Crossword puzzles are an enjoyable activity, parsing our language and knowledge at every turn and providing an advantageous and satisfying experience. The rest of the time, crossword puzzles with esoteric clues that would baffle a grandmaster of arbitrary knowledge can be maddening. Luckily, we’re here to keep you on your toes with five tips to solve puzzles to help you finish any crossword puzzles, even the most challenging segments. Whether it’s an innocent puzzle like the TV Guide or even one as scary as the New York Times crossword puzzles, these tips will help you. Now, let’s take a look closer at them below.
Begin With Simple and Easy Puzzles
Before venturing into the NYT puzzles mentioned above, you need to expand your knowledge and puzzle-solving skills into smaller and not too challenging puzzles. By doing so, you’ll learn techniques to overcome the puzzles and areas you struggle with. Moreover, you will also gradually increase your understanding. You may find that clues are repeated throughout the puzzle. So, each puzzle you pass increases your chances of solving another one.
Read a Lot
There is no better way to improve your understanding than to read. Every piece of information we find is just another nugget of knowledge that can be applied to a crossword puzzle at the right time. Read novels, read newspapers, read about our history on earth, and the way the world works. You will then find that your knowledge base is far more than enough to solve even the most daunting puzzles. Gaining a lot of knowledge means more puzzles you can tackle.
Finish the Easiest Clues First
To solve all of the clues, you need to quickly tour all of the clues. Then, you should finish the ones that come your way quickly and easily. Unlike burdening your mind with clues with minimal help, completing the content effortlessly will immediately give you extra cards and help with the harder-to-find clues. Moreover, after you finish the easiest clues, you can start to gain some credits on the next clues as there are many letters written. All in all, starting with the easiest clues is an essential tip for solving difficult crossword puzzles.
Do Some Experiments
If you think you know an answer but aren’t sure, or even if you imagine something completely, feel free to gently mark it and then use those letters to find out if they make sense along with other clues. You may find that your guess was correct, which will lead to the solution of other clues—just the process of marking the letters in one clue. Then, you can use them to solve another clue. This might give you another line of faith in that other clue and help you solve it, even if your initial guess was wrong.
Consider Using Online Help
Consider using an online crossword solver to help you fill in the blanks in the most difficult puzzles if you have a clue. These tools allow you to enter the clue as it appears in your puzzle, as well as the number of letters and some of the notes you are filling in. Thus, it can give you some options. Moreover, these tools are incredibly helpful for you to solve any difficult sections. Then, you need to write everything down to help you solve the rest of the puzzle.
