Crossword Puzzle Challenges for Dummies

by Patrick Berry

Series: for Dummies Games, for Dummies

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Eight bonus chapters explain how to construct your own puzzles! Open the book for a brand-new collection of brain-twisting puzzles Looking for a crossword challenge? All you have to do is open the book, sharpen your pencil (or, hot shot, uncap your pen), and get ready to match wits with Patrick Berry, one of today's top puzzle constructors. You get 70 all-new crosswords that are guaranteed to test your puzzle-solving skills - plus a special bonus section that shows you how to create (and sell) your own challenging crosswords. The Dummies Way * Explanations in plain English * "Get in, get out" information * Icons and other navigational aids * Tear-out cheat sheet * Top ten lists * A dash of humor and fun Discover how to: * The secrets of crossword construction * How to craft a memorable puzzle theme, from quotes to reversals and rebuses * The tricks to designing and filling a grid * An insider's guide to writing great clues * Ten top markets for crossword puzzles… (more)

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This book is a bit of a surprise. From the title (Crossword Puzzle Challenges for Dummies), one would expect to get a book full of hard crossword puzzles. And, in fact, the first seventy pages or so do have puzzles of varying degrees of difficulty.

But the last hundred pages contain a very good introduction to crossword puzzle construction. (It's advertised on the back of the book as being a "bonus" section.) Patrick Berry is a prolific puzzle creator, and he offers a number of incredibly helpful tips. Most beneficial are the asides about how he made many of the puzzles in this book -- even including the false starts and the dead ends that he bumped into while constructing the puzzles.

I think the now out-of-print Random House Puzzlemaker's Handbook by Mel Rosen has more concrete information about the "rules" of crossword puzzle construction, but Crossword Puzzle Challenges comes pretty close to being the best beginners book in this field. (

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legallypuzzled | Aug 25, 2011 |

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Crossword Puzzle Challenges for Dummies

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To the Florida Bear, who appreciates a good puzzle.

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[Introduction] If you were to compile a list of all the people who have ever published a crossword puzzle in The New York Times, you might be surprised by the results.

[Part II, Chapter 1] Ever occupation, I suppose, has its own most frequently-asked cocktail party question.

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Eight bonus chapters explain how to construct your own puzzles! Open the book for a brand-new collection of brain-twisting puzzles Looking for a crossword challenge? All you have to do is open the book, sharpen your pencil (or, hot shot, uncap your pen), and get ready to match wits with Patrick Berry, one of today's top puzzle constructors. You get 70 all-new crosswords that are guaranteed to test your puzzle-solving skills - plus a special bonus section that shows you how to create (and sell) your own challenging crosswords. The Dummies Way * Explanations in plain English * "Get in, get out" information * Icons and other navigational aids * Tear-out cheat sheet * Top ten lists * A dash of humor and fun Discover how to: * The secrets of crossword construction * How to craft a memorable puzzle theme, from quotes to reversals and rebuses * The tricks to designing and filling a grid * An insider's guide to writing great clues * Ten top markets for crossword puzzles

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