The Penguin Book of Canadian Cryptic Crosswords

Riзa Night is an associate editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual.

Fans of cryptic crosswords consider themselves a special breed. Cryptic
clues and grids differ radically from those in standard crosswords.
Solvers are not given a simple definition like “River in Asia” and
expected to come up with the word that will fit the space provided.
Instead, each definition works on two levels: first, the puzzle solver
must determine what kind of clue is being offered (there are about a
dozen different types: anagrams, puns, double definitions, containers,
and more); only then can the solver untangle the meaning, which can be
quite convoluted—for example, in one of these puzzles, “Choose one
mother, that’s the most you can have (7)” yields “optimum”
(“the most you can have,” constructed from the clue by piecing
together “OPT”—a synonym for “choose”—plus “I” as a
stand-in for “one” plus “MUM”—short for “mother”). The
puzzles’ appeal lies in the extra challenge and word-play involved in
solving them.

Alan Richardson compiled the cryptics that appeared in the weekend
editions of The Globe and Mail and The Gazette for more than 40 years.
This book presents 58 of his puzzles (though its jacket inexplicably
claims that there are 60). Each puzzle gets its own spread: cryptic
clues on the left-hand page (the “Quick Clues” provided in the
newspaper have been left off), puzzle grid on the right-hand page.

For the already initiated, the book is a treasure. Unfortunately, the
scant advice offered on how to solve the clues (amounting to a single
paragraph in Richardson’s introduction) will render the puzzles pretty
hard slogging for all but the most determined and perseverant newcomer.