Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #19

I bought the first book in this series at the start of the pandemic lockdown, and I've been through almost half the series now. They're good puzzles for a serious crossword solver. The typeface and space to write are a good size, and the paper takes well to a pen---no bleed-through. Simon & Schuster created the very first crossword puzzle book ever in 1924 (I know this because I wrote about it in New York City Firsts), and they're still putting together good puzzles.

Nicely bound set of crossword puzzles not meant for the beginner. These are challenging and thoughtful provoking puzzles. The book is well-constructed and worth the price. These puzzles will keep the aficionado (or those want-to-bes) of crossword puzzles happy for many weeks, if not a couple of months.

The puzzles in this book are interesting and intelligent . The levels of difficulty are not in order. Sometimes the smaller puzzles at the beginning of the book are more difficult than the ones later on. I've shopped at the major book stores and most of the puzzle books there are not interesting. The value is in the clues. Interesting clues are those which require you to think in great variety of "boxes."

My husband likes crosswords and these puzzles are medium difficulty. He says some words and clues are occasionally repeated with different puzzles in the book, but overall I think they are providing a great activity for keeping the brain in shape!

Crossword puzzles are proven to improve brain function, memory, and knowledge. It's like a Jeopardy round on paper with subjects like: geography, literature, history, science, sports, movies, tv, food, politics, pop culture, etc. There's also the satisfaction of finishing one (answers are in the back just in case!) Each book has 300 puzzles, keeping you busy every day for nearly a year. I've ordered 22 of them over the years. True story.

Crosswords are challenging (for me), but not ridiculous. And they're perforated so they tear out easily which makes doing them very convenient.

Love this series because I can tear out a few puzzles and the answers, stick it in a clipboard, and work on them without having to pry a book open. The perforations work well and the puzzles are, for me, just the right degree of difficulty. I do wish all the puzzles were the larger size, but you can't have everything.

Just a heads up...This is a TUFF Crossword Book. I've gotten numerous 100%s...and Nothing under 80% until I hit the "late 200's" puzzles. (Calculation Add Across clues plus down clues - this is the denominator. Count ALL Wrong Words...even one letter - which counts 2 wrong words...LOL - subtract from denominator, put that in numerator, divide and multiply by 100 to get percent. Example 50 Across...50 Down...= 100. 6 wrong...= 100-6= 94 94/100 x 100 = 94%). This book will challenge you with 15+ letter "words" (many words) that are a "Theme". More like a sentence. Also...some puzzles...200+...use a # for an entire WORD...like The # is the word. ...# = BIRD...in like 4 clues!. I'm gonna try all 300...Finish the book...but in the late 200's, I've had to skip some puzzles - ie..not score 'em...no point in that. All in all...challenging book for crossworders. I've only been doing xwords for a year, so This book was an education. Good luck!

LLegó muy pronto y el libro tienen muchos crucigramas

I absolutely love the white pages making it easier to see the pencil marks. I also love that you can tear them out on the serrated edges and each puzzle is on a single page. I have bought many of these books and will continue to do so.

Worst crossword book ever. The whole family love crosswords and have done many in the past. None of us liked these. The clues are ridiculous and left us all wondering what they had to do with the answers. We are all well practised and its not just a USA to English thing as we do lots of puzzles from the states. Tried a few different ones in case but a complete waste of money, has been donated. Good luck to anyone who gives it a go.

I don't know other peoples' crossword skills, but this hit the spot for me. Just the right level of difficulty, challenging but still fun to do. The perforated pages are great, so you can work on a smooth surface rather than bending the pages.

I have been doing these puzzles for years and are such a great downtime activity. Recommend.