O Canada Crosswords, Book 9: 75 Themed Daily-Sized Crosswords.
Description
$12.95
ISBN 978-0-88971-225-6
DDC 793.73'2
Publisher
Year
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Review
This series of 75 themed crosswords will keep you entertained for hours! The print is big (compared to newspaper crosswords), with the clues taking up a whole page, and the squares are large, filling the adjacent page. The puzzles can therefore be enjoyed by seniors and others with declining vision. The games aren’t necessarily Canada-themed, but do contain clues about Canadian locations, actors, TV programs, sports teams, etc. Who else but a Canuck would know that Rick Mercer was the one Talking to Americans?
The first seven books in the series were larger weekend-sized crosswords created by Kathleen Hamilton. She now has a new series titled True North Crosswords. Book 8 and this latest volume were put together by Barbara Olson and Dave Macleod. I enjoyed Olson’s puzzles the most, as I found her themes very clever. I was especially impressed with the puzzle titled “Starry, Starry Night,” where twelve of the clues referred indirectly to each of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. As an example, the answer to the clue “William Tell, for one” was archer, referring to Sagittarius. More commonly the theme consisted of several clues, often quite humourous, or entailed completing a phrase over a series of clues. Four puzzles had a number of letters circled within, and it wasn’t readily apparent how they related to the theme. My favourite was the “Water, Water, Everywhere” puzzle, where the sets of three circles in a row always got filled with HHO.
The degree of difficulty varies quite a bit among puzzles. The clues often involve tricky wordplay and force you to approach the answers from a different perspective. The witty themes and clever clues definitely contribute to the enjoyment of the challenge!