How to Become Good at Crossword: 5 Ways to Master the Game
Crossword puzzles are suitable for brainstorming and improving other life skills such as problem-solving. However, they can be frustrating when you do not know how to solve a puzzle, which can take you even days. Many do give up, especially after being defeated in a given section.
How to Become Good at Crossword?
You do not have to give up as long as you have the right skills and strategies. These strategies can give you clues and boost your patience which is crucial for solving any puzzle. Here are some ways to become perfect at crossword puzzles.
Games to make you better at crossword Puzzles.
Different types of games can make you good at crossword puzzles since they challenge you to think critically. These mind-intensive games are suitable for exposing you to different scenarios and challenges that can motivate you to solve the crossword puzzle. They will also teach you to get clues from various sources to solve the puzzles.
According to Cross 911, to be good at a crossword puzzle, one must have a broad knowledge and be ready to observe different scenarios to fill the puzzle. Games such as Trivial pursuit, scrabble, word searches, word ladders, and scattergories can boost crossword puzzle skills enabling you to be good at the game. Besides the challenge, these games also teach patience and critical thinking, which are key skills for becoming perfect at crossword puzzles.
Strategic Cheating
A puzzle jogs the brain, and it can sometimes be the most challenging thing to get through. They are likely to send you through deep thought and desperation with no solution. That’s why occasionally strategic cheating is necessary to get you through to the next word. Crossword puzzle cheating does not mean peeping on the possible answers; you can use other means to get through.
Here are some strategies to get through. A mobile app can help you to get through the challenge. You can check the reveal letters from these apps one at a time until you solve the puzzle. Some people also prefer using mobile or physical dictionaries as a guide. These clues will give you enough information to get you through the most challenging words. From there, you can proceed to solve the others without necessarily cheating.
Knowledge diversity
Those who excel at crossword puzzles are not prominent geniuses but have vast information in various areas and subjects. Remember, crossword puzzles do not only test your knowledge in one area; they cover different fields and topics. Hence the more you know, the better. Ensure you read the different topics and headlines covered in the paper before you begin solving the puzzle. The diverse knowledge provides you with the necessary information to generate the words to fit into your pattern.
You can also become good at puzzles by solving many of them. You can solve those posted by newspapers and ensure you do a puzzle every day. Sometimes the puzzle words repeat themselves; hence solving multiple puzzles posted by one magazine will give you the knowledge to be perfect at subsequent or future puzzles. You can also watch Youtubers solve the puzzles and compare them with the previous puzzle; this will give you diverse information on how to do it independently.
Practice makes perfect
Solving a crossword puzzle every day boosts your knowledge of the puzzle. This calls for a routine that involves solving at least one puzzle every day. You can tackle different puzzle types to help you familiarize yourself with the essential skills. You can begin by downloading crossword puzzle apps. These apps keep different refreshing kinds of puzzles, and they can also help you with clues whenever you need them.
You can also get unlimited puzzles from different papers; you can talk to someone to only print for you the puzzle sections. You can carry the printed puzzles and try solving them during your free time, on the road, or when relaxing with friends. Friends can help you practice the puzzle since they have different knowledge about different stuff.
Find a pattern
Puzzles do have specific patterns that can help you solve the clues quickly. Once you identify the patterns, everything becomes straightforward. You can understand how patterns such as tenses and abbreviations fit into different puzzle sections. You can also watch for common clues for words that end in “ing, Est, er,” and many more.
Patterns can also help you solve foreign words that you cannot find from other sources such as apps. Equally, guessing can sometimes help you identify a pattern. That’s why you should use a pencil and an eraser when solving a crossword puzzle. Guessing works well on phone crossword puzzles because you can undo the guess with a button click without affecting other solved sections.
Solving a crossword puzzle requires certain traits, namely patience, intelligence, and commitment. Without these skills, crossword puzzles can be a daunting task. Those who are good at puzzle solving make it a routine that helps them develop various strategies to perfect their art of filling the puzzles.
