Crossword Puzzles
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
My new favourite pastime.
I used to think crossword puzzles in the newspaper were impossible. But lately I've been doing pretty well and it helps keep my brain exercised and increases my vocabulary
A few tips for crossword succes:
-first I scan through the clues and try to pick out the ones I know for sure...for the ones I'm not sure of but have and idea I see if any of the other connecting clues can reinofrce my guesses
-you do not need to know all of the answers to complete a crossword puzzle, once you start fillling in the ones you do know it will help with the others
-use a clue's tense as a hint (you should be able for figure out the last few letters of some of the words...ie: ("ed", "ing" and plurals such "s", or "a")
-know your geography or keep an atlas nearby ;) (oceans, lakes, Capitals, short forms of States)
-focus on three letter words to start they are generally the easiest to solve
-take a break and come back to your puzzle at a later time
-think logically to get the answers to the clues. Look at all the angles, pronounciations, tenses etc
-double check and make sure you are looking at an across clue or a down clue...can be confusing sometimes
-often used words (these show up on almost every crossword puzzle I've done: (oleo (butter substitute), ade (lime cooler, summer drink etc), asp (snake) , eel (fish)
-relax and have fun
posted by aforward @ 8:41 AM,
1 Comments:
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At 8:24 PM,
said...
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Hi Ayana,
Glad you've joined the ranks of crossword lovers!
You might like these printable crossword variants as well. They require less obscure knowledge and take less time to solve than more traditional crossword puzzles:
http://www.puzzlemonster.com/word/minicross/
-PM
