In order to resolve crossword puzzles, you need to begin by taking steps to prepare yourself. A couple of handy items to have are a dictionary and thesaurus, so that you will not get hung up by confusing words and phrases. Other necessities are a good, sharp pencil or two, and an eraser. You will also want to be sitting at a table or desk in a well lit area.
Start by reading over all the clues.This will give you a good idea about which ones are easy, and which ones may give you some problems. It can also help you to mark the clues according to difficulty, by making a check mark by clues you can solve easily, and circulating the difficult clues you may need to research in order to resolve. You may want to take a break and rest your mind regularly, especially if you are solving one of the larger puzzles.
When solving crosswords, you will give yourself a head start on the harder, longer words, and eliminate a majority of the puzzle. by filling in all the easy clues first. You can break the puzzle into blocks, across and down, until you reach the end of the clue list. Sometimes there may be a clue that could have two or more solutions. You can write all of the possible answers down along their relevant clues until you fill in enough squares to exclude the words that do not fit.
Once you finish with all the easy clues, start on the longer words. Use a dictionary or thesaurus if you encounter a word with which you are unfamiliar. You could also refer to a Bible or an encyclopedia, if the clue will refer to a Biblical quote, or to a specific location or an event in history. Work through these clues in the same way you did with the easy clues, block by block.
As more words get filled in, the puzzle will get easier to solve, especially since some of the squares will be filled in when solving previous clues.
A lot of times, the harder clues will be a play on words that are related to the theme of the crossword puzzle, so you may have to take the theme of the puzzle into consideration in order to solve it. After that, you may be able to resolve the crossword by process of elimination and by using some simple logic.
On occasion, the puzzle author may use some little tricks, like using numbers or symbols to complete parts of words or phrases. Solving a puzzle like this will require a little creativity on your part. For instance, a puzzle may have the word "arrow" in each theme related clue, and that may indicate a need to put an actual arrow where these clues intersect. Sometimes, you may have to replace a word with a number.
By using these simple tips, you should find that solving crossword puzzles is not as hard as you thought. Keep solving crosswords, so you will get that great feeling of accomplishment relieve some of the stress of your day, and also exercise your mind.