None of those kiddie puzzles here; and none so esoteric that you will need to email your genius friends- this series has entertained me through children's college interviews, others' shopping, hours of what would otherwise be tedium- can't do without it.
Reasonably challenging. I like to see how many I can do in a row without a mistake, usually between 6 and 10. The Dell Sunday puzzles are a bit more challenging.
For me, this hits a sweet spot of difficult but not impossible. The definitions are generally fair, and there are few rare insects or other words known only to crossword puzzle users and Scrabble players.
I can rarely complete one of these, but I love the challenge. It is a good mix of fairly easy, fairly difficult, and totally impossible puzzles.
I am a confirmed cruciverbalist, and I love the National Observer's crosswords! I find them challenging, and to me, the whole point of solving is to exercise the brain as much as possible.
Feature Product
Description
Challenging crosswords edited by renowned puzzle editor Charles Preston.
Gift Subscription, well loved by recipient!
I buy this for my son in law. He likes it because it comes once a month and always has one on hand. He is very fast with them and likes that kind of puzzle. He has enjoyed them for many years.
This is a great crossword puzzle book. I have had this subscription for two years and purchased this at local bookstores for several years before starting a subscription. This year the book is much thinner. I would estimate it has about 25% less puzzles. I was disappointed.
Excellent book of crosswords, if you like a challenge. It is not for the faint-hearted.
If you like themed puzzles on the harder side of the street, you will adore these. I love harder puzzles with themes and these are some of the best I have ever done. If you don't know, you should check out what the US version of the National Observer was. It was an actual publication created by the man who started the The Wall Street Journal and was in existence from 1962 to 1977. I would love to find a copy in some library on microfiche. But, I digress.
There are a total of 70 crosswords in each issue and from puzzle 31-70, the puzzles are the larger, Sunday-type version. The man who edits the publication, Mr. Preston, seems to take great care because the selections are varied, delightful and enjoyable. I also like the fact that Kappa Publishing takes great care to eliminate any errors even in the headers and footers. I'm sure he has a lot of help in doing this, too. But, it's obvious, that the company cares about every detail.
The books are digest-size so you could carry in your backpack, purse or other bag, which is cool for the train or something. Something I appreciate, too, is the fact that the books do not crumble after a lot of abuse in terms of falling apart from the spine. The spine is pliable because unlike any crossword magazines I've ever worked, you can open a page, move it around a bit and the book lays flat. To me, that's a great asset. The paper is akin to a slightly heavier newspaper, so your pencil or pen glides quite smoothly. I use erasable ink pens for my crosswords and the paper is awesome with these.
There's not much of a discount here at Amazon for a subscription, so frankly I would plunk down the extra bucks to start getting the subscription faster. It's ridiculous to wait months when you have paid for it. Mail the coupon inside one of the books or just go to the Kappa company website and order online directly.
I hope everyone enjoys solving these crosswords!