Best Cryptic Puzzles
"A collection of 400 witty or humorous quotations along with their authors' names...have been enciphered into simple substitution ciphers with retained word divisions.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"PROS. -lots of them. -hints; two letter hints even. CONS. -too small (a common problem in these books, oddly). -hint errors, seriously?"
"I like a larger format puzzle book and not on newsprint sort of paper...cryptograms themselves are fun intriguing, glad I have it."
"I am not smart enough to use do these but my gentleman friend loves these."
"It needs editing."
"They love to do the cryptogram in the newspaper each day making a copy of it and then competing to see who gets it first."
"great way to spend my time."
If you thought Volume 1 was mind-blowingly awesome, then you'll think Volume 2 is mind-blowingly awesome as well.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There are a couple that you'll finish in just a few minutes, but then you'll come to Kevin Wald's "Trafficking Report", where it takes half an hour just to understand the instructions. Instead of working toward one of those solutions logically, save yourself the tsuris and just notice how the longest entries fit together. With this particular collection (and volume 1 as well), I find myself coveting the brains of the constructors."
"I do not recommend this volume for the new cryptic solver (we have had some people try to join us in solving and they were lost), but anyone who has done some simpler cryptics or regularly worked on any of the Cox/Rathvon puzzles should be OK. One criticism: I do wish the solutions in the back were a bit more descriptive, particularly on puzzles with interesting conclusions/mechanisms or additional instructions after the grid has been completed (like in the "Emergence-y" puzzle in this volume), but that is not enough to take away a star."
"Like reading a good novel, you rush to finish it and then feel sad that it's over. Also, though grid construction varies widely, as a general rule I would say that these cryptics leave fewer "unchecked" letters than the crossword-style cryptics which improves the odds of 100% completion (and total satisfaction)."
"My friend loves cryptic crosswords and likes it difficult - you have to go some to please him - both volume one & two live up to his need for challenge - which isn't an easy task."
"My husband LOVES cryptic crosswords and this book has some of the best."
"Many of the puzzles are quite entertaining, but many are also so convoluted that they bacame mere exercises in bookkeeping rather that cryptics to solve."
In addition to challenging your brain, these cryptograms will provide food for thought with meaningful messages from Einstein, Shaw, Whitman, Disraeli, Gandhi, Santayana and 24 others.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This inexpensive, sturdy, entertaining book contains 300 pleasurable, insightful and enlightening, even witty, quotes drawn from 30 of the world's most renowned thinkers, sages and philosophers, forming an eclectic collection that includes Epictetus, Cicero, Descartes, Wilde, Jung, Whitman and Einstein, among others."
"This book was ok."
"If I need a bit of help, especially on the shorter ones with fewer words to look for patterns in, I go to the the answer page and before opening stick a piece of paper in."
"I can carry it in my purse to use when I'm waiting for a doctor's appointment, etc."
"The print is quite tiny, however, and it's challenging at first to get used to the tiny lettering."
"Years of fun with this book!"
"I am a huge crytogram fan and this is a great set for experienced puzzler solvers."
"I really like the book,They are very challenging, and makes my mind work hard."
Best Crostic Puzzles
(Traditional crostic quotes have less than 200 letters.).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I wouldn't say these are trivial, but they are certainly easier than the New York Times puzzles, and not to be compared to those of the immortal Charles A, Duerr. With a book of 50 Charles A Duerr puzzles, I feel proud of myself if I manage to do them all, even if two or three of them took me several days. One howler I remember had, for the name of the strait at the southern entrance to New York Bay, the answer "Verrazano Narrows.""
"I can't say enough good things about these crostics and I hope there are more volumes to follow."
"I like acrostic puzzles' They re excellent for keeping my brain active."
"The longer potential answers provide for a more challenging environment."
"Good double acrostic puzzles."
"Bought copies for myself and my sister-- both enjoying it immensely!"
"I never use reference works when I do puzzles, and I hate the ones that have quotes from Ovid or the obscurer parts of Shakespeare’s history plays."
"Terrific and challenging!"
Best Puzzle Dictionaries
From Jim Carrey to Sister Carrie, Homer Simpson to Homer’s Iliad, the wide-ranging entries include 500,000+ synonyms, 3,000+ literary works, 3,000+ films, 20,000+ famous people from all fields, and more than 50,000 fill-in-the-blank clues so popular in today’s crosswords. “The largest, most up-to-date, and most useful crossword dictionary available.” (from the Introduction by Will Shortz, New York Times Crossword Editor). A must for the crossword aficionado.” (Rich Norris, Los Angeles Times crossword editor). “...this remarkable book is destined to be not just another crossword dictionary, but the crossword dictionary.” (Wayne Robert Williams, Chicago Tribune crossword editor).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Frequent usage demands a durable binding and the paperback just does not fit the bill and quickly wears out."
"When I first downloaded this book and tried to use it on the Samsung Kindle app I got very frustrated. However I wanted to install it on my Kindle Paperwhite so I purchased it again. This time I find that I can use it on the Samsung Kindle app. I haven't managed to download this to my Kindle, but for the moment, I am well pleased with the tablet app performance."
"The version now shipping has about 1500 entries updated to 2016 at the end, after the XYZ section, which includes sports, movies, politicians (i.e. foreign leaders)."
"Was in great condition for used book and good price with quick shipping."
"I will re-order this 2nd edition because it is so helpful, but it does need an update on content and a hard cover for those of us who work crossword puzzles daily and Saturday and Sunday."
"I originally bought this fro my mother in law who has a stack of crossword dictionaries a mile high."
"It contains everything from every kind of Oscar winner, scads of foreign country info, first and last name entries, phrases with missing words, singers with lists of their hits, movies with complete cast listings and foreign words."
"I've bought it for others as a gift, and the recipients are thrilled with the book. January 2010 update: Having purchased a Kindle, I was excited to get this dictionary on the Kindle, so I wouldn't have to lug out that huge book all the time."