Learn How to Solve Cryptic Crosswords: A Course for Beginners Paperback – February 4, 2014

I have labored unsuccessfully for years trying to solve even the simplest cryptic crossword. I have consulted most of the standard references for solving cryptics: The Chambers Crossword Manual, the Daily Telegraph's book on cryptics and BJ Holmes' Solving Cryptic Crosswords to name a few- all are *excellent* works and I suspect that I am the anomaly, but even those eminent references were unable to help me puzzle out even the simplest answers. I received Mr. Howarth's book for my birthday and am pleased to announce that I am now tearing up charades- a cluing mechanism common to cryptics that was the equivalent of looking for the painting of a polar bear on a white wall for me. Mr. Howarth's book (as noted in other reviews) is more of a course, rather than an exposition- quite right and for me, invaluable. The subject matter is laid out sequentially and in increasing complexity. Lots of practice problems and most important, some thoughts on how cryptics are composed and how to "back engineer" a possible solution. I can say that there was no more incompetent solver of cryptics than I was- until Mr. Howarth's tutelage. Now I have maybe 2 or 3 people below me. Ha! If Prime's showing of BBC's incomparable series Endeavour has inspired you to give cryptic crosswords a go, you could do no better than buying this book. I'd give it 6 stars if I could. Thank you Mr. H!

For the person who’s serious about improving, this is logical and helpful. Definitely in the “workbook” category

This is a great resource for learning cryptic crosswords. I have learned how to do cryptic crosswords from this book, it's thorough and insightful. Howarth is an excellent teacher. Highly recommended!

Bought this for a course I am doing in Cryptic crosswords. There is so much packed in. It is an A4 paperback with 181 pages and a wealth of instructions and examples. Very well thought out and explained and in my mind worth every penny. I don't think you could ever learn how to do cryptic crosswords without an instruction book of some kind and this one excels. There are also examples with the instructions that you can fill in and the answers follow or are at the back.

Book well written.

This book is great introduction to cryptic crosswords, especially if you are completely new to them and don’t know where to start. As others have said, it’s more of a workbook than a textbook and best treated that way. Don’t be afraid to write straight in the book (but definitely use a pencil on the practice crosswords just in case!) I’m only half way through and the clues have been reasonably easy so far. I believe it gets a lot trickier towards the ends though as it prepares you for the composite clues often found the Guardian, Times etc.The only reason I’ve given it 4 stars instead of 5 is because you can buy all the content much cheaper as an app. I only found this out after the fact and was slightly annoyed as I would have preferred to learn through an interactive app rather than the book.