How to Do Crossword Puzzles

The first crossword puzzle was published in the "New York World" newspaper on December 21, 1913. Today, there are many daily devotees of this word puzzle, including former president Bill Clinton, "American Idol" winner David Cook and comedian Jon Stewart. Learning how to solve crosswords involves a bit of patience and lots of practice, but with these tips you will be able to solve even the most difficult crossword in just a few months. Here we will concentrate on one of the most popular--and challenging--puzzles around, the "New York Times," or NYT crossword.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Know the difference between various types of crosswords. There are two main types of puzzles, the cryptic and the regular. The cryptic puzzle is popular in the UK, and it differs slightly from the regular puzzle in that the clues are themselves puzzles and need to be unraveled in order to get to the solution. The regular puzzle is the one featured in the New York Times, and involves solving "across" and "down" clues that are generally not too cryptic or complex in and of themselves.

2. Do the right puzzle for your level of expertise. The NYT puzzle is published daily, with Monday's being the easiest and Saturday's the hardest (Sunday's puzzle is a bigger version of Thursday's difficulty level). So if you're a newcomer to the crossword, pick up the Monday and Tuesday editions of the NYT. As your skills improve, move on to the rest of the week.

3. Learn the tricks of the trade. If you know some of the ways crossword constructors use to clue their answers, you'll have an immediate advantage. For example, if a clue is followed by a question mark, there is some sort of wordplay or pun involved (e.g. "Done less?" is answered with "Rarer"); if a clue is abbreviated or uses acronyms, the answer will, too (e.g. "Future atty.'s hurdle" is answered with "LSAT"); and if a clue asking for a name is followed by the words "and others," simply make your answer plural (e.g. "Peace Nobelist Wiesel and others" is answered with "Elis," the plural of "Eli").

4. Read widely. One of the best ways to get better at crosswords is to read a wide variety of materials, from fiction to the daily newspaper. Crosswords will often use recent events in their clues, so staying on top of world developments is important. Get a wide exposure to history, sports, geography, politics, art and literature, and keep learning new things every day. Crossword lovers are by nature very curious people.

5. Get to know the constructors. No software program has yet managed to outdo human crossword constructors, and each constructor has a strength or an inclination in a certain direction. The NYT is one of the few crossword publishers that puts the name of the constructor on a puzzle, so get familiar with the names and you will have a general idea of what kind of puzzle you're facing. So, for instance, Nancy Solomon and Harvey Estes love wordplay and puns, while Brendan Emmett Quigley is a sports fanatic, so you're pretty much guaranteed to have lots of sports-type clues in his puzzles.

6. Look for word endings if you're stuck for an answer. So if you have a clue with wording such as "Least friendly," the answer will most likely end with "est," as in "iciest," so you can go ahead and plug in "est" for the last three letters of the answer, and it may help you solve some of the "across" or "down" clues that intersect with these letters. Similarly, "More friendly" will probably end with "er" ("warmer") and "Most friendly" with "est" ("warmest").

Tips & Warnings

• Don't feel stupid or frustrated if a puzzle defeats your attempts at solving it. Keep at it, google answers if you must, and with time you are guaranteed to get better.
• Some people recommend that you use a pencil in order to be able to erase wrong answers--but this is unnecessary and will cause lots of smudging for the newbie solver. Go ahead and use a pen--just write very lightly until you're more certain of the answer.
• Watch out for theme crosswords--these are puzzles that have a general theme in anywhere from three to six or more of their answers, such as movie stars' names (usually rearranged to sound funny or resemble common sayings)--once you get one theme answer right and realize there's a theme, the rest of the puzzle should solve easier. The clues for the theme answers are often italicized.

Resources

• "Wordplay" is a very entertaining documentary about crosswords.
• A very helpful page that lists common short crossword words.
• Play crosswords online.
• A fun and helpful daily blog with solutions and discussions.