Astounding Acrostic Puzzles (Mensa) [Spiral-bound]

Anne Brown (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mensa | Publication Date: October 1, 2005

Acrostic puzzles lift word game fans beyond crosswords to the next level. Just dust off your memories of great writers and philosophers, and add today's movie stars and sports heroes. Each of the 40 puzzles features three simple steps, starting with treating the clues just like crosswords. Next, you fill in the empty boxes with words that complete a quote from the book. Fortunately, you can figure out answers you don't even know from the clues provided, so the more you play, the more informed you become! Finally, you read the first letters of the answers to read the author of the quote and its source. You'll have fun, even as you learn.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 96 pages
• Publisher: Puzzlewright (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402725418
• ISBN-13: 978-1402725418
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #79 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Crosswords > General
  • #83 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Puzzles

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Different Perspective, October 26, 2005

By 

J. Veale - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Astounding Acrostic Puzzles (Mensa) (Spiral-bound)

I thought the one-star review was far too harsh (and unnecessarily sarcastic). And I'm not sure it's a valid criticism of any collection of crossword or acrostic puzzles to simply dismiss them as too easy. Too easy for whom? People vary in their skill level. Some solve the Sunday New York Times crossword in 15 minutes; others struggle for hours. Both groups enjoy themselves.

Personally, I found the puzzles in this collection to be very engaging. To be sure, some of them are relatively easy (at least for experienced acrostics enthusiasts), but others are certainly not "a piece of cake." The quotes are quite interesting and/or entertaining, and the clues are often refreshingly quirky. I think this collection makes acrostics more accessible to the newcomer, yet is a lot of fun for old hands (at least for this old hand).

I've become something of an "acrostics nut," thanks in part to collections like this one. I gave up on acrostics for many years because I found the puzzles by Thomas Middleton and the like to be just too daunting for the beginner. I developed acrostics skills by working puzzles of increasing difficulty and now I, too, look for the tough ones. This book and Ms. Brown's previous collection are an excellent introduction to an absorbing pastime.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Disappointing, May 12, 2007

By 

Phoenix Sunshine "WordWiz2" (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Astounding Acrostic Puzzles (Mensa) (Spiral-bound)

I should preface my comments by stating that I am both a Mensan AND a long-time solver, constructor and editor of acrostic puzzles. Even though each puzzle is graded from one to four stars for level of difficulty, experienced solvers should have no problem with any of these. The puzzles themselves (quotation and word list) are interesting and feature a number of literary and movie/TV references. But, while the puzzles are of average length (85 to 115 characters), each one is spread out over two full pages. It would have been an easy matter to print one puzzle per page, thus giving us 80 puzzles rather than the 40 published here. Also, I believe most solvers would prefer an entire book geared to their solving level, e.g., all easy for beginners, and all challenging for experienced solvers. This book will cause some solvers to lose interest. Experienced solvers would do better to purchase a book of puzzles by Charles A. Duerr.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good but not great, March 24, 2006

By 

Loren Gelber "Leah7" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Astounding Acrostic Puzzles (Mensa) (Spiral-bound)

These puzzles are presented with ratings of one to four stars for difficulty. I found the one star through three stars about the same, and not too difficult. I can not do any of the four stars. These puzzles have a lot of current topical references.