Poll For: Crossword Puzzle Fans!

In My Humble Opinion
1

The Questions

  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
  2. Ink or pencil?
  3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
  4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
  5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
  6. Do you cheat?
  7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).

My answers:

  1. The LA Times Sunday puzzle is best. NY Times is good, but usually too hard for me to finish.
  2. Ink.
  3. Best is to do it on Sunday, on the couch or while taking a bath. Also take with me whenever I know I have a long wait (DMV, doctor’s office, airport terminal).
  4. I almost always finish the LA Times. I don’t think I have ever finished a NY Times (although it has been years since I last tried).
  5. Ort. (Had never even heard of the word before, but it seems to pop up in every third puzzle.)
  6. No. No dictionary, no calling friends who speak French, etc. If I can’t figure it out on my own, it ain’t goin’ in.
  7. The clue was “Crazy lady’s first name”…took me awhile to figure out the answer: Patsy (Cline)
2
  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
    I do the two daily crosswords in my local paper, the big one on Sunday, and I have a NY Times Crossword daily planner that I work on.
  2. Ink or pencil?
    Ink
  3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
    Usually, in front of the tv watching The Daily Show. On Sundays, spread out on the floor in front of the fire with a cup of tea and NPR.
  4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
    The ones in the paper - 100%.
    The daily planner - about 50-75%?
  5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
    etui
  6. Do you cheat?
    For the daily planner one, yeah - I look in the back at the answers if I get really stuck. For the ones in the paper, no. They’re pretty easy. Actually, my goal is not to finish them, but to finish them in ink with no errors or cross-outs at all. A good day is when I do both of them + the jumble with no cross-outs and without writing down the circled jumble letters. (I’m a little anal.)
  7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).
    Hmmmm - can’t think of any!
3
  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
    Chicago Trib Sunday Magazine and Books section
  2. Ink or pencil?
    Always ink
  3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
    anywhere
  4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
    Disappointed if I do not complete it all
  5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
    I don’t know. Nene?
  6. Do you cheat?
    No
  7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).
    Don’t remember any in particular.
4

The Questions

  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
    The ones in the local paper will do. They Monday puzzle is easy and gets harder as the week progresses
  2. Ink or pencil?
    Ink, of course.
  3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
    I haven’t done a puzzle in months. No time…
  4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
    Less than 50%.
  5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
    Adit. It’s a mine entrance.
  6. Do you cheat?
    I used to. I never understood “combo form” so I used my xword dictionary for those answer. I’ve since lost the dictionary so now I don’t cheat.
  7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).
    Can I get back to you?
5

My answers:

  1. The LA Times Sunday puzzle is best. NY Times is good, but usually too hard for me to finish.

  2. Ink.

  3. Best is to do it on Sunday, on the couch or while taking a bath. Also take with me whenever I know I have a long wait (DMV, doctor’s office, airport terminal).

  4. I almost always finish the LA Times. I don’t think I have ever finished a NY Times (although it has been years since I last tried).

  5. Ort. (Had never even heard of the word before, but it seems to pop up in every third puzzle.)

  6. No. No dictionary, no calling friends who speak French, etc. If I can’t figure it out on my own, it ain’t goin’ in.

  7. The clue was “Crazy lady’s first name”…took me awhile to figure out the answer: Patsy (Cline) **
    [/QUOTE]

  8. My favorite puzzles are in the NY Times and in Games Magazine (as well as her sister publication, Games’ World of Puzzles).

  1. Ink

  2. Usually at the kitchen table, with a digital timer close by

  3. Almost always the whole thing. The NY Times Saturday puzzle is always very difficult, and I occasionally have a blank square or two at the end

  4. I have to say, I HATE “crosswordese” (that’s a phrase constructors use for words never used anywhere but in crosswords). But I love celebrities with useful names, like UMA Thurman and Brian ENO. In fact, I really hope Lance ITO presides over another high profile trial, and that ANI Difranco and YMA Sumac have #1 hits on the Billboard charts.

  5. Never

6

My answers:

  1. Brain Buster: Sat NY Times; All-around Sunday NY Times & Diagramless; Friday WSJ comes in third place.

  2. My favorite crossword mechanical pencil. All in the Siberia household know not to touch this magical instrument.

  3. I always have one going in the car for those times I am waiting for someone or in bad traffic (no, not while I’m driving and no, I do not hold up traffic :wink: )

  4. 100% unless it ends up being too easy/tedious.

  5. None really come to mind.

  6. I do use a crossword dictionary on occasion…try not to though.

  7. I’m drawing a blank right now…I do, however, appreciate a good punny clue/answer.

7

My answers:

  1. I like the Herald Tribune crossword puzzle books, because they have a big section of “Sunday Sized” puzzles. (I hate the small ones.) I always buy from the same maker because I’ve found that you learn how the puzzle-maker “thinks” and it makes the puzzles a little easier. (Plus, they tend to use a lot of the same clues.)

