kayakamina

[esmerelda3]

do you do all the crosswords in the main papers or are you just able to answer our clues " cold" ?

[kayakamina]

Mostly 'cold'. I do the Guardian on Saturdays and the Azed and Mephisto on Sundays and sometimes the Sat. Times

Cheers K

[esmerelda3]

thanks although that does make me feel even more inadequate. Hope you get plenty to do from other poor souls todaycertainly it is a great help when you are new to cryptics as they can not be researched in the same way as gk Bye and thanks

[paulineward]

Yes esmerelda, what I find so useful in learning how to do cryptics (which I am) is how K explains the answers so well. I can nearly always see how it was reached at then.
Good luck with them esmerelda!
Hope you're free tonight K!

[Aquagility]

Good morning, K.
This is an interesting thread. We know that you have been doing cryptics for many years and, of course it is to some extent similar to becoming fluent in a difficult foreign language.
It would be interesting to know whether your general level of intelligence is above average, or whether it is in this particular area that you excel.
I don't suppose that you're about to tell us!
Best wishes, Aq.

[kayakamina]

Hello Pauline I hope you are feeling better- you were certainly missed and I look forward to talking to you this evening.

Best wishes K

[kayakamina]

Good morning AQ.

The odd thing is that although i am a competent cryptic solver I just can't get my head round The Listener which is the 'holy grail' for cruciverbalists!

Even with a good all round general knowledge and many years of trying , it is usually beyond me. It must take a different sort of thinking!

Cheers K

[JoolsTwo]

I just wish I could do any cryptic, I can usually answer the odd one which just jumps out and hits me. Or sometimes I can see what I think is an answer but not how it is reached. My brain just does not seem to be able to grasp cryptics. :-)

[esmerelda3]

as far as I have found they are definitely a case of 2 heads are better than 1.Sometimes I get hooked on one meaning of a word and am unable to change my train of thought when it transpires that the compiler is on a very different wave-length That is for a beginner!
Do other languages lend themselves to cryptics as well as English?

[paulineward]

Jools..I used to avoid them at all costs, and then started looking at the answers to them the next day, to see what the answer was. Sometimes I saw it, sometimes not. When you start them though, you soon become 'addicted'. It really gives the brain a workout! You seem to get into a compilers way of thinking, but then certain ones, like the ST today...I know I will really struggle with, just can't get most of them.
There is always help readily available and given gladly on here, they are wonderful and clever! It's worth having a go.
Enjoy your puzzles today..good luck Pauline x

[paulineward]

Yes esmerelda...often do that myself. You can get 'fixed' on one train of thought and loose it completely! Don't know about other languuages, suppose they must.

[JoolsTwo]

Thanks Pauline - I may just try - I think I will leave todays though as I don't think I have ever got even one of the Sunday ones - I'll have a look at tomorrows Telegraph and give it a go. :-)

[greenfingers]

My Dad taught me to do cryptic crosswords using the John Bull crossword ( For all you young people John Bull is a long defunct magazine which had a good cryptic crosswood), but I'm like Kayakamina I just can't get my head round The Listener crossword.

[cesdlv]

I agree with Aquagility that this is a good thread. And I particularly agree with Pauline that Kayakamina's greatest skill may be the economical way in which he 'explains' the answers; not just clever but a good teacher.

[bangor]

To Paulineward. I felt much better after reading your post Pauline, Although I finished yesterday's DT cryptic in record time (for me) I can't get my head around today's ST cryptic. Just keep going round in circles. I'll give up and look forward to Monday's cryptic.

[crofter]

I've asked K the very same Questions.
The man is awesome. There is a handful of ABers that are in this category and shouldn't be taken for granted.

Today, I should be starting my first EV on time from cold and I shall be calling on this select band for guidance.

[esmerelda3]

sorry but as a newcomer I need to ask " What in an EV? " but good luck anyway!!

[sincnoel]

i'm hopeless at cryptics but i used to have an aunt who could go through "the times" crossword (we're talking about 45 years ago when "the times" was still "the times") in 25 minutes flat. i know cos i timed her. what a lady!

[joannasevs]

I must ask K what he does for a living? Apart from being spot on time and time again, the speed of the answers leaves me in stunned silence!!! Do you work on a pc all day or is it a hobby?
I come onto this site when I have completed the Express �1000 crossword, which is sometimes late in the day, and the ones I have struggled with are usually all answered. That said I still try to get as many as I can by myself before giving in and asking for help. It does get you hooked though doing cryptic as there is always something new to learn.....or maybe that's just me?
J

[joannasevs]

I must add that the �1000 express is not a cryptic but GK, in case anyone thinks I'm losing it. I do the cryptic next, wish me luck.
j

[crofter]

EV = Enigmatic Variations (crossword in today's Sunday Telegraph). Thought by many to be the hardest going!