Learn How to Solve Cryptic Crosswords: A Course for Beginners Paperback – 4 Feb. 2014

Bought to accompany the course given by Henry Howarth (10).As such it fits the bill nicely (14).Simple explanations followed by exercises (8).An enjoyable read (7, 3).The appendix with short words and abbreviations will be useful in the future (2,3-4).

This book is great introduction to cryptic crosswords, especially if you are completely new to them and don’t know where to start. As others have said, it’s more of a workbook than a textbook and best treated that way. Don’t be afraid to write straight in the book (but definitely use a pencil on the practice crosswords just in case!) I’m only half way through and the clues have been reasonably easy so far. I believe it gets a lot trickier towards the ends though as it prepares you for the composite clues often found the Guardian, Times etc.The only reason I’ve given it 4 stars instead of 5 is because you can buy all the content much cheaper as an app. I only found this out after the fact and was slightly annoyed as I would have preferred to learn through an interactive app rather than the book.

Bought this for a course I am doing in Cryptic crosswords. There is so much packed in. It is an A4 paperback with 181 pages and a wealth of instructions and examples. Very well thought out and explained and in my mind worth every penny. I don't think you could ever learn how to do cryptic crosswords without an instruction book of some kind and this one excels. There are also examples with the instructions that you can fill in and the answers follow or are at the back.

Although not the cheapest book in the marketplace for learning to solve cryptic crosswords, if like me you want a systematic approach from the very beginning to being able to solve obscure clues, I doubt you will do better than this book.It is in A4 format, meaning you can see much more on a page. And it is divided into chapters explaining each of the main types of clues, with examples. Each chapter finishes with a blank crossword for you to complete, as practice of that type of clue. So you really get to understand it and practice it, before moving on to the next type of clue. It even has several pages of reference material at the back to help you once you move on to crosswords in, for example, newspapers. Plus sample crosswords from the main newspapers for you to try, so you know what level of difficulty you should go for.I feel I have gone from being an absolute beginner to reasonably comptetent, by just working my way through this book/course. Well done Mr Howarth!

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If you, like me, have always wanted to crack the code of cryptic crosswords then this is definitely the book for you! So well laid out and easy to follow in stages with lots of practice along the way. I'm so glad I took the plunge and got this - well worth the money!

My dad used to solve the Times cryptic crossword and although I asked him once how it worked, he never managed to explain to me how a clue like "Exhausted old couple in vessel" could ever yield the word "outworn". I remained in awe of his abilities until, one day, I decided I would learn the art for myself. A search on Amazon led me to this gem. It leads the reader through the various crossword clue types, starting (perhaps) ridiculously simply and then slowly building up to just simple. It completely demystifies the cryptic and, once completed, you will be able to move on to the simpler, published puzzles like The Times' Quick Cryptic or The Daily Mail's full-on puzzle. The harder puzzles still elude me to a large extent, but that should come with time and practise.

Good step by step guide - though still not easy