  2. Ink, of course.

  3. In bed, before I go to sleep.

  4. About 75%

  5. Only if I think I misspelled a word, or if something seems bizarre. My main beef with crosswords is that the * puzzle * cheats sometimes, using words that really don’t exist.

8

1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?

Whatever I happen to run across - I’m not a HARD CORE crossword guy, more of a variety puzzle guy - GAMES Magazine is great, a nice mix.

2. Ink or pencil?

I always do puzzles in ink. I’m a doofus, I know, but I also have a high success rate…

3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?

Laying on the couch.

4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?

75% Often, if they’re too easy, I quit. Sometimes they’re too hard.

5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?

None. Several least favorites, because they’re overused - ecru, alee, many others.

6. Do you cheat?

Define cheat. I guess that means yes.

hrh

9

Misread this. about 75% of the time, I finish it all.

hrh

10

Yo, guys, I’m in the biz – senior editor at the largest puzzle publisher in the country. (Hint – we publish both Games and the Herald Tribune magazines, as well as about 100 others.)

Should I start an “ask the…” thread? Or just lurk here and take notes?

(Speaking of celebs with useful names – don’t forget EWAN McGregor and REBA McEntire.)

Answers to the questions in the OP:

  1. The ones we publish (duh!). Check out Collector’s Crosswords (all Sunday-size) or Superb Crosswords (all theme, mix of sizes).[/shameless plug]

  2. Pencil. I am an imperfect human being.

  3. I don’t solve much any more (other than cryptic crosswords, sometimes) – it’s the downside of being in the biz.

  4. 100%. If you wanna get freaked out, I can do the Sunday NYT in 15-20 minutes. (Look, I’m a trained professional.)

  5. I hate hate hate crosswordese – when I’m editing, I’ll rewrite huge sections of the grid to get rid of it.

  6. Like hrh said, “Define cheat.” Hey, if you’re solving for fun, whose business is it how you go about having fun? I have been known to peek at an answer page when I’m really stuck.

11

Can’t really answer like the OP might expect.

  1. Which do I like best? It’s the individual puzzle, not the syndicate that matters. If the theme is an obscure quote or joke, I hate it.

  2. Pen. (I am so happy to see that almost all so far are inkers too. Pencils, even mechanical ones, are for people who intend to make mistakes.)

  3. When/where. Um, not sure if this fits: I like to have a backlog of puzzles (in case I have a waiting room in my future, etc.) so a couple of days later for dailies and a week later for Sundays.

  4. Percentage??? At most 2 squares without help on dailies. Frequently go all week without help or errors. Maybe 4-6 squares on a Sunday if I’m having trouble. But last 2 weeks of Sundays (4 puzzles) only 1 error.

  5. Favorite crossword words? No such thing. I hate all the obscure ort, etui and such. Like Roman numerals, directions (ene) and the like, all signs of poor puzzle creation.

  6. Cheat? Only if they do. I.e., using really obscure facts, foreign words and what not. Names of Indiana counties is not common knowledge. When they have 2 such words crossing, I’m p.o.ed. If they play by the rules, so do I.

  7. Puns and such: hate them. English is so rich and ambiguous that you don’t need them to allow “room” in interpretation. Save the jokes for the comics.

12
  1. The Globe and Mail (quick clues, the cryptic ones are pretty freakin’ cryptic to me!) but I do so love the huge Boxing day puzzle w/ about 1000 words.
  2. Pen. Preferably aqua or purple. Seriously. I have a careful hand picked assortment just for this purpose.
  3. In the morning, with a coffee.
  4. %s range a lot, average about 80%.
  5. Ditto the oddball celebrity names, and anything geography related.
  6. uh, does googling count as cheating?
  7. Puns = bleccch smiley.
13

Hey twickster47! You have one of my dream jobs. I’ve been xwording for a few years now but have yet to tackle the cryptic crosswords. They scare me in that I would never get out of my robe on Sundays because once I start a puzzle, I have to finish it. I do love the diagramless puzzles…great fun.

I think my average solve time on the Sunday NYT is about an hour. Saturday, however, is a whole 'nother ball of wax. Some are much easier than others. Now that I have been xwording for awhile, I am finding that it really helps knowing a particular author’s style.

14
  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?

LA Times Sunday Puzzle. But I’ve started on the NY Times ones…
I also do the one in my German newspaper’s magazine. German and English crosswords have a total different approach by the way. You need to get into the correct mindset for each.

  1. Ink or pencil?

Ink. Always ink. That way, I only put in the answers when I am confident they are correct. And having “wrong” letters in any square throws me off. Hence, no “tryouts” with pencil.

  1. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?

Anywhere. I never leave home without my faithful LA Times Sunday Puzzle Reader. Usually I will do one before I go to bed.

  1. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?

I won’t rest until it’s completely done.

  1. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?

Like the OP, I have a little space in my heart reserved for “ort”. Closely followed by “tor” (rock). German crosswords, it’s “Egede”. (What, you’ve never heard of the “Eskimos’ apostle”? Shame on you.)

