I got an email from Trip Payne (whom you might remember from such films as Wordplay) this past weekend letting me know about his new site.

The site has lots of information about Trip, including a list of puzzle books that he’s written or contributed to.  It also contains a number of original puzzles.  There are currently 20 puzzles available and are all crosswords or interesting crossword variations.  And there’s a good range in the initial offerings.  There are traditional crosswords and cryptic crosswords.  There are also a number of crisscross puzzles, where all of the words for the puzzle are given and you need to figure out how they fit together in the grid.  Then there are the “variety” puzzles that include some twist.

There are promises of more puzzles to come, so this would be a good site to keep an eye on.

I was recently hunting around for a good crossword puzzle feed when I came across Puzzler’s Cave.  Puzzler’s Cave features both crosswords and sudoku, but it was the crosswords that interested me.

The site divides it’s puzzles into three categories: Quick, Cryptic, and Themed.  The Quick puzzles are standard puzzles, usually on the easier side.  Cryptic crosswords are crosswords where each clue is a word puzzle.  And in Themed crosswords, many of the clues center around a specific theme (like a recent puzzle with a classic Star Trek theme.)

Hard-core cruciverbalists will definitely find these puzzles on the easy side.  But it’s a great site that provides a regular free crossword.

Most Americans probably don’t know what Cryptic Crosswords are, though they are very popular in the UK and other countries.  In a Cryptic Crossword, each clue is a word puzzle in itself.  I first learned about them because I had a high school english teacher who loved them and often made up clues to challenge students.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I found a site with helpful tips for solving Cryptic Crosswords.  And after you’re done going over the tips, you can practice with these puzzles.