Beginner's
guide to Crossword solving—fundamentals
Here, the Muse Of Language Arts presents an introduction to the game of
crosswords, American-style. Other nations,
most noteworthy those of Great Britain, have their own styles of play and
their own puzzle construction conventions.
Introduction
Many people brought up in the English-speaking world are familiar with
the basic rules and procedures for playing and solving crosswords. Why?
Because the game of crosswords is common in these places; it's ubiquitous.
In this respect, crosswords in the English-speaking world is a little like
soccer or backgammon elsewhere.
So, if you don't hail from the English-speaking world and if you know nothing about the game, this
page is for you. Welcome aboard.
But what if you have a rough idea of how to play? Perhaps you've
watched others play but never played yourself. Or perhaps you played a long
time ago and your interest in the game has recently been reawakened; you
don't quite remember all the stuff you once took for granted. Do you need a refresher?
then this page is for you.
Here, you won't learn everything you need to play, but you'll get
started. The Muse only assumes that you have the innate ability to climb
aboard rapidly once you receive a nudge in the right direction, and this
page is that nudge.
This page will motivate you to learn more and it will remind you of the
basics of play; but don't expect it to bring you up to speed on the
subtleties of the game, or even to learn to play the game well or even
competently. For that, you'll need to know more.
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—tip— for more or less
If you believe that you're past the motivation and fundamentals stage and
you're ready to progress to a full-blown description of how to play the
game, the Muse recommends that you proceed to the page called How the Game
Is Played, where you'll find a crosswords overview:
click here. On
the other hand, if you're a rank, rank amateur, you may need detailed, from-scratch,
agonizingly simple directions. Or, if you're a competent player seeking to
advance his standing, you may want to pass up this page and advance to a full-blown
course. In either case, the Muse suggests that you look for these kinds of
courses online or in a crossword instruction manual. |
what it's like
What's it like to play a game of crosswords? How does it feel?
Like the
game of Solitaire, the vast majority of crosswords are played (solved) privately and alone. People work puzzles for their own amusement, for
intellectual stimulation, or to pass the time of day. theyplay on commuter
trains, at home over the kitchen table, on work breaks, and in hundreds of
other places and ways. And they usually play silently and with concentration,
without an audience looking over their shoulder and without interruption. This exploration of how to play the game applies to this
style of play only.
You probably already know that there are other ways to play crosswords,
versions of the game with other rules and procedures. One of
the most prominent and important of these is tournament play.
A tournament
of any kind is a trial of skill in which players compete to see who's best.
Opposing parties meet at an appointed time and place and competitors play a
series of contests, usually before an audience. In these respects,
tournament crosswords are no different from other kinds of tournaments. But
the kind of play we are examining here exhibits none of these
characteristics because it has different objectives. As a consequence, it
has different rules and procedures.
If you're curious about the differences between this kind of play and
tournament play, you can find information about crossword tournaments
elsewhere at Electricka's web site.
- To get an idea of how tournament competition is run, visit the page at
Electricka's web site called
the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament:
click here.
- See a detailed account of how the American Crossword Tournament is
played and scored, visit the page called How Its Organized And Run:
click here.
the puzzle
From a materials or physical point of view, a crossword puzzle (or just
crossword) consists of three items:
- A list of across clues
- A list of down clues
- A grid
- For an example of a typical puzzle, see Electricka's crossword titled
Literati:
click here.
Normally, the person who constructs the puzzle (the constructor) supplies
a picture of the grid with the correct answers to the clues filled in,
called a solution.
- For an example of a solution, see the solution to Electricka's
crossword titled Literati:
click here.
Object of the game
the solver's object is to win. He wins by completely filling in the empty
grid with correct answers to the clues.
grid layout
Initially, the grid contains only white and black squares. Some squares
are numbered in a special way, described later. As the game proceeds, the solver fills in
empty white squares with letters that make up answers to clues. The solver
uses the numbers in the squares as guides for where to place answers.
clues
Each clue points to a place in the grid where its answer resides. There are two kinds of
clues:
Across
- Across clues have answers that consist of words whose letters run
horizontally (from
left to right) across the grid. Hence the name across.
- Each across clue is assigned a unique number. This number corresponds to
(is the same as) the number for its answer in the grid.
Down
- Down clues have answers that consist of words whose letters run
vertically (from
top to bottom) down the grid. Hence the name down.
- Each down clue is assigned a unique number. This number corresponds to
(is the same as) the number for its answer in
the grid.
answers
Each answer in the grid consists of one or more words in the grid. Each word consists
of one or more letters, usually, one letter to a white square. There are two kinds of
answers:
Across
Across answers are answers to across clues:
- the letters in an across
answer run from left to right across the grid.
- the first letter of an across answer begins with a white square at a
grid boundary. (A grid boundary is either the left perimeter of the grid
or a black square inside the grid.)
- the left-most or first white square in an answer contains the same
number as the clue it answers.
- the last letter of an across answer ends with a white square located at
the first grid boundary the answer encounters. (A grid boundary is either the right perimeter of the
grid or a black square within the grid.)
Down
Down answers are answers to down clues:
- the letters in a down clue run top to bottom across the grid.
- the first letter of a down answer begins with a white square at a
grid boundary. (A grid boundary is either the top perimeter of the grid
or a black square inside the grid.)
- the top-most or first white square in an answer contains the same
number as the clue it answers.