  1. Do you cheat?

With English language puzzles I have to, most of the time, but I am very reluctant. German puzzles, never. It’s a matter of pride.

15

I’m very sporadic about crosswords - but I’ve just started to get back into them.

  1. I do the NYT puzzle.

  2. Computer (the online version, which they say is the same one that gets printed). When I’m not online (which is really rare) in ink.

  3. In front of the screen…sometime during the day.

  4. I complete all of them - somehow or other (see 6 - The joy of it being on computer)

  5. hmmm… that changes. I’ve always liked “aerie” though… never liked the latin 4-letter bones.

  6. Ok, I suck at doing them - but I’m getting better. Monday and Tuesday, I don’t cheat. (I do check the next day, and fix what was wrong). Wednesday through Sunday, I have no qualms about opening up a browser window and doing a web search to find the last name of an actress, search on the college campuses in Pennsylvania, or going to www.m-w.com and entering in “??r???lm?” to find the list of 9-letter words that might fit into the spaces.
    I also use the “check all letters” function to see if I’m on the right track, or completely up the creek.
    But I don’t actually have it fill in letters for me…
    My goal is to move Wednesday to a “no cheat” day, someday.

So, kind of. To a purist, definitely.
7. also drawing a blank here…

16

We have crossword puzzles over here too (I’ve set a few for various publications). I stopped doing them regularly a few years ago and you certainly lose the knack. Here are my answers anyhow:

1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
Araucaria’s.

2. Ink or pencil?
Whatever comes to hand.

3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
On the train or outside a pub or café in sunny weather.

4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
About three quarters these days, but used to be able to do the Guardian Quick* in four minutes when I was at college and once did the Sunday Express General Knowledge in my head (it wasn’t my paper and it seemed rude to fill in the letters in somebody else’s).

5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
Don’t understand the question.

6. Do you cheat?
No point.

7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).
Haven’t got a favourite, but wordplay really belongs in cryptic puzzles.

*Solution not available online - blame them

17
  1. The Sydney Morning Herald. Cryptic first, then Quick if I could be arsed.
  2. Ink
  3. At work
  4. 95% - 100%
  5. Ted. Means to tied down and secure, or something.
  6. No.
  7. Can’t think of one offhand, but there are some classics I’ve seen. Mental block just now.
18
  1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?

Variety cryptics. Totally addicted to the ones in Games, World of Puzzles, and The Atlantic Monthly. I like the contest puzzles in World of Puzzles as well; it’s quite nice fantasizing about winning actual money by solving puzzles, although it’s never happened yet. (I did win a year’s subscription to Tough Cryptics once, before they went out of business.)

  1. Ink or pencil?

Ink, but only because I hate pencils and never have them around the house. I do use white-out, though.

  1. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?

Late evening, in bed.

  1. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?

90-95%, on average.

  1. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?

Don’t think I have one.

  1. Do you cheat?

Yeah, I can’t resist sneaking a look at the answers if there are a couple of clues I can’t figure out, just so I can fill in the empty spaces.

  1. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).

Not sure, I don’t usually remember any of the clues after I finish solving the puzzle.

19

Ditto for everything Dinsdale said…except fav word I guess…don’t have one

20

1. Which crossword puzzles do you like best?
LA Times Sunday Crossword, since the ‘60s! Games Magazine and World of Games. I have subscribed to Games since the inception, and suffered through the dark times when they shut down, before they were (hurray!) resurrected.

2. Ink or pencil?
Mechanical pencil. I love the feel of pencil to paper. I rarely use a pen for anything except writing checks.

3. Where/when do you like to do crossword puzzles?
Sunday crossword is done early on Sunday morning at the kitchen table, after I have read the newspaper and clipped coupons. Everyone else is asleep. I put on a pot of coffee, and it’s just me, the cats, and the puzzle.

Games Magazine puzzles are done in bed at night, first, before I pick up what ever book I am reading.

4. What percentage of the puzzle do you usually complete?
98% LA Times; and I always check the answers the next week, if I was unable to complete the puzzle.

100% Games because I use the Answer pages when I get stumped. I don’t feel I’m learning anything if I don’t fill in every box.

5. Your favorite crossword puzzle word?
The ones I’ve learned through puzzling have already been listed: adit, ort, tor,

6. Do you cheat?
LA Times: no. Games: Yes, I use the answers to help me through the 3-star (hard) puzzles.

7. Favorite crossword pun question(s)/answer(s).
No favorites, but I do remember my first: “Clay today” (Ali)
I enjoy the work of Will Shortz, and Will Weng, and have collections of their work. I have the book Across and Down by Eugene Maleska, the late NY Times Crossword editor, which I have read many times over the years.

It is ironic that this question came up because I had a very satisfying crossword puzzler’s moment today: When I arrived home from work I found that my 19 year old daughter had gone through last week’s daily newspapers and had done all the crossword puzzles – a first for her!