Where to get your crossword fix?

Where to get your crossword fix?

When I get onto a plane, I invariably notice people pulling out their crosswords to solve. But where are they getting the crossword books from?

The airlines themselves were carrying crosswords in their magazines on a routine basis for many years until the pandemic cut across their publications.

Few have yet to start publishing magazines again.

So now, it’s up to the solvers to bring on board their own crosswords from many different sources.

Of course, the New York Times is one of the most revered sources of crossword puzzles and their editor, Will Shortz, ensures a very high level of quality in all their puzzles.

But carrying on board a large newspaper and having to spread it out on the plane is something people don’t do a lot nowadays.

 Choices

Some travelers will visit the airport shops for their puzzle books but there aren’t a lot of choices there.

Amazon provides a huge selection of crossword puzzle books of all levels of difficulty. You can buy books such as 110 Themed Crossword Puzzles: Puzzles to challenge and entertain your brain by Myles Mellor which contains long phrases going across each puzzle which you have to figure out by solving the clues around them.

Some solvers prefer the very hard crosswords such as the New York Times Saturday level puzzle books.

If you are looking for an easy crossword puzzle book there is a very wide selection on Amazon. And they have great names! Stanley Newman has a collection of “Easy as Pie Crosswords”. Kappa Publishing sells a “Big and Easy Crosswords Book” and Myles Mellor offers “150 Easy Peasy Crossword Puzzles” and a number of other similar books.

So these are good choices if you are going to be traveling and want to have plenty of “crossword entertainment” for the flight.

Other venues for crossword passion

Of course the airlines are not the only places where crossword puzzle solvers can enjoy their addiction! Commuter trains are another perfect location where people can forget about work and just “do the puzzle”. Will Shortz, the crossword editor for the New York Times himself, has been known to show up on a commuter train and check in on people doing the New York Times puzzles which is a pleasant surprise when it happens!

Most people now buy crossword puzzle books online and solve most of their crosswords at home. There’s nothing like a peaceful Sunday morning with some coffee and a crossword puzzle. It’s almost an institution! In fact there’s a whole genre of “Sunday Crosswords” and many examples of these on Amazon.

Why Sunday crosswords? Well, for a start, a Sunday crossword is a lot bigger than the regular crossword puzzle you find on a weekday in most newspapers. The standard size is 21×12 squares. So there are a lot more clues to solve. Secondly, a typical Sunday crossword will have a number of long phrases going across the puzzle which are all tied together by a theme. Simple theme phrases could be the names of baseball players or popular movies. More tricky themes involve word play and perhaps repeating the use of a letter in the alphabet just as an example.

It’s up the solver to figure that out and often you need to solve the smaller clues which connect to the long theme phrases.

In any event, a Sunday crossword is going to keep the average solver occupied for some hours unless you are very experienced and a pro at decoding difficult puzzles!

Talking of themes, Myles Mellor is one of the pioneers of themed crossword puzzles and popularized the genre publishing them in 100s of magazines and major companies.

How many puzzles per day?

This is an amusing question as it reminds me of the warnings on drug prescriptions!

But the beauty of the crossword puzzle addiction is that there is no known limit to the number of crosswords you can solve in a day. The only side effects seem to be keeping your mind sharp, extending your life expectancy and generally enjoying life more! I have heard of people solving 5 crosswords per day and of course they go through a book in 2-3 weeks!

It’s no wonder the crossword puzzle writers have to stay busy and not fall behind!

The ideal present

When I talk to people and tell them that my profession is a crossword puzzle writer they almost invariably say “Oh wow! My ____ (relative) does them all the time”.

So, if you’re stuck thinking of what to get your Mom, Dad or grandparents for a birthday, if they are crossword solvers, a new crossword book or books will be a much loved present!

Summing up

The crossword puzzle world right now is huge. Under the radar maybe, but Will Shortz once estimated that 56 million people in this country were quietly solving crosswords. But that was over 10 years ago! Are they shouting from the rooftops? No, they’re just quietly enjoying a wonderful passion and a beneficial “addiction.”