How to solve crosswords: a beginner's guide

How a crossword works

A crossword is a grid of white and black squares. Each run of white squares holds one answer, written a letter to a square, either across (left to right) or down (top to bottom). A numbered square is where an answer starts, and the clue with that number tells you what the answer is. The number in brackets after a clue is how many letters the answer has.

The whole trick of the puzzle is in the name: the words cross. A letter you are sure of in an across answer is also a letter of a down answer, so each solved clue is a hint for several others.

This guide is about quick crosswords and minis, the kind in Yuzool's Crossword. They are also the right place to begin if you would like to try cryptics one day.

Where to start

1. Read all the across clues once. Write in only the answers you are sure of. Do not stop to puzzle over any of them yet.
2. Do the same for the downs. Some will now have a letter or two in place, which often turns a maybe into a certainty.
3. Work outwards from what you have. Pick the area with the most letters filled and try every clue that crosses it. A clue with its first letter known is far easier than one with none.
4. Go round again. Each pass gives new letters. Clues that were blank ten minutes ago will now read "_ A _ T L E" and suddenly be obvious.
5. Save the long answers for later unless you see them at once. They are satisfying, but they are easier with three or four crossing letters in place.

How to read a clue

A fair clue can stand in for its answer in a sentence. That one rule tells you a great deal about the answer before you have a single letter:

• Same part of speech. If the clue is a verb, the answer is a verb. "Cut the grass" is MOW; "Garden's green carpet" is LAWN.
• Same tense. "Had dinner" is ATE, not EAT. A clue ending in "-ing" usually has an answer ending in ING.
• Same number. A plural clue has a plural answer, so "Molar or incisor" is TOOTH but "Molars and canines" must be TEETH. Many plurals end in S: pencil it in.
• Same register. A slangy or informal clue ("Father, informally") has an informal answer (DAD).

Many clues have more than one possible answer of the right length: "Big" could be HUGE, VAST or TALL. Do not guess. Wait for a crossing letter to choose for you, or write the likeliest in pencil.

Signals hidden in the wording

Clue writers use a few small words in a regular way. Learn them and clues start to explain themselves.

Watch for words with two lives, too. "Flower" might be a bloom. "Number" is usually a figure, but a setter in a playful mood may mean something that numbs. If a clue makes no sense, read each word again and ask what else it could mean.

Let the letters help

With a few crossing letters in place you are no longer answering a clue from nothing. You are choosing among the handful of words that fit, and English spelling narrows the choice fast.

• Endings. A last letter of S suggests a plural or a verb ("runs"). D suggests a past tense in -ED. G suggests -ING. Y often means an adjective or adverb (-LY).
• Q is nearly always followed by U. If you have a Q, write the U in the next square.
• Vowels and consonants alternate more often than not. In "_ A _ E" the gaps are almost certainly consonants: CAKE, LATE, GAME, SAFE.
• Common pairs. TH, CH, SH, ST and ER are frequent. A word starting "_ H" is very likely CH, SH, TH or WH.
• Double letters turn up in the middle of words (LETTER, BUTTER, COFFEE) far more than at the ends.
• Say the pattern aloud. "Something, A, something, T, L, E". Your ear is often quicker than your eye, and CASTLE or BATTLE falls out.

What to do when you are stuck

1. Move on. The most useful habit in crosswords. Leave the clue and work on another corner; the crossing letters will come.
2. Question your certain answers. If a whole corner will not work, one of the answers already in it is probably wrong. Look for the one you were least sure of.
3. Use pencil. Write a likely answer lightly and see whether its crossings make sense. In Crossword, turn on the pencil and your guesses go in grey, so you can tell them from the letters you trust.
4. Take a break. Put it down for ten minutes. Solvers have always sworn that answers arrive while the kettle boils, and it is true surprisingly often.
5. Check before you reveal. A check shows which letters are wrong and leaves the solving to you. If you are still stuck, reveal a single letter rather than the whole word.
6. Look it up, then remember it. There is no shame in a dictionary. The words you look up today are the ones you will know next week.

Common mistakes

• Starting at 1 Across and refusing to move. The first clue is no easier than the rest. Start wherever you can.
• Writing in a guess as if it were certain. One wrong answer in ink can spoil four crossing clues. Pencil it.
• Ignoring the tense and the plural. They are free information. "Went", not "go"; "mice", not "mouse".
• Forgetting the letter count. If your answer has six letters and the clue says (5), it is not the answer, however well it fits the meaning.
• Assuming American spelling. British crosswords, including this one, spell it COLOUR, CENTRE and GREY.
• Giving up on a blank corner. Find one answer anywhere near it and build from there.

Above all, do one every day. Setters reuse useful short words (AREA, ERA, IDLE, OBOE), clue patterns repeat, and within a couple of weeks you will find yourself filling in answers before you have finished reading the clue. A daily Mini takes two minutes and is the easiest way to build the habit; the Classic is there when you want a proper sit-down solve.