554 Cryptic Varietal Crossword Puzzles
Hobbies & How-to | Registration opens 12/2/25 9:00 AM EST
Mental exercise (such as working crosswords) is thought to benefit older brains by keeping them agile. In Cryptic Crosswords each clue is a puzzle in itself. And beyond that, cryptic crosswords add a fun layer of logic to the standard crossword format, making them crosswords on steroids! The cryptic clues combined with variations on the construction challenge the solver with novelties beyond the standard puzzle. When this class began in 2012, no one had a clue! Well, they did but didn’t know how to solve it. Since then, we’ve developed into a group of addicted, self-selected masochists, but new class members are very welcome; and we will teach them the skills that the veterans have learned. These puzzles are fun to work together since each participant brings a unique, puzzle-solving perspective to the team. American varietal crossword puzzles are used to learn how to solve cryptic clues and to deduce the wordplay of varietals. Cryptic crosswords seem impossible at first, but they operate within a system of Fair Play rules, and class members develop skills and strategies to unveil their mysteries. Regular crossword skills such as a good vocabulary are assets, but mental flexibility and clue-type recognition is where the fun begins!
Elane Streets
Elane Streets was recently asked: “how does one “teach” crosswords?” One learns by doing, as with most things, but these crosswords also operate within a rule’s framework, which, like the rules of any game, can be taught. Elane began learning to solve cryptic crosswords as a newlywed in England in the 1970s, and although the shock was severe in the beginning, she has learned to treasure them much more than even the toughest US regular puzzles.