- the last letter of a down answer ends with a white square at the
first grid
boundary the answer encounters. (A grid boundary is either the bottom perimeter of the grid or
a black square within the grid.)
crosswords
Across answers consist of words that run across a puzzle (grid); down
answers consist of words that run down a puzzle (grid). Across and down
words cross or meet each other at some white squares in the grid, with some letters
(white squares) in across words being shared by some letters (white
squares) in down words.
Words in crossword puzzles cross each other: this fact is the source of inspiration for the
name of the game Crosswords.
playing—solving by filling in the grid
the solver plays by 1) selecting a clue, 2) thinking up possible answers
to the clue, 3) selecting an answer from among the possible ones, and 4)
entering the answer in the grid.
How to enter an answer in the grid:
- Place the first letter of an answer for a specific clue in the grid,
starting with the numbered white square that corresponds to the clue's
type (across or down) and number.
- Continue placing letters in sequential order in the white squares that
follow, one for each white square, until either the grid
perimeter or a black box is reached.
the game ends when every white square in the grid is filled in with
an answer that the solver believes to be correct.
That's all there is to it!
winning, losing, tying, drawing, checking, and cheating
In one sense, a crossword puzzle is a game in which the solver plays
against himself. His objective is to enter a correct
answer in the grid for each puzzle clue. The game ends when all white squares in
the grid are correctly filled in.
In another sense, a crossword puzzle is a zero-sum game between the
constructor and the solver. The solver wins if and when he correctly answers
all clues by filling in every white square in the grid with a correct
answer. The constructor wins if he succeeds at preventing the solver from
completely filling the grid with correct answers by the time the game ends. Play
ends when the solver fills the grid with all the answers, decides to make no more changes to the answers,
and consults the solution; or, it finishes when he concedes.
the constructor is required to play fair. Playing fair means that
there exists a valid answer for every clue, that each clue legitimately
relates to the answer it represents, and that each clue is stated in a
manner that a logical, well-informed solver with good sense can be expected
to decipher. The constructor who plays fair has the last word about which
answers are correct and he provides them to the solver in the solution.
Often the constructor states clues as hints that are deliberately masked
or obscured by wordplay, ambiguity, or other linguistic or semantic devices.
Playing fair does not require a constructor to pose clues in a manner that
makes their answers obvious.
Winning And Losing
the constructor wins and the solver loses if and when the solver fails
to finish the puzzle or concedes. The constructor also wins if any final
answer is missing or incorrect. The solver fails to finish the puzzle if he
decides to abandon the puzzle forever. If he decides to temporarily put
aside the puzzle and return to it later, the contest continues.
the solver wins and the constructor loses if and when the solver
completely and correctly fills in every white square of the grid, decides
to make no more changes to answers, consults the solution provided by the constructor, and finds that every answer in the grid is in
letter-for-letter and white square-for-white square agreement with every answer in the solution.
Tying
In crosswords, there's no such thing as a tie.
Drawing
In gaming, to draw is to leave (a contest) undecided; to finish
with neither side winning. If the solver does not give up (concede) and
temporarily puts the puzzle aside, honestly intending to return but never
actually returning, the game's a draw. There's no such thing as leaving a crossword
undecided because of a tie.
checking
A solution consists
of a copy of the grid with all white squares filled in with correct answers.
the solver knows when he has provided an answer for every clue because he
can see that he has filled in all white squares in the grid, but his answers
are only tentative until he consults the constructor's solution. theyare
tentataive because they
are only guesses about answers to the clues that the constructor has
supplied, and clues are only hints.
about Checking solutions
Solvers must consult the constructor's solution and check their work
against it before they can be certain that every
answer they have entered in the grid is correct. If not, they run the risk
of entering an answer that seems to be reasonable but that isn't the answer
the constructor expects. This kind of mistake will cost a solver his the
game.
the fact that all across words mesh with all down words in the grid is
a strong (but not foolproof) method for verifying that all answers are
correct before consulting the solution. However, the only way to be
absolutely sure that there are no errors is to check the constructor's
solution.
Oddly:
- A solver does not know whether all his answers are correct unless and
until he consults the constructor's solution to confirm that all his
tentative answers are in agreement with the answers supplied by the
constructor. By that time, if the solver's tentative solution contains
incorrect answers, it's too late for him to solve the puzzle in an honest
manner because he has seen the answers.
- If the solver consults the solution and learns that he has entered an
incorrect answer, and if he goes on playing, he cheats. In this situation,
his attempt to confirm his victory is an act of finality. If the solver
honestly enters a wrong answer, when he checks the solution he forfeits
his chance to win and he loses, even if his answers
are valid in the sense that they fit the clues.
Constructors are expected to create and supply a solution with each
puzzle they create. However, sometimes a solution is not supplied with a
puzzle, creating a dilemma. If the constructor does not supply a solution with the puzzle, there's no way for the solver to be certain that he has correctly solved the
puzzle; there's no way to decide the contest.
Cheating
Except at tournaments, crosswords is
normally played as a game of honor, not as a game of competition. The solver plays to solve the puzzle whether he plays against himself or against a
constructor. If a solver consults the solution while entering answers in
the grid, he has cheated. The cheating solver fools no one but himself.
more about the rudiments of play
the Muse suggest that you look for additional directions and other
information on playing the game at these web sites; they may help you get
started:
- At the Wikipedia page called Crossword, see an example of how to play.
Explore additional information on grid structure and properties, types of
clues, variations in types of crossword puzzles, history, how the game is
played in non-English languages, notation, and other topics. See references
and links to other web sites:
click here.
- See a monograph on crossword puzzles at the Barelybad web site:
click here.
- See graphically-oriented instructions at the FreePuzzle.com web site:
click here.
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