The Times Jumbo Cryptic Crossword: 50 Challenging Cryptic Crosswords: Bk. 8 [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Jerry Buchanan says: "this one has nothing to do with the standard cryptic crosswords we are used to on this side of the pond". Whoa there!

If you've tackled American cryptic crosswords, you'll actually see all the methods used in the cryptic clues that you're used to. The very first clue in the book is "Most suitable area, well-endowed (6)". Answer: ABLEST - defined by "most suitable", and also given by A=area, + BLEST = well-endowed. Nothing strange about the technique there, surely?

But you will see other things, because of the different history of cryptic crosswords in the UK - in short, a process of evolution rather than importing a puzzle style from abroad and tailoring it for a local audience. Some of the rules used in typical American cryptic crosswords have never applied to the vast majority of dialy paper puzzles in the UK. So you'll see triple defintions as well as doubles, or occasional clues where the definition is in the middle. And most different of all, you'll see cryptic definition clues, which have no wordplay. Another example from that first puzzle: "The claret circulating (11)" = BLOODSTREAM (claret being, in the UK at least, slang for blood).

There are other factors that add to the difficulty for American solvers. Obviously, there's use of British vocabulary and culture, some of which may be very baffling - especially the cricket jargon that fits in so well because names like SILLY POINT are made up of ordinary words and sometimes have other apparent meanings, and Cockney rhyming slang, which also suits cryptic xwds because the usual meanings of pairs like {butcher's=look} are completely unrelated. The other thing that you need to remember is that in the UK, you can get a crossword in this style every day of the week if you read the Times, and get far more practice at difficult cryptic clues than American solvers have the chance to. So a typical Times crossword is harder than a typical American cryptic. If these puzzles were in the style of the New York Times cryptics, lots of people would grumble because they'd find them ludicrously easy.

I write as a winner of the Times Crossword Championship who has made various attempts at New York Times (non-cryptic) puzzles over the years. After solving several hundred of them, I can do a Monday or Tuesday puzzle in something like 8-12 minutes, but slow down quite rapidly as the week goes on. Something like 38 minutes for one Friday puzzle is probably about my proudest NYT moment so far. But sometimes I have to give up when one corner has too much local stuff for me to handle. Never mind, try the next one and I might recognise ROTC or BIGD next time. Not finishing all the puzzles doesn't stoop me from admiting the skill that goes into writing these puzzles.

If you're prepared to solve in the same spirit, and invest some time and effort, these puzzles can be done by American solvers (I know some Americans who tackle them), and you will see some of the best cryptic clues available anywhere. Here's one, again from that first puzzle: "Superior companion? The most inferior (4,7)" is LAKE ONTARIO - a companion of Lake Superior as one of the Great Lakes, and the 'most inferior' as it's the one with least elevation. Needless to say, the clue doesn't have you thinking of lakes at all.

It would be an improvement to Times crossword collections if all or at least some of the answers were explained, but that's not yet the norm in cryptic xwd books over here. I hope this will change one day - it would help new British solvers too.

The crosswords in the book are fun to tackle. Some are more difficult than others, and I think people who are very good at solving crosswords might find some of them rather easy. The book is good quality and withstands frequent use.

I started doing cryptic crosswords when I lived in England in the early 80's. Although some of The Times clues refer to places and names in the British pantheon of nouns that none of us may have ever heard of, some are infinitely guessable, given enough letters. I have found that the more of these puzzles I knock down, the more twisted (and therefore, more savvy) my mental processes become. Admittedly, having followed this Book 8 with Book 9, I find that many of the clues in this one stretch the boundaries just a little too far. But I'm always ready for the next challenge.