Customer Reviews

Merl Reagle's Sunday Crosswords, Vol. 6

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Merl Reagle has twice been named the "Best Sunday Crossword Creator in America" by "Games" Magazine. I heartily agree with that distinction. Reagle's puzzles (which appear weekly in the L.A. Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, and other newspapers) are consistently witty, inventive, challenging, and very entertaining. He has a sense of humor and creativity that make his puzzles a delight to solve. They are hard enough to be a fun challenge, but not so hard that you they are unsolvable. I find that I can usually complete them all, with the exception of a word or two.

Another thing that distinguishes Reagle's work is his wonderful themes. He loves to play with the long answers, using inventive tricks that rise above the simple puns that most Sunday puzzles use. (A couple of favorites: a "Low-Fat" crossword in which the letters "l-a-r-d" are left out of some of the words; "Buggy Baseball" with answers like "seventh inning scratch.")

I've been working my way through Reagle's puzzle books and I haven't gotten tired of them yet. I think the collected volumes of his puzzles now number 8. They all come highly recommended.

Merl Reagle is unique in his ability to capture the puzzle solvers' thought processes. Merl is amusing, challenging, educational, and witty. Like an exciting and wholesome party, at each puzzle's conclusion the reader is eager to return to more of the same kind of fun.

Merl Reagle's puzzles are a treat- challenging, amusing, but not snobbish. If TV Guides puzzles are a joke to you or you throw your pen across the room in disgust trying to solve the NY Times puzzle, Merl is the man for you. Smart, down-to-earth puzzles, make me wish every day was Sunday.

I am a true Merl Reagle addict. I have done all of his books and also do the weekly puzzles in the Philadelphia Inquirer. I have tried to pace myself, but sometimes in my 2:00AM insomniac attacks I will pick out 2 or 3 just to keep busy. They go way too fast that way, but as I said, I'm an addict and addicts have no self-control. He is the pre-eminent puzzler in America, bar none. People look at me like I'm crazy (maybe so), as I'm chuckling while doing a crossword. Thank you, Merl, for brightening so many of my days.