Novelty Crosswords: Anagram Puzzles
As you may have guessed, in an anagram crossword the clues are replaced with anagrams of the answers. So if the answer to 1 across is 'scale' then the clue might be 'laces' or a random shuffling of the letters in the word, such as 'sleca'.
The aim of the puzzle, then, is to simply solve all the anagrams and thus to fill the crossword grid, just like with a normal puzzle.
Clearly this variant of the puzzle is fun if you enjoy solving anagram puzzles, and most people do. The best way to tackle these puzzles is to adopt the following strategy:
- Start with the smallest clues, as it is usually easiest to spot these answers.
- Be careful whenever you think you've found an answer that there is only one valid anagram, and not several. If you find more than one, you might want to note them down.
- Once you've got an answer, enter it in the grid and use the information to help you solve other anagrams. If you are solving on paper you might want to cross out the letter(s) you have found from the clue it affects to help you solve the puzzle.
And that's pretty much all there is to it - by ensuring that you start with the smaller and therefore easier anagrams first, and always checking for multiple solutions as you go along, you should be able to solve any anagram crossword this way. Just be careful that the puzzle is of a type that doesn't include proper nouns or multiple word answers (the puzzle would usually state if this is the case) as if so you can get stuck for ages looking for dictionary words without realising the answer might be a town or person's name, for instance.
If you have any particular tips on solving anagram crosswords, then feel free to share them below.
Date written: 28 Mar 2015
Comment on this post
You must be logged in to comment - please Register or Login
Solving US Crosswords As A Brit
British solvers who venture across a US crossword, perhaps when on holiday, will notice that it is a very different beast.
The main difference you'll notice is that there are so many more clues and answers in a grid of a given size, and that answers...
Added: 14 Jun 2015
What Is A Nina?
Well, the first thing to say about Nina, is that it is a name. But in the context of crosswords, it means something quite different indeed.
A nina virtually always only appears in cryptic crosswords, and some authors are well-known for including them...
Added: 05 Apr 2015
Cryptic Definition Clues In Cryptic Crosswords
One of the rarer clue types to be encountered when solving cryptic crosswords is called the "cryptic definition".
How does this vary from the other clue types, and what does it mean?
Well, it varies from them in this very important way: there is...
Added: 12 Apr 2015
Crossword Solvers Tend To Be Good At Scrabble
People who are good at solving crosswords also tend to be good at playing scrabble, which is interesting, as they are very different games. So why is this?
Well, the most likely reason is that they both involve words and a good vocabulary. Obviously...
Added: 29 Apr 2015
Introduction To Word Fit Puzzles
Word fit puzzles are one of those types of puzzle that have a huge range of different names: you might know it as letter fit, or kriss kross, or indeed as criss cross. Whatever you know it as, the rules are the same: place each word into the grid once....
Added: 24 Apr 2015
Back to Puzzle Blog
Puzzle Types:
