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Original poster

Cryptic Crosswords

25 replies

LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 06:58

Does anyone else do them? I've always attempted them, getting about four right but I have ust finished reading a book about how to solve them and now managing about 10 or 12 in The Times Quick Cryptic one.

The normal Times one and Guardian are beyond me though. Not more than two most days.

The Sun is ok, quite easy so not as satisfying.

Any others people can recommend?

OP posts:
IvinghoeBeacon · 10/04/2020 07:00

I like the telegraph one best but I only usually have the opportunity to do it at my grandmother’s house!

Original poster
LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 07:02

Oh isn't it online?

How does it rate in terms of difficulty?

OP posts:
CherryValanc · 10/04/2020 07:06

I got one in the Guardian right, once. I was quite pleased with myself.

(I might need to read that book you read OP.)

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

Games
JellyfishandShells · 10/04/2020 07:12

Love them ! DH and I do them together - I don’t mean by sitting side by side and doing them, but by one going as far as they can, then the other taking over and so on, and sometimes thrashing out a tricky one together. Times Jumbo cryptic on a Saturday is very satisfying because it can keep us going for a couple of days. But there is usually one left over .........

AmelieTaylor · 10/04/2020 07:17

It's just not the way my brain is wired.

When I was young my Aunty kept trying to teach me by showing me the basic clues as to what it was asking for depending on the type of clue etc.if she was still alive I'd probably be more interested in trying again.

IvinghoeBeacon · 10/04/2020 07:23

It probably is online OP but I just don’t get the chance to have a go at it in normal life!

Original poster
LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 08:41

@CherryValanc The whole thing? Good for you. I can't even get the bastard started most days.

The book is called How to Crack Cryptic Crosswords. It's especially good for pointing out the words used to show it's an anagram, a word inserted into another, an abbreviation and so on.

OP posts:
Original poster
LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 08:42

@CherryValanc Oh I just realised you said you got one, not the whole thing. One is impressive enough to be honest, it's so opaque.

OP posts:
iMatter · 10/04/2020 08:45

I had a lot of hospital appointments a couple of years ago and dh and I used to do the Times cryptic crossword (in the T2 section) while we waited. He's brilliant at them and showed me some great tips and as a result I'm ok at them. Never yet completed a whole one on my own though! Might try today...

Original poster
LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 08:49

@iMatter The Times one is so tricky! I can't even see where they get the answers from sometimes.

OP posts:
poppadopolis · 10/04/2020 08:57

@LoveIsLovely

The Guardian ones are available online. On a Monday they have a "Quiptic" one which is a slightly easier version designed for beginners.
You can go back and look at all the past ones, and you can click for the answer - this is sometimes helpful as you can work backwards.

There are several sites which will help you with parsing (working out why the answer is what it is) One is answerbank. A lot of the people who post comments in the Guardian refer to a site called 225.
I haven't checked it out myself but your post has reminded me to go and have a look.

EmpressLangClegInChair · 10/04/2020 08:58

My DGM taught me to do cryptic crosswords. When I was a teenager, DM & I used to do the Sunday Times cryptic together & race her. The winner(s) would phone up & gloat.

DM & I won properly once, as in getting our names in the winners list & being sent a pen as a prize. DGM was terribly jealous!

YinuCeatleAyru · 10/04/2020 08:58

@AmelieTaylor my grandma was a crossword fiend and kept trying to explain them to me when I was young but it made no sense at all.

DH and I love them and as we are both introverts, doing the crossword together is a companiable way to interact when we don't really feel up to conversation.

we started off with the guardian "quick' crossword that isn't cryptic at all, just gets you used to thinking like a thesaurus. when we got bored of those, we moved onto the guardian "quiptic" crosswords - they only publish them once a week but you can buy a paperback book of 100 of them, they are "training wheels" deliberately easy cryptics. once we had finished the 100 from that book we were trained enough to start tackling the normal guardian crosswords and now we can even tackle the really tough ones that araucaria does where the clues aren't numbered and you have to work out where each answer goes in the grid as well as what the answer is. it's just practice.
I wish I had discovered the joy of crosswordsolver.org while grandma was still alive

PurpleDaisies · 10/04/2020 09:05

We do the one in the i most days and usually finish it. It’s harder in some days than others depending on the setter.

We won a prize once too empress. It was one of the proudest moments of my life!

Original poster
LoveIsLovely · 10/04/2020 09:07

@poppadopolis Oh I didn't realise there was a quick Guardian one too.

I usually do the quick normal one in the Guardian but will have to look at the quiptic one.

OP posts:
ErrolTheDragon · 10/04/2020 09:11

I sometimes do them, though recently only the Times quick cryptic. IIRC the Sunday times one is sometimes a bit easier than the weekday 'normal' ones, the Saturday one a bit harder. I'd say the Telegraph is somewhere between the times cryptic and normal.

ErrolTheDragon · 10/04/2020 09:13

'Normal' in that I meant cryptic but not quick. Not the non cryptic type which I don't like at all.

Borington · 10/04/2020 09:17

The entry level one is Everyman in the Observer. It’s definitely easier than the guardian and this is how I learnt to do cryptic.

It’s one a week but there is a higher library of them on the guardian’s website.

My uncle helped me learn the tricks of the trade, perhaps you could use this thread to get some tips on clues you can’t get?

I love a cryptic crossword. In fact I might print one out now!

SpicedCamomile · 10/04/2020 09:18

I like cryptic crosswords but the only one I can do is the Observer Everyman, usually I get all bar one or two which I have to look up. I learned how to do them with my University student newspaper, because the clues were a bit clumsy so it made it more obvious how to untangle m! I can do a bit of the Guardian ones. I think you get to know the style of a particular setter and it makes it easier. Sometimes I laugh out loud when I get one because the clue was so clever. I also have a vague belief that if I can complete the crossword my week will go well.

SpicedCamomile · 10/04/2020 09:19

Untangle them, not untangle m, that sounds like a clue in itself

iMatter · 10/04/2020 11:16

You almost have to get into the mind of whoever sets them

My grandmother could tell who had set the Scotsman crossword back in the day from the style of clues. She was a real crossword fiend!

iklboo · 10/04/2020 11:18

There's some good online apps that help you get into the way of thinking. Like

HIJKLMNO - 5 letters

Tormundsbeard · 10/04/2020 11:23

Water!

iklboo · 10/04/2020 11:29

Yep @Tormundsbeard Grin

botanicalart · 10/04/2020 12:04

There is a site called lovatts that has cryptic
Online and everday

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