Ask HN: Anyone good at cryptic crosswords? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Anyone good at cryptic crosswords?

3 pointshardik9886 comments

I've always been an aspiring quizzer - and always looking to learn from anything and everything. Most kick-ass quizzers I know are good at solving cryptic crosswords.

Does anyone here solve cryptic crosswords as a hobby? If so, do you have any advice on how to get better ? I'm based in India, so I often miss out the cult references that crosswords published in Western newspapers contain, and I guess there's very little I can do about it but solve more and more of them.

Any other tips/resources for an aspiring quizzer/cryptic crossword solver?

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I'm fairly new to them and still improving, but I love them.

While I haven't done many of the cryptics in English papers (where they're apparently more popular), the ones I've seen have usually had far less pop culture references than conventional crosswords. Focusing on anagrams and other wordplay will probably be more helpful. The wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptic_crossword) has a good summary of common clue types.

I usually do a first pass looking for the clue types I find easiest (anagrams and "hidden words" in the clue), and then the known shared letters provide extra clues.

There are some good free ones online here (http://thinks.com/crosswords/cryptic/cryptic.htm), and (in the US) Games magazine usually has two per issue. I've got a big stack of back issues. :)

Yes, I have been working on my anagram and wordplay (skills). Thanks for the resource. Will surely check. I think it turned up in Google when searching for cryptic crosswords..

I think I remember reading on ESR's website that hackers usually appreciate wordplay. Would love to see more hackers pitch in here!

If you're interested in cryptics, you might also appreciate this website (http://www.zompist.com/kit.html) and accompanying book about making constructed languages for fun. I got the book a couple weeks ago, it's tons of fun.

Man. I should have gone into linguistics.

My Main tip:

Keep your incomplete crosswords, get the answers, and fill them out with a different pen. Try to understand the answers you didn't get.

Other bits:

Always try to think of different ways to read words. "flower" to mean "river" (i.e. thing that flows) is an obvious, and common, one.

Learn the vocabulary of particular setters. Private Eye (my favourite, link below) has a very distinct language.

Regarding cult references - many of the trickier setters are fond of Shakespeare and Biblical references. Either accept that you won't get them, or try to get acquainted with the principal characters.

http://www.private-eye.co.uk/sections.php?section_link=cross...

Cryptic Crosswords, unlike other crosswords, have specific structures to their clues. You can't read the clue as its written, you have to 'de-crypt' the clue to understand what it is saying.

My wife bought a short book (probably from Amazon) that explains how these clues work, and that information makes all the difference in how to proceed.

Before I understood this point, these were very frustrating to me.

There are some resources over at

http://www.crosswordunclued.com/

There is also a blog regarding daily "The Hindu" Crossword at:http://thehinducrosswordcorner.blogspot.com/

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