Solving

The Cryptic Crossword

I like puzzles, and in particular I like crossword puzzles. I have my parents to thank for that little piece of resonant pleasure – both in terms of nature and of nurture. By that I mean as follows:- in nature terms I inherited some genetic ‘wiring in the brain’ from them both, which enabled me to spot and make unconscious and conscious connections; in nurture terms I watched them solving; then they solved with me and guided me as to the “how to”; until eventually I ‘went solo’.

Of course there are many variants on the crossword puzzle theme and I discovered, quite early on, that I get the most enjoyment from doing cryptic crosswords. The diverse and convoluted nature of the clues and the solutions give my intellect a ‘buzz’ that is hard to describe in any other way – other than to use the word ‘buzz’.

Now one of the discoveries along the pathway to mastery of this niche corner of the puzzle genre is this – what clues seem insoluble or unconnected right now will be blindingly obvious in N minutes time. And the variable N, can be an unspecified number for each and every clue. What, at first reading, may seem totally baffling, is glaringly simple a little further down the solving timeline. Sometimes whole chunks of clues I’ve wrestled with yesterday fall into obvious place today.

Mental realm

Of course general knowledge crosswords are only as easy, difficult or obscure as our onboard knowledge, or access to references, will allow. 

The cryptic crossword, however, takes us into the particular mental realm of the compiler, and the reason is this. Each and every compiler has their own puzzle fingerprint – their individual, unique and particular way of “clueing things up”, shall we say.

When I pick up a fresh puzzle, a large part of solving comes from discovering and getting familiar with the mental realm of the compiler by spotting the fingerprints they leave all over the list of clues. 

It is a forensic exercise.

Before I write in any answers more often than not I’ll look through the list of clues, my perceptions searching for fingerprints. I’ll look for quirks, obvious variants, and specifics – such as solutions with more than one word answers, or anagrams, or when proper nouns are used. 

Occasionally, one or two answers will immediately leap out, though not always. When that happens, however, it means I’m getting on the wavelength of the compiler – glimpsing the mental realm of his clue setting – getting into his Mind.

Seeing People

In the course of my life I get to see a lot of people. And this is pretty much the same story for all of us.
Chunking down - some of those that I see, I meet and interact and communicate with.
Chunking down a little further - some of those people I see as clients, coachees or people I have, will be or am currently working with; some others are family; some others are friends; and so on.
Chunking down still further on each of those headings will be perhaps those that I’m meeting for the first time; those I know quite well; those that are really close; and various stations in between.
 

There are many branches and much foliage and flora within this vast tree of “The People I See.”

And it is the same for all the people in the lives of all of us. Some of the people in my tree are in yours – but perhaps at a different level or position. It is a complex network of connections and criss-cross pathways. Now, one of the more Mind blowing things about every tree in this almost infinite forest is this ...

Each and every one of us has our own unique mental realm, and our own unique mental – and physical - fingerprints.

And there’s a linguistic curiosity at play here that compilers of cryptic crosswords might latch onto. The word REALM can be disassembled in quite a variety of ways – however, the one I’ll allude to is the real part. For, unique as the mental realm of each and every one of us is, none of them is real – even though they feel convincingly real!

The two separate mental realms of the optimist and the pessimist each contain a glass and an equal amount of a liquid we’ll call – in this instance – water. The rest of each of their realms is made up. For them both, each realm is real, and populates and shapes the rest of their perceptive reality.

Dealing with our own clues

Let’s say I meet up with a new or even an ongoing client. A large part of making sense of (or solving) how they are, comes from my discovering and getting familiar with their mental realm by spotting the fingerprints they leave all over their list of clues. 

It is a forensic exercise.

As our own people, we need to be aware that each and every one of us is, on a very regular basis, compiling and presenting to the world an everyday cryptic puzzle of ourselves.

The most fascinating thing about this particular form of compiling is that it is at an unconscious level, and that is the level where the puzzle also has to be solved. To get on the wavelength of the compiler – glimpsing the mental realm of his clue setting – will give me a deeper understanding of the person who is there in front of me.

Of course they are there because they want some advice or guidance because, at a conscious level, they cannot solve their own puzzle.

Once they realise what, say, the clue to 11 down means, that then opens up the possibilities for them to go and do some “solving”. And, fascinatingly, often having that answer opens up solving doorways to some of the other baffling clues as well.

The thing about the puzzles we compile of ourselves is this:-
Because they ARE cryptic, and at an unconscious level, we do NOT need the cognitive stuff that would solve a general knowledge puzzle.

Solving is never about how clever we are, or about how simple the clue looks.
 

And if you want to know how long it takes to solve any cryptic crossword, then the answer is a piece of string.