Don’t worry if your mind has gone blank or you’ve convinced yourself the wrong answer is right – our expert’s tips will help you untangle the clues.
Everyone who’s ever played a crossword knows this feeling. You’re faced with a clue. You think you understand it, but the solution just won’t come to you. You’ve gone completely blank.
Or maybe you know this feeling, which is arguably even worse. You’re faced with a clue, and again, you think you know what it’s asking of you. This time you even have an answer in mind. But your answer has five letters, and the clue is asking for four letters. This is worse than your mind going blank, because now the wrong answer won’t get out of your head to make way for the right one.
Do not fret. I have a few simple techniques that may help when you’re stuck on a crossword. And many of these techniques come down to the same basic thing: slow down. Take your time. Enjoy yourself.
Crosswords should be played at your leisure, and with no time limit. Relax and make the most of it.
It’s worth quickly going over some basics of crossword solving very quickly.
One thing worth keeping in mind is that every good crossword clue will have one answer that works, and that fits perfectly into the squares on the grid. If the clue is “Cut (4)” and you’ve come up with “SLICE”? Well, that extra letter is telling you that you need to keep thinking.
Another thing to remember is that clues come in a handful of basic types. Some will give you a phrase with a word missing, and you need to find that word. Others will give you a definition, and you need to find the word that’s being defined. Some will test your general knowledge and ask you to name capital cities or famous historical figures.
Then there are the synonym clues where you’re tasked with coming up with another word for the word you’ve been given. “Cut (4)” is a good example of this.
Once you’re familiar with the variety of basic clue types, and you understand that you need to be precise in your answers, the most important thing is to approach the puzzle at your own pace. Crosswords are meant to be fun. They’re not a race.
If you want to think over an answer for a few minutes, that’s actually part of the joy of playing. Crosswords want you to cast your mind far and wide and root around in the attic of your memory.
It’s astonishing how just spending a little time with a clue can make the solution present itself.
You can even take this to extremes. One of the most playful and life-enriching ways to solve crosswords is to write down a handful of clues that have stumped you, and then keep the piece of paper you’ve written them on in your pocket as you go about your day.
Every now and then, you can pull the paper out, read a few clues And just have them ticking over in the back of your mind for a few moments.
Clues approached like this can give you something to keep your mind busy when you’re doing other things. They can also lead you to ideas and memories you weren’t expecting to encounter. Put simply, you can play a crossword without sitting down and staring at the grid.
But if you want to move a bit more quickly, you can do the opposite. You can hop around the grid, reading through all the clues until you hit one that really leaps out at you.
Crossword clues are numbered, but you’re not expected to do them in order. If the fifth clue speaks to you more than the first, start there.
You can also look around a partially completed grid for promising spots. Remember: short answers may seem more appealing, but they can be just be as tricky to find as long ones. A much better approach is to look for spots where there are plenty of junctions between different clues, some of which you’ve hopefully already filled in.
Use the letters you find at points where the clues cross over in order to anchor your thinking. For example, maybe you find out that “Cut (4)” starts with an “N”. That’s a useful thing to know!
Knowing the answer to a clue the moment you look at it is a win. But finding the answer after a little thought, or even a quick page through a dictionary or a thesaurus, is actually a double-win. You’re not just solving the puzzle, but you’re broadening your mind and stretching it to hunt for obscure answers.
Or maybe you’re finding out something you never knew, just by looking at the only possible words that will fit in the space you’ve been given.
Fudging the answer like this, skipping through letters until you have the only word that will work, may feel like cheating.
But it can actually represent crossword solving at its most satisfying. Instead of that warm feeling of getting an answer right immediately, you get to experience the moment where the word comes into focus. Of course! “Cut (4)” is NICK!
So remember, take your time, move around the clues until you find one you like the look of, and don’t be afraid to be surprised when an answer finally presents itself.
There are no wrong ways to solve a crossword, and plenty of great ways to get the absolute most out of it.
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