# How long did it take you to be good at Cryptic Crosswords? Which newspaper is best? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 14, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725 "2006-04-14T23:39:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2006, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/1 "2006-04-14T23:39:56Z")
I wasn’t sure which forum to put this in, CS or here, but anyway… My parents have always be able to do cryptic crosswords, and when I’d look at them they’d make no sense to me. I’ve recently started to learn how to understand/do them, and I attempt the independent crossword each day. I can usually get a reasonable amount of words, but I’ll need to enlist my parents if I want to complete it, or I wait until the next day and work out why the solution is the solution. Practice makes perfect, and I’m getting better (slowly). How long did it take you before you could complete one (if you can…)? Also, which newspaper do you think has the best? I know that the independent isn’t brilliant, at least not for a beginner. I can’t even start the times’, but I can have a good go with the guardian’s. The telegraph’s is the easiest, but I can’t bring myself to buy the paper! So…your opinions on the crosswords and what makes them good/bad, please. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/2 "2006-04-15T00:16:12Z")
Maybe it’s just snobbery on my part, but the broadsheet ones tend to be better than the tabloids’ (if they have one at all). The only other advice I can give is to try and get a local paper. Some cryptic clues use local references and slang. I grew up with the _Sydney Morning Herald_ one, which usually takes me somewhere between ten minutes and an hour to complete. I find the American ones totally inpenetrable, but I can usually have a good crack at the British ones. The _Guardian_(UK) has a brilliant crossword. An English workmate and I would do the _Sydney Morning Herald_ one independently of each other every day, and then we’d have a copy of the _Guardian_, and it would take us several days between us. We’d get frustrated, put it down, come back the next day, and curse the subtle genius of the compiler, because he was always right! My dad has been doing them since long before I was born, so I grew up around the things, but couldn’t fathom them as a kid (my dad liked to show off, and to this day he still can often do them as fast as he can write in the answers). One day when I was about fifteen, I thought ‘bugger this, I’m not going to let him get the better of me’, so I sat down and had a go. I did half of the first one I tried, and after that I got better pretty quickly. Some papers offer a ‘two-speed’ crossword with a set of cryptic clues and a set of conventional clues leading to the same answers. This can be useful for learning. The beauty of the things is that they actually are easier than conventional crosswords in many ways: - the clues are self checking. A three letter word for an item of cookware starting with P could be ‘pot’ or ‘pan’ in a conventional crossword, and you have to wait for another letter to slip in before you can do it. In a cryptic, you won’t have to guess. - you can correctly answer with a word you’ve never heard of, by working it out (and you’re learning stuff as well). - you can usually tackle a clue more than one way. So they can be easier once you know the tricks, but don’t tell people that, because it’s great for impressing folks who don’t know. 😃 A bad cryptic crossword, IMHO, has too many straightforward anagrams. A good one has whimsical, lateral clues. I expect to have at least one chuckle from a decent cryptic. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/3 "2006-04-15T00:20:57Z")
Actually, even beyond individual papers’ styles, you’ll find individual _compilers_ will have their own way of doing things, and you’ll start to get favourites. Do the same guy’s work often enough, and you’ll begin to get into his mind. There was a guy in the _Guardian_ who was aparently submitting the things from prison. He was truly an evil genius. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/4 "2006-04-15T00:25:49Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Maybe it’s just snobbery on my part, but the broadsheet ones tend to be better than the tabloids’ (if they have one at all). I think the crosswords in the ‘true’ tabloids are straightforward and usually referring to celebrity scandals rather than clever word play. The guardian, the independent and the times are all now published in ‘tabloid’ (or berliner) form, choosing to call themselves compact. Tabloid refers to the size of the paper, though, so I think it’s easiest to refer to the old _tabloids_ as comics instead. And call the real newspapers newspapers. Just my thought… Back to the subject, though, the guardian I find the most satisfying if I can get the answers. I agree that it’s witty and clever, I wonder what’s more satisfying; completing the crossword or compiling it. I think the times is agreed to be the hardest by many, and I dont bother trying it. My parents have a books with the back-copies, and I aim to get a copy myself one day (and be able to do it). ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/5 "2006-04-15T00:32:35Z")
