CROSSWORD PUZZLE TIPS FROM AHAB

I belong to several "Puzzle Organizations" where I use the alias "AHAB."  I like all kinds of puzzles except those damnable Japanese number squares.  

My favorite kind of puzzles are descendants of the original word puzzles that were called "Word Crosses."  A sleepy editor mixed up the title and the word "Crossword" was created.

I've mentioned before how I used to crouch on the floor of my grandfather's "den" and watch as he compiled the "World's Best Crossword Puzzle Dictionary."

Over the years, I have tried to do one Crossword Puzzle each day. Sometimes I miss a day, but sometimes I do several a day.  It averages out.

Here is the "marvelous, fantastic, and wonderful" Joe Vaughan method for solving Crosswords. (Sorry about that.)

01. Do not even try to solve a puzzle if you need a magnifying device to read the clues.

02.  Cut the puzzle out and place it on a clipboard, or such.

03.  Throw away the solution. (Very important!)

04.  Use a ball-point or gel pen. (No pencils allowed.)

05.  If an error occurs, write over in ink.  In time you will experience much less write-overs.

(When you use ink in solving you are forced to think more carefully about the solutions you are about to write down.)

06.  Don't feel bad if you can't solve clues such as:

"The Second Banana in the 1941 film 'Collegiate Fun.'"

Nobody but the puzzle constructor and film archive volumes know this, so feel free to do a Google "search" for the answer, or look it up in your "usually unused" encyclopedia. 

07.  Try to solve the clue that gives the longest solution.  This will usually open up lots of other solutions. 

08.  If you can't finish the puzzle, drop it and jump to another one. You can revisit the unfinished puzzle at a future date, when you have become more expert at Crosswords.

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These tips are for American-type Crosswords; there are different tips for British crosswords known as "Cryptics."

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Go, and solve some more,