How to Finish a Crossword Puzzle

Some people hate crossword puzzles just because they can never finish them. Don’t be that person. It may take 5 minutes or 5 weeks, but with enough determination, persistence and some simple tips, you, too, can finish a crossword puzzle. Heck, you can even frame the completed puzzle to amaze your friends and remind yourself how awesome you are.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Crossword puzzle
• Pen or pencil
• Dictionary (crossword puzzle dictionary if possible)
• Internet access
• Telephone
• Plenty of time
• Frame (optional)

1. Start by going through the entire puzzle and quickly filling in all the answers you know off the bat.

2. Go through the puzzle more carefully, focusing on certain sections until you’ve exhausted all options.

3. Poke at the big, long answers. Sometimes the longer answers are part of a theme or a famous quote. For instance, every answer will have the word “fun” in it, such as “funny face” or “funky town.” Maybe it’s one of those double-entendre themes, such as “all in fun/fun for the whole family.” Or maybe it’s a famous quote: “It’s all fun and games until someone loses and eye, anonymous.”

4. Get rid of any part of the longer answers you can, such as the word “fun” or the quote source, which in this case is anonymous.

5. Go through the puzzle once more to get anything you missed.

6. Call your dad, your co-worker or anyone else with esoteric knowledge that can fill you in on the name of some long-forgotten 12th century emperor, the name of the baseball team that won 6 World Series or other clues to which you have no clue to the answer.

7. Consult the dictionary. Search the internet. Look through history books and other sources. Go through once more for anything you missed.

8. Put it away and come back to it later, repeating the process until the puzzle is complete or your brain is fried.

9. Frame the puzzle once it’s complete if you feel especially proud of your efforts. Otherwise, burn the dang thing and vow only to work on Sudoku puzzles.

Tips & Warnings

• Take the crossword with you to doctor visits, on the bus or anywhere else you’ll have idle time.
• Keep the puzzle near the phone so you can work it when placed on hold.
• Remember there is no time limit. Keep plugging away until your hair turns gray, your teeth fall out or the crossword crumbles to dust from being so long in your pocket.
• Some puzzles have crappy, corny or over-the-top clues. Once you get the feel of the puzzle, use your equally crappy, corny or over-the-top brain cells to figure them out.
• Like Churchill said, “Never, never, never, never, never give up.” Hey, maybe that’s the big long quote in 22 across.