ABOUT CROSSWORD

• It’s a game, a game of fun & knowledge; crossword helps not only test but also to improve one’s vocabulary. 

• This game stimulates, diverts, entertains and teaches millions across the globe.

• It helps pass (not kill) the time during travel, leisure, cozy companionship  or in loneliness.

• There is no bar on the number, age, sex or qualifications of participants in any round of the game.

• "Word Square" the predecessor of present day crossword had existed for over two millennia, though in a much simpler form.

• In many parts of the world (rather developed world), this game has been the most popular indoor activity.

• Most newspapers of the advanced world publish these puzzles daily or weekly.

• The basic structure of a crossword puzzle, as most of you already know, is a square of any convenient size, divided into smaller blocks or squares. Some of these blocks are shaded while others are blank, for example:

• The clues to the above puzzle are given in the following fashion:

1. Not in specified place physically or mentally. (6)

4. A beloved person. (4)

• The clues in the above fashion help us fill the blank blocks in the surrounding larger square. Some clues may be very simple giving a direct meaning of the word, whereas others might be cryptic, i.e. describing the word in an unusual way. At the end of each clue, a number in brackets refers to the size of the word, i.e. the number of letters forming the word.

• Based on the foregoing clues, the answers which come to the solvers mind are:

Across: 1 Absent, 4 Dear, 6 Idea, 7 Scheme.

Down: 1 Allies, 2 Side, 3 Turtle, 5 Ease.

• Based on these answers, the solved puzzle will look like this: