Member Advice on Crossword Puzzle > Reviews (5)

Sorry, got the Lovatts site slightly wrong. Have put it right now.

Do you enjoy doing online crosswords where you stand a chance of winning a prize? I have found three sites of varying difficulty, and I have won money from all of them. Rather than write a very detailed op on just one, which would have only limited interest, I've tried to find something for everyone who enjoys crosswords.

www.puzzler.co.uk
This is a very attractive site, easy to navigate, though a bit slow at times. On your first visit you register, and after that simply log in. On the left you’ll see a list of current puzzles, and you click each title in order to enter. Unfortunately you can’t tell until the actual puzzle appears what the prize will be or when the closing date is. However, the prizes are worth having. There is always money, but sometimes a holiday, or an expensive household appliance such as a Dyson cleaner, fridge freezer, or widescreen tv set.

There are crosswords, with the occasional Kriss Kross and Wordsearch. It’s my opinion that wordsearches are one of the most boring activities with which to numb the human brain, but lots of people enjoy them.

These puzzles are stupidly easy, but the format makes them quite attractive, and the prizes are generous. When you’ve completed a puzzle, you click a Send icon and off it goes. They can be done off line individually, but it’s a bit of a fiddle.

www.lovatts.com.au
Even though this comes from Australia, there are no problems, and they pay UK residents with a sterling cheque. The magazines will be familiar to those of you who buy puzzle magazines, though only larger W.H.Smiths seem to stock them.

At the beginning of every month a new set of puzzles is available for download. All instructions are clearly given, and I’ve never had a problem. First, you must download a program called the X-erciser. This appears on your desktop, and you click it to access the puzzles. This needs to be downloaded only once, and when you’ve done the puzzles you can banish it and leave it in Downloads until next time. Then you download the current month's puzzles. The first time you do it seems a bit complicated, but you soon get the hang of it.

There are four prize crosswords, two very large, two fairly so. They are not difficult, but misspell just one word and you won’t succeed. There are other puzzles : codes, spot the ball, and a Wordsearch which I actually find quite interesting. Round the grid are photos of film and tv stars, and as you find the names the faces are crossed out, until only the prize letters remain to form another name. Why I sometimes do this is because the people are nearly all Australian actors, with just a couple of Americans, and I’ve never heard of most of them. It’s modest fun to track down the names.

When a puzzle is correctly completed, an email form appears, and you just type in the answer. Then you can send at once or store in a folder. These puzzles are more challenging than the Puzzler ones, and can very occasionally be a bit tricky .

All are done off line, and can be saved if unfinished.

One amusing thing about this site is quite unintentional. When a puzzle is solved correctly, a great burst of fireworks fills the monitor. It’s just like that awful Happy New Year virus of about three years ago, so don’t panic. If you can see Sydney Harbour Bridge in the background you’re all right. If you can't...well, Happy New Year.

www.crosswordclub.org

This is another Australian site. There are non-competition puzzles, but to compete you must subscribe. At present, the rates are changing, so I can’t tell you how much it will be. But for what it offers, it has been reasonable. Since it’s run by a group of dedicated private individuals in Melbourne there are no credit card payments, so it could work out expensive, but they are currently debating the possibility of accepting cards. I have a friend in Queensland who bought me a sub last year as a Christmas gift. You can have the puzzles posted, or download with Adobe. I download, as I need all the time I can get with these before they must be posted to Australia before the closing date. All are printed out, so are done off line.

Forget these crosswords unless you can do The Times with no problem, and get on well with most of Ximenes’ crosswords. They are diabolical. You need dictionaries, reference books, the net, and plenty of general knowledge : languages, the Classics, world literature, geography,science, Australian flora and fauna, obsolete words, just name it. And the clues are all cryptic. You get six puzzles each month. I’m not ashamed to admit that I have not yet completed all six, though I mean to get there. I’ll give you a couple of current clues, to show you what they are like. These are easy ones. Answers at end.

Plain girl on lake is heroine (4, 4)
And we French follow kinky orgy for males and females (11)

The prizes are money and sometimes books.

Crosswords, indeed all word puzzles, do more than amuse. They improve your vocabulary and your spelling, and they help to keep your mind active if you choose ones which stretch you. You get better at them the more you do. Even the relatively feeble ones are helpful, and the prizes are a good incentive. If any Ciaoer decides to have a go at the Aussie ones, leave a message in my GB and we can put our heads together by email over some of the trickier clues.

Answers : Jane Eyre, Androgynous.
And did you solve the anagram title ? It's CIAO IS GREAT.