> [@pretend my name is witty](#): > > The guardian, the independent and the times are all now published in ‘tabloid’ (or berliner) form, choosing to call themselves compact. Tabloid refers to the size of the paper, though, so I think it’s easiest to refer to the old _tabloids_ as comics instead. And call the real newspapers newspapers. Just my thought… That’s true. I forgot the British broadsheets were starting to do that. You can still go camping in the _Sydney Morning Herald_. The _Times_ is tricky, to be sure. I don’t know that it’s harder than the _Guardian_, but it’s certainly not as satisfying. Not to me, anyway. The extremes aside (ridiculously easy=boring, impossibly hard=frustrating), I don’t mind the difficulty level going up, but if it does, you need more reward. The reward is getting a laugh, or getting a sense of admiration towards the compiler for a particularly clever clue. For mine, the _Guardian_ delivers that more than the _Times_. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/6 "2006-04-15T00:41:51Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > Actually, even beyond individual papers’ styles, you’ll find individual _compilers_ will have their own way of doing things, and you’ll start to get favourites. Do the same guy’s work often enough, and you’ll begin to get into his mind. **There was a guy in the _Guardian_ who was aparently submitting the things from prison. He was truly an evil genius.** (bolding mine) I’m trying to dig some light on this story on the 'net, but I’ve not found anything yet. Maybe my google-fu isn’t up to it. Brilliant story, even if it’s just that. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/7 "2006-04-15T00:44:25Z")
I’ve never seen it verified either. I hope it’s true. I often wondered, what with all the censoring of mail in prisons, what the flaming hell the wardens made of a set of cryptic clues, and what sort of evil code he was inserting in them? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/8 "2006-04-15T00:47:38Z")
I’m on the guardian website now, wondering whether it’s worth subscribing to the online crossword dealy. It’s £20 for a year’s subscription, but that’s a chunk of my student loan that should really go on food or alcohol. I think it’s probably best to get a subscription to the guardian, but if I do I may ask for help understanding some of the clues on here! ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/9 "2006-04-15T01:02:33Z")
A Google search only turned up one thing… [http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/08/15/index.php](http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/08/15/index.php) > [@](#): > > I can stand it no longer:cumgranisallis must unmask him/herself. Be he/her some authentic cyberspatial time-hopper; or be she/he the crazed historical linguist that do set those impossible Guardian crossword puzzles out of Parkhurst Jail. Come clean, aurocaria, the game is up. I would barely use this blog-like thing as a cite, but now I know I wasn’t imagining that the rumour is floating about out there. I had fancied it was [Araucaria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_%28compiler%29), but as he seems to be an eighty year-old Church of England priest who got an OBE last year, it seems unlikely. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/10 "2006-04-15T17:40:44Z")
Just started to do my first online cryptic after subscribing to the guardian. I like it when an answer makes you smile/laugh rather than just feeling satisfied. _Embarrassed about fighting for prize (6)_ You’ll probably get it faster than I did but just incase…here’s how my head worked around it. [spoiler]I thought ‘for prize’ means I’m obviously looking for a six-letter word for prize and I knew it ended in ‘d’. Reward? Maybe…lets see if it fits. So how would that work, I thought…fighting? Must be war! But embarrassed? Er…RED![/spoiler] Definately made me feel excited once I’d realised I’d got it. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/11 "2006-04-15T17:45:43Z")
Last excited post for now, I hope, but just got another brilliant clue. _Note about recluse making incendiary (8)_ Sure you’ll get it. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/12 "2006-04-15T17:50:59Z")
Games magazine has wonderful cryptic crosswords (one per month) and occasionaly runs solving tips to help you get up to speed. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-did-it-take-you-to-be-good-at-cryptic-crosswords-which-newspaper-is-best/352725/13 "2006-04-15T19:20:50Z")
My local has the Telegraph, so I’ve gotten familiar with that one. And it’s rather boring, because all the puzzles are the same as one another. There’s never the off-the-wall solutions that the Guardian setters have, and certainly not the genius of Araucaria. He managed to create this anagram in a Christmas crossword: > [@Araucaria](#): > > “O hark the herald angels sing the boy’s descent which lifted up the world” Solution:“While shepherds watched their flocks by night, all seated on the ground”