David Astle’s Rewording the Brain
David Astle is of course DA, the setter of the Friday puzzles in Melbourne’s The Age newspaper and the Sydney Morning Herald. In typical DA fashion the title is a pun.
First published in 2018, revised in 2020. This book takes pride of place on my bookshelf, but most often I have it on my desk while I am compiling puzzles.
There are three parts to this book -
PART ONE: The Why - How puzzling nourishes your neurons
PART TWO: The How to - Unlocking a cryptic crossword
PART THREE: THE WTF - Fifty Puzzles to keep your brain abuzz
Each part alone is well worth the price of the book. Maybe part one can be skipped but dipped back into from time to time. It contains lots of interesting facts and speculation about how our brain works. One section deals with solving as a social activity which I particularly enjoy.
Part two is the essential reference for setters and solvers. All of the various clue types are explained, along with plenty of examples. For many of the clue types there are extensive lists of the indicators you will find in clues.
Finally part three consists of fifty original puzzles, carefully graded from super easy to ‘gnarly’ finishing with six themers. There are solutions, but of course you won’t need to consult them if you have read the previous parts of this wonderful book carefully.
More details here or buy your copy as a paperback or Kindle e-book.1
Puzzled by David Astle
Still going strong after 14 years.
This book was published in 2010, about the time when I really got hooked on cryptics. I had been doing them for about four decades before then, but I was just dipping into them from time to time. A milestone in my journey from being hooked, obsessed then addicted.
More details here or buy your copy as a paperback or Kindle e-book.2
Chambers Crossword Manual by Don Manley
For some reason Chambers is venerated as the dictionary of choice for UK setters. So they have the gravitas to commission this book. And they have chosen just the setter to do the job.
Don Maley is a super setter who’s crosswords appear in several UK publications. He uses several pseudonyms including Duck, Bradman, Giovanni, Quixote and Izetti. (there’s a theme there.
Don’s book includes 60 puzzles ranging from historical curiosities to
More details here or buy your copy as a paperback or Kindle e-book.3
Have you tried Jumbo Cryptic Puzzles?
Jumbo puzzles have much bigger grids - 23 x 23 squares instead of the usual 15 x 15. So there are about 60 clues per Jumbo, compared with the usual about 30.
Where else will you get to solve clues with answers like CABBAGE WHITE BUTTERFLY, or PHILOSOPHERS STONE or maybe even MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY.
Jumbos are best savoured over several days, or you can share the task with a few solvers via social media or a weekly coffee morning.
The Times publishes a compilation of 50 of these every year.
Here’s the latest edition.
Fifty puzzles for about $20 dollars. It’s a bargain!4
This series is ideal for beginners
I have used puzzles from this series when teaching beginners. These crosswords use a reduced 13x13 grid size and reduced difficulty too, the intention being to encourage people to take their first steps in tackling cryptic crosswords. They also to cater for those of us who have limited time to devote to our favourite pastime and need a ready-made set of puzzles that is solvable in a short space of time.
More details on Amazon5
More to books to come…
…or what books do you use?
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