Stephen Sondheim on How to Do a Crossword Puzzle (1968)

https://nymag.com/article/2019/03/stephen-sondheim-on-how-to-do-a-crossword-puzzle.html

by library • 5 years ago

59 20 5 years ago

chmaynard• 5 years ago

What a fine writer. Posts like this are why I follow Hacker News.

dekhn2• 5 years ago

you might want to see some of his other work, including West Side Story (retelling of Romeo and Juliet itself a retelling of another story) and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum....

sirdavidof• 5 years ago

It seems like a certain type of mind would be great at this. I wonder what else being good at cryptic crosswords correlates with.

fancyfredbot• 5 years ago

Cryptic crosswords were supposedly used to recruiter codebreakers to work at Bletchley park

thom2• 5 years ago

Cryptic crosswords make me feel very stupid. Even when I give up and look at the answers, some of the time I don’t even understand how the clue suggests the answer, despite practising for several years. That’s when I know the word at all. It’s a humbling experience, but still very addictive!

thom2• 5 years ago

Just because I want to be clear I do still love the art form, I was particularly tickled by this in the Guardian on Friday: Act unwisely and get lost (4,2).

openfuture2• 5 years ago

This article is a nerd snipe. Be forewarned.

I had some hallucinations of spending the next decades solving crossword puzzles as I read that, but they seem so arbitry I would go crazy, I'll stick to mathematics puzzles.

dorchadas• 5 years ago

Where do you get your mathematics puzzles?

openfuture2• 5 years ago

University and from thinking about large problems I'm interested in.. Also game design.

I basically picked a "side project" that I wouldn't mind doing forever.. So a hobby.. And then I just collect ideas that could be useful and I slowly get bored and go deeper until most of what I read and watch is more "advanced" than it was before... Maybe one day I'll be considered an expert problem solver, if so, it'll be because I took the time to try and solve one problem thoroughly and so many subproblems are cross-disciplinary. When you have some concept of "wasting time" then you'll have too much anxiety to follow this process in a way where you can develop a natural and relaxed approach to problem solving. If I'm wrong and that you need the anxiety to break through some ceiling then I'll spend my life as a happy layman.

EdwardDiego• 5 years ago

It really is a case of learning the puzzle creator's tricks and tell-tale phrasings. Takes a few goes, and switching to another crossword involves an adjustment period. Although anagrams are always ever popular. (And the hint I have for solving those is to write the letters in a circle, preferably backwards, so that you're not misled by existing structures in the word)

First crossword clue I ever solved solo was "six go by vehicle to see priest", that particular setter was very fond of roman numerals, which I'd picked up on from my previous attempts, so I figured it'd start with VI, and of course, a car is a vehicle, and a vicar is another term for an Anglican priest.

Tycho• 5 years ago

The British penchant for cryptic crosswords is the equivalent of the Russian enthusiasm for chess.

dekhn2• 5 years ago

my parents solve these and tried to get me interested. I looked at them and said they would be a good test for AGI.

tclancy• 5 years ago

I’ve been trying to get into cryptic after getting really good at American crosswords but it’s just so hard to find enough success to keep coming back. A number of constructors do offer hint versions now if you’re a better person/ more stubborn that me. https://squarepursuit.com/

JosephHatfield• 5 years ago

Modern-day NYT crosswords are much more like the "British" crosswords described in the article in that they are are often chock-full of clever, cryptic clues.

tangus• 5 years ago

Cryptic crosswords sound like fun. Unfortunately, at least in the Guardian's and the Independent's[*], words cross only every second letter. That, in addition to the cryptic clues, makes them too difficult for me.

[*] Those are the ones Forkyz (crossword Android app) provides.

objclxt• 5 years ago

I don’t use Forkyz but The Guardian has an introductory cryptic every Monday (the “Quiptic”) which is somewhat easier.

