Are cryptic crosswords more difficult for Aspies ?

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pluto
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12 Apr 2011, 2:34 pm

I never used to like cryptic crosswords (which would go along with the reputedly 'literal-thinking' AS trait that initially makes cryptic
clues seem daunting and meaningless)
Recently however I started trying some and found that with regular practice I can actually work out a lot of the answers.
A couple of examples
Clue : Injury caused by second-rate celebrity. Answer : Blister ( "B"-lister)
Clue : Take away the Frenchman in United States. Answer : Minus (M= abbreviation for Monsieur + in + US)

How do you get on with cryptic crosswords ? Maybe they're good exercise and encourage the mind to be less literal-thinking in general.


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12 Apr 2011, 2:39 pm

Perhaps you just need to get into that mode of thinking. You know how in regular crosswords you can get stuck thinking about a word in only one way but with practice your mind becomes more flexible. I don't have much experience with cryptic ones. One clue I did get though (I'm so proud) was "edit a Communist Parliamentarian action" and the answer was "redact".



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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12 Apr 2011, 3:50 pm

The only crossword puzzle I enjoy are the ones in the National Enquirer. I can finish one of those in five minutes.
I don't like the typical crossword that has weird clues that make no sense to me.



quietbird
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12 Apr 2011, 5:40 pm

I could have had all but 1 of the letters for the answers you provided and given 100 years to solve it, and I wouldn't have been able to.

Never.

Also, a lot of those puzzles use clues related to celebrities and sports and other stuff that I'm completely ignorant about.


I do really like solving mathematical and engineering problems, though.



SammichEater
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12 Apr 2011, 5:51 pm

quietbird wrote:
I could have had all but 1 of the letters for the answers you provided and given 100 years to solve it, and I wouldn't have been able to.

Never.

Also, a lot of those puzzles use clues related to celebrities and sports and other stuff that I'm completely ignorant about.


I do really like solving mathematical and engineering problems, though.


I second this. Crossword puzzles are stupid, and very few things are more satisfying than solving complex mathematical problems.


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Aimless
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12 Apr 2011, 6:27 pm

Try the NYT's Saturday puzzle.



ooOoOoOAnaOoOoOoo
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12 Apr 2011, 6:40 pm

Aimless wrote:
Try the NYT's Saturday puzzle.

The ones in the newspapers are usually hard to figure out. The clues are bizarre.



littlelily613
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12 Apr 2011, 8:14 pm

I've never been able to figure out a clue for a cryptic crossword. I do like regular crossword puzzles though.



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13 Apr 2011, 5:34 am

I've tried a few. They just require learning a certain way of viewing words to get them right. I did ok with the few I did. I could probably get as good as them as most of my family is, but they simply don't interest me as much as 3d puzzles, riddles or well, anything you'd find guarding treasure in a good adventure movie/book.



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13 Apr 2011, 5:43 am

Crosswords are not stupid.
I do cryptic crosswords; you can get guides on how to solve them.


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13 Apr 2011, 8:26 am

i like cryptic crosswords. i can usually almost complete them. there are often clues however where the answer is a word that i have never heard of (for example: a persons name or a foreign word)

a few years ago, the newspaper i bought had the same cryptic crossword that was printed in it about a year earlier, so i filled it in with random words that i could fit together that would mesh in that grid design. when i got back to the workplace, i intentionally left the paper with the crossword facing up on the coffee table in my office because i knew a girl who usually picked my paper up and scanned my crosswords would be coming in for an appointment that afternoon (god i have to keep this short...).

i expected she would be bamboozled at how i "completed" the crossword, because my "answers" had nothing to do with the clues, and i expected that she would think nonetheless that my answers were correct because they all meshed together correctly, and she would try hard to see the link between my answers and the clues, and fail to.

it transpired the way i thought, but unfortunately she decided to think she was silly for not being able to understand how i got my answers. i just wanted to see her confused face all scrunched up while she scratched her head trying to work out how i came up with he answers, but i did not want to make her feel silly.

so i decided to end that excercise by saying that my answers were correct, but the questions were wrong, and that she should not worry about it.