Login:

Password:





Who's online? | Login | Leaderboard | Anagrams

General Knowledge Solving Tips

Solving general knowledge puzzles, surprisingly enough, requires a considerable amount of general knowledge. So far, so obvious. But how do you go about getting the knowledge that you require to solve a general knowledge crossword?

Well there are various things you should know about this genre of puzzle. The first is that art and literature, geography and history are generally over-represented as clue types, whilst science is very under-represented. Therefore you should gen up on your literature and history in preference to your science.

This is probably because most general knowledge crosswords are compiled by those with an arts background rather than those with a science background, and people tend to stick to the areas they know when writing clues, understandably.

Likewise, most general knowledge setters are older rather than younger, so references to entertainment such as TV shows, films and music, often focuses around the 1920s through to the 1970s, so if you are a younger person then you might want to study the classics from that era, rather than more modern stuff, which is very rarely referenced. Some setters never reference living people, so therefore it is better to look to what happened yesteryear than spend too long boning up on what is going on today.

The other important thing to note about general knowledge crosswords is that many newspapers use the same setter week in, week out for their puzzles. Therefore you will get to know their own biases and areas of interest / knowledge, and note that these crop up much more regularly than other areas. Therefore if your interest is in solving the puzzle fully every time, then you might want to use this as the basis of the research you do between solving puzzles.

All of the above said, one of the great benefits of general knowledge crosswords is learning new things. Therefore don't feel too guilty about looking up answers that you don't know, but do try to learn what you have just found out rather than forgetting it as soon as you have inked in the last letter. Besides, particularly when writing clues on areas outside of their own interests, many general knowledge setters really have little idea how obscure the fact they are using is, and therefore how likely the general audience is to know it. This is particularly pertinent advice in the area of clues relating to science: a setter will sometimes use a basically unknown name from the scientific literature next to a very well-known person, often without realising that one is to all intents and purposes ungettable whilst the other is very easy for someone with a soupcon of scientific knowledge.

Do you have any general knowledge solving tips for us? Please do share below if so!
Date written: 20 Mar 2015



Comment on this post

You must be logged in to comment - please Register or Login

Other Blog Posts You Might Find Interesting...

Cryptic Crossword Anagram Indicators
When solving a cryptic crossword one thing you can be sure of is that there will be some anagram clues, or partial anagram clues, in the solving mix. Some cryptic crosswords have over 50% of the clues containing anagrams in some form, whilst even the...
Added: 16 Apr 2015


Solving & Lit Clues In Cryptic Crosswords
When you are solving cryptic crosswords, most of the clue types that you come across are fairly intuitive: for instance a double definition clue fairly obviously involves two definitions that lead to the same answer. And an anagram clue, sure enough,...
Added: 11 Apr 2015


Quick Crossword Solving Tips
Solving a quick crossword is both straightforward and difficult. Difficult because, with many short clues, there are often multiple words that fit each answer until you have crossover letters in place, and straightforward in that the solving method does...
Added: 30 Mar 2015


Creating A New Type Of Word Puzzle
Creating a new type of puzzle is always exciting. Here are some suggestions as to how to go about the process: Firstly, you need the idea. This is obviously the most important element. The best way to go about this is often to look at an existing...
Added: 17 May 2015


The Differences Between US And UK Crossword Grids
British and US crossword grids are very different. This is not something you might expect to be the case, but any puzzle lover who visits the other country soon realises that they are very different beasts. It starts very much with the grid. With US...
Added: 27 Apr 2015




Back to Puzzle Blog


Puzzle Types:
Arrow word Puzzles
Pangram Puzzles
General Knowledge Crosswords
Quick Crosswords
Wordwheels
Word Ladders
Word Fit
Skeleton Crosswords
A to Z Puzzles
Codewords
Cryprograms Online
Every Letter Counts