The cryptic crossword has never really taken off in the States in a big way. His successor Azed (Jonathan Crowther) came up with these 3 simple elements: 1. After him came Ximenes (Derrick Macnutt) who devised some guidelines for setting fairclues. His clues were fairly obscure and difficult to solve. The first all-cryptic crossword in English was created in 1926 by poet and translator Edward Powys Mathers, who called himself Torquemada after the Spanish Grand Inquisitor. N/A – no ranking, you used a Hint.Īlthough the crossword puzzle was invented in the United States (by an Englishman), cryptic crosswords are a British creation.

If you use a Hint, you won’t get a ranking.Ĭompletion Click/tap Continue to show the Scorecard with your time, rank and RETURN option so you can play again. Word Fills in the correct word for the space or clue you’ve highlighted. Letter Fills in the correct letter for the square you’ve highlighted. Click/tap the Reveal button indicated by the tick icon to display incorrect letters in red for 5 seconds OR select the red Clear button to remove any incorrect letters from the grid. Reveal Provides a 5-second peek at the entire solution.Ĭheck Checks for mistakes. (Click/tap the Hint button again to go back to Menu options). Hints Click/tap the Hint button to display the hint options in the top menu bar. Reset Click/tap on the Reset button indicated by the circle arrow to clear the grid and restart the crossword. Click/tap Resume when you wish to restart play.

Pause To pause during play, click/tap the Timer (or the pause icon on your smartphone). Click/tap Show to restore your view of the Timer. If you do not like working against the clock, select Menu then Hide at the top of the puzzle. Timer The Timer indicated by the clock icon begins counting as soon as you start the crossword. Once the square is highlighted, use the Backspace key to delete the letter OR click/tap on the square you want to change and simply type in a new letter. Delete/Change Letter Click/tap on the letter you wish to delete.

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