If you know your crosswords, then you know that there are different variations other than the usual stuff you see in the newspapers. And one that usually calls attention to is the one called cryptic crosswords, a unique type.

The main difference of cryptic crossword puzzles from any other kind of crosswords is the fact that the clues themselves are little puzzles that you need to solve. So unlike the ordinary crossword where all you need to do is read the clue and figure out the answer, in a cryptic puzzle, you will need to figure out what the clue is all about before you get to thinking of the possible answers. If you find the regular crosswords as hard to finish, attempting to fill out the boxes of a cryptic crossword would be a very daunting task.

This kind of crossword is not that popular in the United States, however, it has quite a following in its birth place, the United Kingdom. In fact, the crossword is sometimes referred to as “British-style” crossword puzzle in the US. It was around 1923, during when the crossword phenomenon was sweeping the globe that the cryptic kind of crossword puzzles came to be. At first the clues were not like today but rather the clues were composed more of anagrams, incomplete quotations, and, of course, wordplay.

Outside the UK, it seems that the crossword is also popular in Kenya, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, Malta, and even in South Africa. A lot of daily newspapers in the UK and Canada carry cryptic crosswords.