How to Solve TV Guide Crossword Puzzles
The crosswords in "TV Guide" contain a mixture of general-topic clues and clues relating specifically to television shows. Most of the television clues involve the names, characters or casts of shows, and you will either know these or you won't. Unless you have an encyclopedic knowledge of TV trivia, you will probably be left with spaces you are unable to fill in. You will have to guess the answers from the crossing letters. If worse comes to worse, you may need to "cheat" by looking up the answers.
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Instructions
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1
Make a quick first pass through the puzzle, filling in every answer that you are fairly sure of. You can answer the clues in order from first to last, or jump around, looking for clues that seem easy, depending on your personal puzzle-solving style.
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2
Make a second pass through the puzzle, working more slowly this time. Try to answer some of the clues you were unsure of before, using the crossing letters you entered in Step 1 to help jog your memory. Keep on working until you are left mostly with clues of answers you don't know at all.
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3
Try to guess some of the answers you don't know based solely on the crossing letters. For example, if a clue asks for the first name of a character in a show you never heard of, there is no way you could know what the name is. However, if the crossing letters are "T -- (blank) -- N -- Y," you can be pretty certain that the missing letter is an "O," as no other letter would make sense in that spot.
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4
Put the puzzle aside for a while if there are still answers you think you might know, but can't quite remember. Often, taking a fresh look at a puzzle after taking a break will help you remember more.
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5
Decide whether you want to "cheat" for the clues that ask for specific information, such as the names of characters or actors, that you simply don't know. You get to set the rules for how you will solve the puzzles, so only you can decide whether you are "allowed" to look up information in the pages of the magazine, on the Internet or in other resources.
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