I also find it depends on the setter: Qaos (one of The Guardian’s setters) is a mathematician and software engineer, and his clues tend to be a bit more analytical and attuned to my sensibilities.

The Guardian also has a blog with a number of explainers and guides for those getting started: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog

earlgray• 5 years ago

I grew up with the Times crossword over dinner. We're not the most talkative family so a puzzle gives us something to do together while we're eating. A few observations, learned from introducing various other people to the hobby over the years:

1) The number one problem for new people is simply absorbing the rules of how to parse a clue. The linked article does a good job of going through these. Try to avoid the sense of learned hopelessness that often sets in early on.

2) The second most common isue is not managing in practice to get away from a literal reading. You need to take every word in isolation and try to escape the inevitable misdirection. For example, if the word 'rose' is in a clue that also contains the word 'flower', it's very unlikely that you're supposed to read 'flower' to mean something with petals. You need to think of any possible interpretation other than the obvious one. The classic second meaning here would be to read it as 'something that flows', which will mean the name of a river. Which brings us neatly onto the third difficulty:

3) Cryptic crosswords are heavily grounded in old-fashioned English culture. A reference to a river could mean a major international river or an obscure one from the British Isles, but it would be considered unfair to refer to an obscure river from another country. There are also some incredibly dusty references: 'sailor' could mean 'tar' (an archaic english slang that now exists only in crosswords) or 'AB' for 'able-bodied [seaman]'. 'Men' could refer to 'RA' (Royal Artillery) or 'RE' (Royal Engineers) among other things. One of the worst is 'posh' (or synonyms of it) to clue the letter 'u', which comes from high-society slang in the early-mid 20th century. 'Home counties' would be SE for South East [of England]. Cockney rhyming slang also often features, among many other things.

Problem 3 is the most insurmountable. It's also largely unfixable. If the range of acceptable references were broadened, it would become almost impossible for anyone to finish any given puzzle. But the references were fixed at a time that is no longer relevant and provides a huge barrier to entry for new people, which is why I expect these puzzles will largely die out over the next generation.

The bottom line is that if you feel like you struggle with cryptic crosswords, it's probably not because you're being stupid. There's a surprising amount of domain-specific knowledge you have to absorb, and in the best of cases any given puzzle will typically contain one or two absolute stinkers. A few references to help:

1) A list of common abbreviations: https://www.dummies.com/games/crossword-puzzles/cryptic-cros...

2) A website that solves clues and tries to explain: https://www.crosswordgenius.com/

3) A blog where people solve puzzles and explain them so you can learn how it works: https://www.fifteensquared.net/

4) I haven't seen squarepursuit before (linked by tclancy) but it looks like an excellent resource.

A few random tips:

1) Try to get the clues from the first row and the first column early on, as these give you starting letters for other clues

2) Get used to looking for anagram indicators. 'drunk', 'rotten', 'altered', anything like that. The other anagram indicator is always from adding up letters: if the answer is nine letters, look for combinations of words that add up to nine letters. Once you identify them, anagrams are a solid place to start once you've looked at the first row/column.

3) If possible, crosswords are best done with company. Everyone thinks in different ways.

4) Be wary of fish references. These can be incredibly obscure, and often indicate that setter was struggling to clue the last few letters so just googled them and found some vietnamese river fish that fit the bill.

5) If you're truly fed up, you can use a thesaurus on the word that you think is the definition. This is a bad habit, but if it lets you open up the puzzle a bit then it might be the right course of action.

My favourite clue ever: 'geg' (9-3)

scottdupoy2• 5 years ago

I've been attempting cryptic crosswords for 20+ years and this is a great answer.

My favourite clues: Die of cold (3-4) hijklmno (5)

All the tips you've given won't help with either of those, or your 'geg' clue, which is interesting. Maybe the best clues are all about lateral thinking.

dado3212• 5 years ago

Rot-13 I think these are VPR PHOR and JNGRE?

Stephen Sondheim on How to Do a Crossword Puzzle (1968)

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