Games & Puzzles
Crossword
Across and down check each other, so a clash means something earlier is wrong
Free in newspapers and apps, and doable on a commute. It differs from sudoku in that the clues are wordplay: puns, abbreviations and literal dissections are conventions, and recognising a convention beats a large vocabulary. English crosswords share a whole set of signal words, and once you read them the difficulty drops a level. Many papers run easiest on Monday and hardest on Saturday.
First stepDo a Monday newspaper crossword, look up the answers where you're stuck, and write down each clue trick they used.
Barriers
Cost to start
Under $50
Going deep → $50–300
Alone or with people
On your own
Effort
Sitting
Without a teacher?
Self-taught
One session takes
Under 30 min
Where
At home
Why people take it up