THE NATURE OF CRYPTICS Crosswords can be classified broadly into two groups. Moreover, there is mounting medical opinion that they are downright healthy! Regular mental exercise is just as important as daily physical exercise and several prominent doctors have extolled the virtues of the crossword habit in staving off the ravages of age on the brain. And there have been many famous addicts, notably film star Richard Burton, who we are told, had to have daily access to British cryptics no matter to what part of the world his job or wealth had taken him. v WHAT’S THE POINT? For a start cryptic crosswords must be enjoyed by a large number of the population because virtually every British newspaper, national and local, carries one. Today’s grids can be square, rectangular or odd-shaped and can have either black squares or thick lines to separate the answers. Since then crossword puzzles have spread to most cultures and have taken a variety of forms – from the original straightforward definitional type requiring factual answers to the more abstruse cryptic kind characterised by the use of convoluted clues, using puns and the playing of language games (see next page). BACKGROUND The story goes that the first crossword appeared in an American newspaper (the Sunday edition of the New York World) at the beginning of the last century. Although I use assorted dictionaries, thesauruses, reference books and so on – it was when I realised my own file had become not only my first means of attack when facing a virgin grid, but also my most-used source, it occurred to me there was a book in it that could be useful to others. In time the notes became a thick file by the side of my bed. As I couldn’t keep all their little dodges in my head I began writing them down, solely for my own reference. Looking back, I can see that my interest in cryptics was kick-started when it dawned on me that there was some regularity in the tricks that compilers got up to. And, in time, I was picking up prizes from national newspapers such as the Financial Times and the Independent. From then I was hooked, and was soon sampling all the broadsheet and tabloid papers – buying, begging, borrowing or stealing. However, in time and using assorted reference books, I eventually completed my first grid – to my surprise and immense satisfaction. At first I had little success, managing maybe a couple of answers if I was lucky before throwing it aside in frustration. Up till then I had never given the wretched, impenetrable thing more than a glance. In that situation even the delights of TV, radio and records began to pall and, in frustration, I turned my attention to the cryptic puzzle in my daily paper. That is until I found myself flat on my back with a chronic illness. At least, that’s the way I saw it for many years. Like pursuing a career, raising kids, wallpapering, walking the dog, writing a novel. There’s always something more useful to do. Text processed and typeset by A & C Black Printed in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc INTRODUCTION Crosswords are a waste of time. A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. The clues we have used have come from a range of newspapers and magazines – we are indebted to the crossword setters for making the puzzles interesting, challenging and enjoyable to solve! The publications used as sources include: Daily Express, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, The Daily Record, Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, The Guardian, Independent, Independent on Sunday, The Observer, Radio Times, The Sun, Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times, The Times First published in Great Britain 2001 Reprinted 2003 This second edition published 2005 A & C Black Publishers Ltd 37 Soho Square, London W1D 3QZ © B. Instead, we have credited the sources below. It would have been difficult and confusing to include the source of each clue in the main layout of the book. Holmes A & C Black 앫 London Crossword Clues and Extracts Throughout this book we have used parts of clues and clues to illustrate a particular style of puzzle and how to solve the clue. POCKET CROSSWORD DICTIONARY POCKET CROSSWORD DICTIONARY B.
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