Cryptic Puzzle Book

Rating:
Summary: I wish there were 4 3/4 stars
Review: I agree with the other reviewers that these puzzles were tough & enjoyable. Every puzzle has a "trick" besides the clues themselves. Most novices would find them almost impossible. (It is hard to believe that the first reviewer learned to do cryptics with this book.)
The reason , however , that I wanted to do this review, and the reason for my title, is to warn everyone that there are quite a few errors in the clue sections. For example, puzzle #27 is missing clue #27 and puzzle # 30 is missing clue #39 down. There were others in the front of the book but at first I didn't write them down.
Oh well, just another challenge in a great book.

Rating:
Summary: I wish there were 4 3/4 stars
Review: I agree with the other reviewers that these puzzles were tough & enjoyable. Every puzzle has a "trick" besides the clues themselves. Most novices would find them almost impossible. (It is hard to believe that the first reviewer learned to do cryptics with this book.)
The reason , however , that I wanted to do this review, and the reason for my title, is to warn everyone that there are quite a few errors in the clue sections. For example, puzzle #27 is missing clue #27 and puzzle # 30 is missing clue #39 down. There were others in the front of the book but at first I didn't write them down.
Oh well, just another challenge in a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for learning and doing
Review: I learned to solve cryptics using this book, starting with the guide and working through the book. The puzzles are often difficult, and many are highly impressive in thematic and technical construction. Some annoying typos but otherwise, excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for learning and doing
Review: I learned to solve cryptics using this book, starting with the guide and working through the book. The puzzles are often difficult, and many are highly impressive in thematic and technical construction. Some annoying typos but otherwise, excellent.

Rating:
Summary: Start building up your intellect today! (3,2)
Review: If you discovered the magazine "Tough Cryptics" too late (as I did - alas, its no longer in publication), you've missed out on puzzling pleasure, unless you buy the Random House anthologies... edited by Stanley Newman.

From there, progress to this one - every puzzle is a *variety* cryptic from Harpers Magazine sometime between 1976 and 1979 (according to the book itself; I can't confirm it) - the authors promise that all the "timely" clues have been edited away.

A warning though, if you can't work through the regular cryptics in Games Magazine (where you will regularly see works by Maltby and Galli), then this book is possibly not for you - every variety puzzle is probably twice as hard as a regular cryptic.

So far, I've found it to be almost on a par with the Henry Hook collections, although I feel that Maltby and Galli use a few more obscurities than Hook. On the other hand, they give a quite nice "solvers guide" as introduction together with some well-worked example puzzles whereas Henry wants his readers to suffer. :-)

To the dedicated cryptic cruciverbalist, this book will be a treat.

A. "Buy it"

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Collection!
Review: This book is definately worth getting! The editors are the same who do the puzzle at the back of Harper's, so if you do the Harper's puzzles you will love this. There are 2 Dodacahedrons, a Chinese Puzzle Box, and tons of other "gimmick" puzzles. Hours and hours of fun!