Rock slab at roundabout - 6 letters but no clues (Quizzes, Crosswords and Puzzles)

Member Name: whitby

Product:	Quizzes, Crosswords and Puzzles
Date:	20/08/02 (2264 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keep my mind active, Aid general knowledge, Pass away the time

Disadvantages: Clues can become repetitive, Answers can be elusive

Whilst contemplating Jill Murphy's request to write about a favourite thing, I toyed with many ideas. I wanted to write about a hobby but couldn't choose between my beloved Formula 1, Internet Reward Sites and Crosswords. F1 is my passion so I went with that, but have now decided to talk about another of my hobbies.

My boyfriend Paul often spends hours mixing, so whilst he is on his decks I can't watch television (well I could but I wouldn't hear it) so I often amuse myself with Crossword Books.

I do try many types of puzzle book but find myself drawn to crosswords more often than not.

There are two main styles crossword and they are defined in the Cambridge International Dictionary of English http://dictionary.cambridge.org) as:

1) Crossword (puzzle)

Noun [C]

a word game of black and white squares in which you have to guess the answers to clues and write the words into numbered squares that go across and down

2) Cryptic Crossword

A cryptic crossword is one which has difficult clues and the answers are not obvious.

I find the cryptic crosswords ever so difficult and generally only answer a few of the clues before giving up. This review is on standard crosswords.


THE CHANGING WORLD OF THE CROSSWORD

With the developments of modern technology there are various mediums to acquire crosswords from. These include handheld electronic crossword games, Internet crossword web sites, crosswords that can be found in newspapers or magazines and the traditional crossword book. I'm going to list my views below on each of these formats.


HANDHELD ELECTRONIC GAMES ***

Paul's dad noticed that I seemed to have my head in a crossword book when at his house. A couple of years ago he bought me a Lexibook CR1000UK Electronic Crossword for Christmas. Lexibook products are available at many high street electrical retail stores such as Argos
, Dixons and Woolworths.

The product I have is still available at Dixons and presently retails for £34.99. I do enjoy using this handheld device as it is quite easy to use and has three levels of difficulty. It takes 4 AAA batteries and measures less than twelve centimetres square.

Although the game allegedly holds more than 30,000 entries I do find that some of the questions are repetitive. It uses quite a lot of abbreviation clues such as 'Abbreviation of Weber (2)' that has an answer of 'TT'. I normally struggle with these and end up having to leave blanks or cheat using the help facility. The help facility will do one of three things: confirm if your suggested answer is right or wrong, by giving you letters, or by answering the whole crossword.

The grid for the crossword on the Lexibook CR1000 is thirteen squares across and down and has a good mixture of long and short answers. I use mine quite frequently and find it easy to navigate with its QWERTY keyboard and ball shaped navigation tool.

This type of crossword gadget gets a three star rating from me. It is a fun way to occupy the time but due to the small grid and recurring questions it's novelty factor wears off after a few months. Great for passing a few minutes here and there but not recommended for the avid crossword fan.


INTERNET CROSSWORDS ***

With there being over 1,590,000 search results to a google search on the word crossword there should be plenty to keep people like myself occupied. Although I have by no means looked at all of these websites, I do get a little frustrated with them.

The reasons for my frustration vary, but the main problem is that it's not usually until I've started a crossword that I pick up on the clues being orientated towards another country. The pitfalls here can range from differing spellings or clues based on local general knowledge. A way around this problem is to use a search en
gine that is UK orientated, or gives the option to search UK sites only. Normally we'd think of using Yahoo for those perimeters, but believe me don't bother trying as it brings up about thirteen web sites which are not actual crossword sites. Instead they offer clue-solving programmes to down load, or they sell crossword software.

