word square was called Sator Square which is in Latin. It can be predated in the Christian era.

The longest word squares done were composed of nine letters and uses unusual word and proper names. Nobody was able to construct a ten letter word square, whether it is a computer or a person. Word squares were considered to be the forerunners of crossword puzzles.

When crossword puzzle was first published in the New York World, it was initially called “word-cross puzzle”. It is very different from the current puzzles, since there were no black squares. The New York World was the only newspaper back then which started publishing crossword puzzles. It was created by a journalist working for the World. Wynne was inspired by a childhood game in England.

In 1924, a small publishing firm released a collection of the puzzles published in the World. It was published in book form. The book was launched by Simon and Schuster. It sold 36,000 copies after the first printing. They published two more volumes of the book and this signalled the start of the craze over crossword puzzle. Other newspapers eventually picked up the trend and started publishing their own crossword puzzles.

Within the next decade, crossword puzzle became very popular. It seems like every kind of business is using crossword puzzle, it was even given free with items of clothing sold. Its popularity eventually reached and conquered Europe.

The first crossword puzzle appeared in Britain in Pearson’s Magazine in February 1922. It first appeared in Times in February 1930. British crossword puzzle was considered to be more difficult since it is a cryptic puzzle. To solve a cryptic puzzle, answering the clues is not the only thing to do. You would also need to figure out the clue itself.

The crossword puzzles were initially created by hand until a software company was able to develop a program for computers that would be able to create a crossword puzzle. This program was first created by Variety Games Inc. in 1997, the software was called Crossword Weaver and was patented.

Today crosswords are among the most popular word games in history. There are people who make answering crossword puzzles a daily habit while there are some people who are totally obsessed with it. In the United States alone, there were about 40 million people who solve crosswords daily.

Now, there the New York World is no longer around. The initial format of the crossword puzzle transformed to its current form. But Simon & Schuster still publishes book of crossword puzzles. Until now, the crossword puzzle’s popularity still continues.