Crossword

Surely  SteveL,  getting  into  the  mind  of  the  compiler  is  pretty  much  essential  for  normal  Crosswords  or  at  least  I  think  so.  I  don't  watch  a  lot  of  T.V.  as  some  folk  do,  and  it's  a  very  long  time  since  I  visited  a  cinema,  so  loads  of  clues  to  the  larger  crossword  in  the  Mail  on  Sunday  etc  are  way  over  my  head,  and  a  lot  of  the  clues/answers.  are  American  biassed  or  so  it  seems  to  me.  I've  started  finding  much  more  fun  in  doing  the  "BareBones"  style  puzzle  with  a  frame,  a  couple  of  numbers  and  say  four  blanks.  Then  it's  up  to  you  to  battle  it  out  with  your  own  wits,  but  remember  with  a  pencil  &  eraser  First  !!

Think you've hit the nail on the head ABM. I object to the assumption, on the part of the compiler that we are all, say, soap opera fans, or know who all these American actors are. The answers I can't get are usually related to a clue along these lines, and I'm not prepared to spend hours on Google to find them. I'll stick to my book of assorted crossword styles with my pencil and paper, dictionary and thesaurus

(Like sudoku and word search too - more relaxing)

The only thing I miss when I travel abroad is my daily fix of the cryptic crossword that I used to do in the Indy and now do in the i. It has a different compiler every day and you have to get used to their idiosyncracies. We don't watch tv a lot and never in the van and I find the daily challenge very invigorating. I was "over the moon" last Saturday as it was our first day back in the UK and I managed to complete the prize puzzle despite not doing one for 2 months. Oh, the joy! I know, some folk may mock, but I geniunely enjoy the challenge. 

Nice post Steve.

I have a daily battle with the  Times cryptic crossword. I only manage to complete it a few times each month but when I do I'm very happy. One thing I have noticed is that if I come back to the crossword after a couple of hours I often manage to put a lot more words in. One tip I read somewhere is that the 'down' clues are easier to answer than the 'across' ones. It's something to do with the way the puzzle is compiled. My favorite puzzle in Times 2 is the Codeword puzzle, I seem to have a knack for completing this easily only rarely being  stumped.

Seems there are a few of us like to keep the little grey cells working!

thanks for the tip about 'down' clues papgeno, I had noticed that they were often easier to solve, didn't know why. Perhaps I'll start with them next time I do a crossword

I, too, often find that the grey cells continue to work behind the scenes and after a few hours break I will suddenly get a second wind and fill in more answers. Strange how the mind works.

But at least our minds are still working, well most of the time

Yippee managed to complete the Times crossword yesterday. What makes it special is it was a competition entry puzzle. Don't think I'll be entering though it took me several hours to do it and the champion does three in about 20 minutes.

They do say you get better with practice but some levels of crossword will always stump me. It's that last two or three unsolvable clues that are frustrating

Yes the last two clues, both across by the way, took ages to solve but the satisfaction when finished was worth it