Cryptic Crosswords. Jack Dunwoody

      Preface

      PREFACE

      One would fairly expect that the crossword puzzle originated in England and would probably further hazard a guess that the first one appeared in The Times of London. Not so. We crossword addicts, now counted in multi-millions, have to look across the Atlantic for its first publication in the Sunday newspaper New York World on 21 December 1913. Arthur Wynne, an English journalist working in the United States, published a “word-cross” puzzle and is generally credited with inventing the modern crossword.

      The British had to wait over a decade, the first crossword with Across and Down clues, appearing in the Sunday Express on 2 November 1924. The first cryptic crossword appeared in the Saturday Westminster in 1925 but readers of The Times had to endure a further five years, before being introduced to what would become the nation’s favourite wordpower pastime. In fact, The Times had editorialised against crosswords, arguing that they would adversely affect office productivity. Further bad news for crossword addicts came from the British Optical Association which warned that solving crosswords would lead to headaches due to eyestrain!

      In Britain the crossword took a cryptic turn, and my book is directed at the cryptic crossword solver, with a knowledge of English and a smattering of foreign words of a basic schoolboy standard. The British cryptic crossword was imported to the United States in 1968 by New York Magazine, so it now has a following on both sides of the Atlantic.

      My own first crosswords were encountered during schooldays and were invariably of the simple synonym variety, referred to as concise crosswords. Infrequent and private glances at the complicated clues of cryptic crosswords, however, did not offer a reasonable enough prospect of success. To an achievement-orientated youngster such as myself the risk of failure and the resultant blow to the ego could not be contemplated!

      My conversion to cryptic crosswords was therefore somewhat of an accident during an Air Training Corps camp in 1958 at Hornchurch in Essex. The accident was missing the last train from London, the place was Trafalgar Square, the reason was trying to pass the time until morning. An English cadet, in the same dilemma, proceeded to do the crossword in a discarded newspaper and had enough time (all night) and interest (we only had one newspaper) to explain the quirks employed by the cryptic compiler to baffle simple Irish students like myself.

      Whilst individual compilers will have their own characteristics, there are nevertheless basic approaches and rules which are applied generally. The purpose of THE TECHNIQUES section of this book is to give an introduction into these basics for the new cryptic solver. Like my own initiation, he or she may be still at school, or as in the case of a former colleague of mine, suddenly decide at age 58 to brave the vagaries of the compiler. Equally, the experienced crossword solver will benefit from a compiler’s insight into the different techniques used in the construction of cryptic crossword puzzles.

      Above all else, resolution of a cryptic crossword clue is a process of applying logic or lateral thinking. Certainly, a good general knowledge will help, as will a wide vocabulary, but so will solving the puzzles lead to the development of these attributes. It is my opinion, and indeed experience, that the best thing a parent can do to broaden his child’s knowledge and command of the English language is to encourage him or her to devote quality leisure time to solving crossword puzzles, both of the concise and cryptic varieties.

      I have long held this view of the educational benefit of crosswords and came across a real life example which served to highlight my claims to fellow parents. Through a mutual acquaintance I met a senior director of a listed retail company who had escaped from Hungary to the United Kingdom when he was twenty-one. At that time he knew no English at all and — you’ve guessed it — he used crosswords as a method of learning the language. He finds it amusing now that he learnt words like genuflect (to bend the knee in reverence), agnail (piece of torn skin still attached to a fingernail), etui (a needle-case) and ecru (the colour of flax) before achieving a working vocabulary!

      Recent studies have also shown that the mental activity used in solving crossword and other puzzles is an important part of a healthy lifestyle and can minimise the risk of developing diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Though any intellectually stimulating activity can help prevent brain disease, cryptic crossword puzzles which require daily sustained bursts of cognitive effort, are particularly effective in helping to prevent memory loss. So you can have fun competing with the compiler, and stay mentally healthy at the same time.

      The use of good reference books is not cheating! Compilers use all sorts of reference books in the construction of crosswords (at the last count I had over twenty dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias, and the like) so solvers should equip themselves to compete. As you duly progress to the more difficult puzzles, not so much in logic terms but in their use of obscure words and references, it is advisable to arm yourself with the necessary tools to help determine the answers, or subsequently to understand them. It is from this research and understanding that the main educational benefit is derived.

      I recommend the following reference books:

      Oxford Dictionary of English

      This book is outstanding among single-volume dictionaries of the English language. Unlike most other dictionaries, it is a single source of proper names, abbreviations, biblical and mythological characters, historical and geographical names, technical and scientific terms, institutions and organisations, as well as old words and the newest words, difficult words and everyday words — words, in fact, for all purposes and occasions.

      In the second edition, revised, which I use, there are over 350,000 words, phrases and meanings and it is a rare occurrence, indeed, when I have to revert to the Internet in search of some obscure word which I have failed to find here.

      Reader’s Digest Reverse Dictionary

      The purpose of this text is to act as a word-finder and as such it identifies other words which are associated with the word being investigated and not just the meanings of that word and its synonyms. Thus instead of starting with a word and seeking its definition, as in a conventional dictionary, you can start with any element of the definition to find the word.

      The dictionary does this by directing you from a familiar word you know is connected with the particular subject (“cue word”) to the elusive word (“target word”) which you are seeking. A target word may even be cued in this way by its opposite meaning. Together with its 222 tables— from acids to Zodiacal signs — and diagrams, this is a very helpful reference work.

      Collins Dictionary & Thesaurus

      Every crossword solver will find this combined volume a special crossword aid. Here in one handy volume is a general purpose dictionary with matching dictionary and thesaurus entries on the same page.

      The relevant material from each appears together, thus obviating the need to consult a second volume or, indeed, to search in other parts of the same volume. Because the thesaurus items are arranged at the foot of each page of the corresponding dictionary entries, the user can go straight to a word and can move easily from dictionary to thesaurus and back again.

      The dictionary text includes over 105,000 entries while the thesaurus section gives synonyms for 16,000 words, with antonyms where appropriate.

      Finweek Book of Phrases for Cryptic Crosswords

      There are also many reference books containing conventional tabulations of words (generally ranging from 3 to 9 letters) and phrases (generally from 8 to 15 letters) in alphabetical