Cain's Jawbone, a murder mystery cryptic puzzle novella in the form of 100 pages presented in the wrong order, has many millions of possible solutions but only one that is correct. 86 years after it was published, writer, comedian and crossword constructor John Finnemore solved it. And then, craving another 100-page cryptic puzzle murder story, he wrote his own.
Read moreAllusionist 194. Word Play part 4: Good Grids
Exciting things have been happening with crossword puzzles in the US: more constructors, more outlets to get puzzles published, clues and answers that would never have appeared even a few years ago, and puzzle packs raising a whole lot of money for charities and humanitarian causes.
Read moreAllusionist 193. Word Play 3: Lemon Demon
AJ Jacobs makes The Puzzler podcast, wrote The Puzzler book, and sometimes turns his whole life into a puzzle. He comes bearing word games, explanations of anagrams being used to precipitate wars and were key evidence in trials, tips for writing with a quill, below-the-knee insults, and tales of living constitutionally.
Read moreAllusionist 8: Crosswords
Cryptic crosswords: delightful brain exercise, or the infernal taunting of the incomprehensible?
Either way, crossword setter John Feetenby explains how they're made and how to solve them. He reveals how he composes clues (even one for 'Zaltzman'), why crosswords reign supreme over sudoku, and why 'jacuzzi' is rarely the answer.
ADDITIONAL READING:
If, like me, you suck at cryptic crosswords, to start off here's Cryptic Crosswords for Dummies.
I'll never be able to do The Guardian's crossword, but if that's the crossword mountain you want to climb, here's the Guardian's Cryptic Crosswords for Beginners series. I can do the Telegraph crossword a bit, so here's the Telegraph's guide too.
This is a very handy compendium of what words mean in crosswordese.
Here's a summary of the differences between UK and US crosswords.
I'm aware that crosswords from other countries work differently to British ones, so do illuminate me about your own local crossword practices.
RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
waterbrash
Say hi at facebook.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow, and come back in a fortnight for the next episode.
- HZ
CREDITS
John Feetenby's crosswords appear every Sunday in one of Britain's major newspapers. He is @feexby on Twitter and his website is feexby.com, via which you can find his own podcasts.
This episode was presented and produced by me, Helen Zaltzman.
MUSIC:
'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick
'I don't Get It' - Cowboy Junkies
'Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood' - The Animals
