On 19th January 2008, I’m repeating the “How to solve cryptic crosswords” course I held in January this year. The next version should be better than the last, partly because people won’t just have me to listen to. Don Manley has agreed to be our guest speaker and will give us some insights from the setter’s viewpoint.
After a tour of cryptic clue types, most of the time will be spent attempting puzzles and discussing the solutions. People who came last year reported significant improvements in their solving.
More details at: http://www.biddlecombe.demon.co.uk/xwdcourse.html
Once you go through the obvious stuff, the rivers and military abbreviations, it really boils down to analyzing the clue. It is hard to say how experienced solvers hone in on the probable method at work in a clue, even if they can’t solve it at once.
I would always ask, what do you think is the literal clue, and what the cryptic? OK, suppose that’s completely wrong, what else might it be? I worked on having them to see all the possibilities before picking one. Getting stuck on a wrong idea is the worst thing for beginners, and makes solving very frustrating.