Cryptic Crosswords

• Read on and discover why cryptic crosswords can be so much more fun than ordinary crossword puzzles
• Learn how to solve those apparently incomprehensible clues
• Find cryptic crossword puzzles on the World Wide Web (including my puzzles)
• Finish that #^!@!#$%! puzzle with help from web-based tools
• Download software to help you compose or solve crossword puzzles
• Read about Torquemada, Afrit and Ximenes, the pioneers of the cryptic crossword

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Cryptic Crosswords

Cryptic crosswords were developed in Britain in the 1920s by constructors who wanted something more challenging than dictionary definitions.

They differ from regular crosswords in both the style of grid and the clues.

A common (North American) standard for regular crossword grids is that all letters must be used in two words, one across and one down.

In order to fill in such a grid it is usually necessary to use many abbreviations and uncommon words.

Early in the development of the cryptic crossword, British puzzle constructors rejected this in favour of grids which use unchecked letters. Two styles of grid developed, the standard blocked grid and the bar grid:

The standard cryptic grid normally has every second letter unchecked.

There are a number of standards which are followed to a greater or lesser degree by most setters.

Bar grids were invented by Torquemada (Edward Powys Mathers). Nowadays they are used primarily in more difficult or variant puzzles (such as Cox and Rathvon in the Atlantic Monthly).

The Clues

• Overview
• Anagrams
• Hidden words
• Charades
• . . . etc.