Using the 'Ask Jeeves' search engine I have stumbled across the web site www.cluemaster.com, which holds crosswords, and other puzzles in its ClueMaster's puzzle archive consisting of about six volumes of fifty puzzles. Each volume contains a selection of cryptic and quick crosswords, as well as wordsearches, letter-logic and other puzzles. The crossword puzzles here are very similar to those I described in my hand held device section above - they even measure 13 squares along and wide! The grid though is much bigger than my game, which is a good benefit to people who have poor eyesight.

I would have given this category of crossword puzzles a two star rating had it not been for my favourite crossword web site www.lovatts.uk.com which has samples from the companies numerous puzzle magazines that update monthly. They also have a monthly puzzle pack, which is available for download.

Lovatts you are the saving grace - ***


NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES ****

A great way of passing the lunch hour at work, a dull train journey or to relax for a few minutes at home is to grab your national paper or a handy magazine and attempt to try the crossword. The shapes, sizes and types of questions very from paper to paper.

I particularly like the general knowledge crosswords that appear in magazines such as Chat, Take a Break or Inside Soap. Like the weekend newspaper supplements grids they are quite easy to do, often with a handful of challenging questions thrown in.

My favourite newspaper for puzzles of all sorts is the Daily Mail's Saturday edition. I like this not
for the journalistic content but for the great mixture of puzzles. Generally they have two pages of puzzles in their TV supplement but the best bit is the Coffee Break Puzzles that usually appear towards pages 59 and 60 of their newspaper.

The Coffee Break Section has three puzzles - A Codeword which is commonly known as a cross reference, a quick crossword measuring twelve squares by twelve and then the killer of all crosswords 'The Giant Crossword'.

'The Giant Crossword' is my favourite of all the newspaper crosswords and I am yet to complete on despite Saturday after Saturday trying. The grid measures twenty-five squares by twenty-five and has around eighty to ninety clues. There are two types of clues - cryptic and quick, but both of the clues result in the same answer, which is a good way to double check answers. The solution appears in Monday's newspaper, so we don't have to wait too long for the answers.

Using newspapers and magazines for crosswords ensures a steady supply of grids to keep me happy. Another benefit over my handheld game and the Internet is that questions are updated and are designed for a UK audience.

A great way to pass the time - four stars!


CROSSWORD BOOKS *****

This method of problem solving can't be beaten in my eyes!

I have tried numerous crossword puzzle book and they all have questions with varying degrees of difficulty.

My least favourite is Puzzler Quick Crosswords. This book has two crosswords per page. They are thirteen squares long and wide - which you already know is too small for my liking. The book generally has over one hundred puzzles and the answers are in the back. The paper is quite blotchy and this causes your pen to blotch quite easily.

On the other hand, Nexus Jumbo Cross is a good book to work through. It has around 50 crossword puzzles and has one page for clues and another displaying the grid itself. The
grid size is twenty one by thirty one. Solutions are in the back, as with most crossword books.

My favourite compiler of crosswords has already been mentioned one - Lovatts! They are absolutely great and can't be beaten in my eyes. They publish a variety of different crossword books but I usually buy 'Colossus' or 'Big Crossword', both of which are priced at £2.20 a month.

The only negative about their books are that they are not always available in local newsagents, although I'm sure they would order them in against a regular order. I generally purchase mine at WH Smiths, although I am seriously considering a subscription. This is another publisher who spreads each crossword over two pages. The Colossus is my favourite because the grid is massive (hence the name) and always challenges my mind. The grid size is roughly 35 squares by forty-five.

The Lovatts collection has some lovely unique points. They have a lefties crossword for left handed people. When I first saw it I wondered what the difference was, but upon trying it I did realise that it was as comfortable for me to do, being right handed. The group also encourage a friendly member involvement. They have prize puzzles, as many magazines do, but they also encourage us to spot errors and feedback our quirks.

If you haven't tried their crossword books then try the samples at www.lovatts.uk.com.


FINAL SUMMARY

I love crossword books!

I think they keep my mind active and they also provide me with hours of fun (though not as much fun as the internet gives me!)



PS The answer to the title question was Basalt

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