Crossword puzzles are a great way to exercise your brain, but if you’re new to these puzzles, it can be hard to figure out how to solve them. There are a few simple tips we can share with you that will make the process of solving puzzles much easier!
Start with the easy clues
The easy clues are often found at the beginning of a crossword puzzle. The reason for this is that it’s easier to work with a long word than a short one.
Easy clues can be recognized by their length, their difficulty in pronunciation, and even the number of vowels they contain. They will typically be single-syllable words or longer words that have only two syllables and no more than three vowels (a word like “apple” may have four or five consonants but only two vowels).
The answer to an easy clue also has many options—there may be multiple solutions for each easy clue, so don’t get too caught up trying to find just one solution when there are several!
Tackle harder words as you go
Use a dictionary. When you’re stuck on a word, look it up in the dictionary to see if it’s one of the common ones used in crosswords. If not, go on to the next step.
Try a crossword puzzle book or app. There are several online resources for solving crossword puzzles, including crosswordanswers911.net. These sites can help you solve words that aren’t in regular dictionaries by using what they have available—including other people’s attempts at solving those words themselves!
The best part about using these sites is that they’re free and they’ll take care of all your word problems so all you have to do is enjoy yourself with some leisurely puzzling!
Complete easy answers first
This is a methodical approach to crosswords that involves completing easy-to-find entries as soon as possible, then moving on to the more difficult ones.
It’s important to note that you can complete this task in any order you want! For example, if the answer is “dog” and it has two down clues of “barked” and “man’s best friend,” you may feel inclined to work your way from left to right — but don’t feel obligated! If there are two down clues for one word (like above), maybe try starting with the first clue for each entry instead. Do whatever feels natural!
Fill in the main clues as soon as you can
If you know the answer to the main clue, fill it in. If you don’t have the answer and don’t know if it can be deduced from other clues, leave it blank for now.
If you don’t have the answer but think you might know what it is, write down any clues that provide hints about the answer and then fill in that clue when you figure out its meaning. For example:
- “Nancy Drew loved this book” vs “This book was made into a movie” vs, “The author wrote other mysteries”. If you think The Hidden Window is probably one of those options based on what I know about Nancy Drew, then you should make sure to write down both of those clues so that when you find out which option is correct (it’s The Hidden Window!) my score will be higher than if you had just written down two random words from my memory banks!
Look for the crossword theme
In a crossword puzzle, the theme refers to a word or phrase that runs through every clue in the puzzle. For example, let’s say that all of the Across clues have something to do with sports (baseball, football, etc.). If you find this theme and start solving your puzzle by going across first, then you can be sure that any Down clues will also relate to sports.
This information is helpful because it helps you narrow down the possibilities when trying to solve an individual clue. Instead of having to guess about where possible answers might lie within each row of letters on your grid (and potentially wasting precious time), you’ll know exactly where looking for them when they appear as Down clues!
All clues are not created equal
The best clues are the ones that are:
- The harder a clue is to solve, the more fun it will be!
- Clues are most fun when they’re difficult to solve and you feel like you’ve really accomplished something by figuring them out. In fact, many crossword solvers will only choose clues that they know they can solve in their allotted amount of time (a “time bonus”).
- Some people prefer obscure clues because they give them an opportunity to show off how much knowledge about things like pop culture or TV shows they have!
You can get through that hard crossword puzzle!
You can do it! You can get through that hard crossword puzzle!
It’s okay if you don’t know the answer to some of the clues on your first try. It helps to take deep breaths and take your time because patience is key when solving a crossword puzzle. Sometimes, people are so determined to find the answers that they skip over important clues. This can make things even more difficult for you later on in the puzzle! So just relax and think about each clue before moving forward with your next move.
The best way to solve any puzzle is by being persistent—and we mean this in both senses of the word: stubbornly persevering despite difficulty or discouragement; persisting or continuing steadfastly or steadily (Merriam-Webster). And finally, if all else fails and none of these tips worked out – keep trying until it does work! You never know what might happen next…
Doing crossword puzzles can help your brain
Doing crossword puzzles is a fun way to challenge your brain, and it can help you learn new vocabulary. It’s also a great way to increase your knowledge about specific topics such as history or geography. Crossword puzzles are great for learning new words in other languages too!
Conclusion
We hope that these tips help you become a better crossword puzzle solver! If you have any other clever tricks or helpful strategies to share, please feel free to drop them in the comments below.
