Eight bonus chapters explain how to construct your own puzzles!

Open the book for a brand-new collection of brain-twisting puzzles

Looking for a crossword challenge? All you have to do is open the book, sharpen your pencil (or, hot shot, uncap your pen), and get ready to match wits with Patrick Berry, one of today's top puzzle constructors. You get 70 all-new crosswords that are guaranteed to test your puzzle-solving skills - plus a special bonus section that shows you how to create (and sell) your own challenging crosswords.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• T op ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• The secrets of crossword construction
• How to craft a memorable puzzle theme, from quotes to reversals and rebuses
• The tricks to designing and filling a grid
• An insider's guide to writing great clues
• Ten top markets for crossword puzzles

 

About the Author:

Patrick Berry is a freelance author and puzzle constructor whose puzzles have appeared in a wide variety of national publications, including The New York Times, Harper’s, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. His puzzle career was launched when the publishing company he was working for suddenly went belly-up, leaving him salaryless. Too shiftless to get a real job, he began making puzzles full-time, and the rest is history. In his spare time, he mostly sleeps.

 

Table of Contents:

Introduction.

Part I: A Gallery of Crosswords.

Part II: Constructing Crosswords Like a Pro.

Chapter 1: Developing a Theme for Your Puzzle.

Chapter 2: Designing the Grid.

Chapter 3: Choosing Good Grid Entries (And Avoiding Bad Ones).

Chapter 4: Filling the Grid.

Chapter 5: Writing the Clues.

Part III: The Part of Tens.

Chapter 6: Ten Top Crossword Puzzle Venues.

Chapter 7: Ten Worthwhile Purchases for Puzzle Constructors.

Chapter 8: More Than Ten Puzzle Construction Terms.

Part IV: Puzzle Solutions.

Index.

 

ISBN: 978-0-7645-5622-7
Paperback
186 pages
March 2004