“Challenge accepted!” You might say when told that you need to become an expert in crossword puzzles. But the fact is, you’d be surprised how difficult it can actually be to solve these things. Whether it’s your first time or your thousandth, knowing the tips and tricks of the puzzle world will be highly beneficial to you. It can make all the difference in whether or not you succeed.
If you want to be the best and an expert crossword puzzle solver, then this article is for you. You can take your favourite puzzles to the next level by reading this article. This is how it’s done:
- Start Small
You will discover that the key to success is breaking up your long-term goal into smaller chunks. You can start with something easy and then work your way up to more complex challenges. If you are just starting out, use crossword solver websites available online. It’s best to start with ones that have themes you know well. Try out more complex variations as you improve your skills. Trying different types of crossword puzzles and practicing often is an excellent way to get a taste of the competitive nature of crosswords.
If you are not professional-level, try to solve word searches from newspapers or a book a month. Solving a puzzle a day helps you get the vision of what it is like in an adrenaline-filled competitive environment.
- More and more practice
If you’re an avid crossword puzzle enthusiast, chances are you’ve heard this before: practice makes perfect. With that said, we ask you not to underestimate the power of dedication and continuous training—both essential elements in achieving success. Be consistent and commit to practice daily. Over time, you’ll discover strategies to help you solve quickly, and you’ll start to recognize patterns. You’ll learn the rules and techniques and improve your skills. You may even invent helpful tricks for yourself! To improve and advance and hone your skills, try solving at least one online crossword every day.
Like the best crossword puzzles, the charms of cryptic crosswords come from their regularity. The regularity comes from something one can memorize and test yourself with: there is a single, standardized way to write down a puzzle and solve it. The clues themselves give you a series of directions to follow: invariably, there is a word or set of words that you must find in the grid that will allow you to progress. Like mathematical problems, once you have fully understood the structure of solving a cryptic crossword, finding your way to an answer may be difficult, but it is not impossible. The most common type of cryptic crossword is the one containing a hidden acrostic, where the answers to the clues are lettered across and down so that they read out in sequence, spelling out a quotation, like in some of the telegraph puzzles.
- Understand the theme
The theme is a crucial element of a crossword puzzle. It sets the tone for a crossword, and a good theme can be the difference between it being an average puzzle and one that gets you excited to do it. It forms the framework on which the puzzle is built upon. It is crucial, but most people don’t even give it a second thought after hearing from the puzzle constructor to understand the theme. On the other hand, understanding this part gives you a chance to get all the answers correct if you follow through with it.
Not all themes in a puzzle are going to be direct enough to point out the solution. Instead, the best themes have a natural flow in them. In such cases, one can easily spot the link between two or more clues to solve the entire puzzle.
When you solve crossword puzzles day after day, week after week, you will realize that specific patterns repeat. These patterns will help you understand what to expect. After solving so many puzzles every day, you will know the topics to expect in the crossword without even looking at the puzzle. This is called ‘pattern recognition’ because it makes the game easier to play once you have noticed them.
There will be topics and types of questions that you can predict. e.g., Openings Closed Clues, common Suffixes and Prefixes that appear in crosswords, anagrams, etc. Therefore, it is just imperative that you practice and learn the different types of questions and topics.
Solving crossword puzzles can be a whole new, exciting and fun experience. However, to keep it that way, you must put in a lot of effort and be patient. You need to spend a lot of time doing plenty of crosswords before becoming an expert at the art. But eventually, if you are persistent enough, you will become a queen or king of crosswords in no time!
The Bottom Line
There are many benefits that crossword solving can provide. Solving crosswords requires you to use logic, develop analytical skills, improve vocabulary, etc. Moreover, you can connect different pieces of information and solve problems effectively. So whether you are interested in teaching your brain something new, improving your cognitive abilities or just want to have fun solving clues, crosswords are always available for you!
In this day and age, being an expert crossword puzzle solver is a highly sought-after skill. In just a few short years, it has become a hobby for millions of people worldwide. In fact, there are even tournaments throughout the year where experts converge to prove their knowledge of all things crossword. Crosswords today have become quite creative with their clues and the words they use.
We’ve already discussed crossword solving puzzles – now time for you to try it! To find an exciting puzzle, go to the search engine of your choice, type in the keyword (crossword puzzle) and watch out for excellent results. If you need to solve the crossword puzzle right there online, choose one that is posted on a reputable site. We are sure following the above points will help you quickly become a crossword puzzle genius.
