17 Common Misconceptions About Word Games
Crossword puzzles are a very enjoyable pursuit, testing our vocabulary and knowledge at every turn, and providing an immensely rewarding and satisfying experience; that is, on those rare puzzles where the answers appear to flow from us like water from a tap. The rest of the time, crosswords can be infuriating with esoteric clues that could stump even a grand master of random knowledge.
Thankfully, we are here to keep your hair firmly within your head, with 5 tips for crossword solvers that should help you navigate your way throughout the most challenging sections of the and all crosswords, whether or not it be a puzzle as innocent as the tv Guide puzzle, or as harrowing as The New York Times crossword.
When solving crosswords, you will give yourself a head start on the harder, longer words, and eliminate a majority of the puzzle. by filling in all the easy clues first. You may break the puzzle into blocks, across and down, until you reach the end of the clue list. Sometimes there may be a clue that may have two or maybe more solutions. You can write all of the possible answers down alongside their respective clues until you fill in enough squares to exclude the words that do not fit.
Once you finish with all the easy clues, start on the longer words. Utilize a dictionary or thesaurus if you encounter a word with which you are unfamiliar. You can also make reference to a Bible or an encyclopedia, in the event the clue will refers to a Biblical quote, or to a particular location or perhaps an event in history. Work through these clues within the same way you did with the easy clues, block by block.
As more words get filled in, the puzzle will get easier to solve, especially since several of the squares will be filled in when solving previous clues.
A whole lot of times, the harder clues will be a play on words which are associated with the theme of the crossword puzzle, so you might have to take the theme of the puzzle into account as a way to solve it. Next, you could be able to solve the crossword by process of elimination and by using some simple logic.
On occasion, the puzzle author may use some little tricks, like using numbers or symbols to complete parts of words or phrases. Solving a puzzle like it will require a little creativity on your side. By way of example, a puzzle may possess the word "arrow" in each theme related clue, and that will indicate a need to put a real arrow where these clues intersect. Frequently, you could have to replace a word with a number.
Read, Read, Read - There is no better way to increase one's knowledge than through reading. Every tidbit of information we come across is the one other kernel of knowledge that will be popped and put to use at the correct time when called upon by a crossword puzzle. Read books, read the newspapers, read about our history on Earth, and about how the world works, and you will find your knowledge base might be more than sufficient to tackle even the most terrifying crossword.
Get the Easy Clues Out of the Way - Take a quick run throughout the clues and complete those ones that come simply and efficiently to you. Rather than taxing your brain on clues with minimal help, filling in all the easy content immediately will give you additional letters and aid for the greater challenging clues to come.
Don't Be Afraid to Experiment - If you think you could know an answer, but aren't sure, top article and even if you're totally guessing, do not be afraid to lightly mark that in and after that use those letters to view should they make sense with other clues. You just may see that your guess was correct, and led you to solving a number of other clues as a result. Just the process of placing letters in one clue and using them to help solve another may help provide you with a different line of thinking on that other clue, helping you to solve it, even if your original guess was incorrect.
