Customer Reviews

The Million Word Crossword Answer Book

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

**This review is about the paperback edition...I added a KINDLE edition comment at the end of this review, dated Jan 07, 2011

This is NOT a crossword book I use a lot, BUT, it's very useful when I've come across a clue to which I can not find an answer in my regular crossword dictionary (Yes, even "The Million Word Crossword Dictionary" occasionally fails to find an answer...lol) and end up with a partially completed word.

A few comments on how the book works:

1.)This book assumes you have a least two letters (in any position) of ANY 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 letter word and then proceeds to give you ALL possible combinations of words (answers) that would fit with the letters you already have.

For example, if you had a seven-letter answer with the second letter being H and the sixth letter being C, and appearing on your crossword page as *H***C*, this book will suggest the words CHALICE and PHYSICS, the proper names EHRLICH and SHYLOCK, and the phrase THIN ICE as possible answers.

2a.)To help make the book easier to use, the sections of the book are first divided by answer length...that being all 3 letter words first, then all 4 letter words and so on. Then all the possible 3 letter combinations are listed alphabetically; then all 4 letter words, then all 5 letter words etc.

2.b)This listing method allows you to quickly find the letters you have and their positions within a word. For example, all four letter words using at least one 'A' and one 'B' would be found listed initially under AB**, then A*B*, then A**B, then *AB*, *A*B etc. until all A & B combos were exhausted. And this method is used for ANY answer that has as few as three letters or a maximum of seven.

3.)As you might imagine, some of the words listed as possible answers can be very unfamiliar looking. So to try to help this situation, the authors have developed a 'Glossary' (at the end of this book) that has 24,000+ words in it; words initially found in the main answer section. Each of these words, has a short definition to help explain the meaning of these 'unfamiliar answers', to help you determine if the word fits your crossword definition. Surprisingly, this section turned out to be much more useful and helpful than I thought it would be.

Only one minor concern:

This book is big and heavy (1269 pages), so toting this volume around is cumbersome to say the least.

And finally this...the number of possible combos for some of the potential answers can, in some cases, be VERY extensive. So it really helps (especially with six and seven letter words), to have more than just two letters available, as this will narrow your search down significantly. It becomes obvious that the more letters you have to start with, the smaller and easier the search required.

Conclusion:
For anyone who enjoys tougher crosswords, this unusual ANSWER book is a perfect fit when combined with 'The Million Dollar Crossword DICTIONARY Book'.
This book offers the potential solution to many obscure crossword clues that your regular definition dictionary may be unable to find. The only caveat is that you do have to have at least two letters in the word that is giving you trouble; but with this minimum information this book will be a definite asset. 5 Stars.

P.S.
I must admit to being somewhat taken aback but the number of 1 and 2 star reviews found here. It appears that many bought this book without taking the time to understand what this book is all about. Even though the actual work of compiling this data was likely computer generated, I thought the idea for this book was brilliant; that someone would actually come up with a solution for some of those really tough crosswords clues. A huge well-done to the authors.

Ray Nicholson

**Kindle Edition Comment. Jan 07, 2011...BARELY OK...NEEDS MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS

The Kindle edition provides no easy search interactivity in the table of contents. There is not even a basic A,B,C listing to take you to "A" section, the "B" section, etc.
Instead, you must go through the table of contents in the front of the book to find the two letter combos that you wish to search for...and presenting all possible letter combinations starting with the three letter AA* to the last seven letter *****ZZ answer, encompasses a large number of Kindle pages...simply not worth the effort.
This book is a little easier to use than the KINDLE edition of the 'Million Word Crossword Dictionary' but to be considered remotely user-friendly, the e-edition needs to be more 'interactive'...thus allowing the user to easily and seamlessly find the area that they need to go to.

I bought this book thinking it was a newer updated publication of A DIFFERENT book I have (wih a VERY SIMILAR NAME). Published in 2004 by the same authors, THE MILLION WORD CROSSWORD "DICTIONARY" has tons of hard to find celebrites, brand names & movies. I love THAT book, and it may actually be the book you are seeking. This book's title is THE million word CROSSWORD "ANSWER BOOK" - and is large awkward book that helps you find a word by "missing letters". Quite frankly, I have an ELECTRONIC crossword puzzle solver that does the same thing in less time and is MUCH EASIER to use. They're small, light, handy, and most electronic versions also spell and unsramble. Trust me, if this IS the type of crossword help you are really looking for, buy an electronic solver instead. If you want answers to clues, buy the MILLION WORD CROSSWORD "DICTIONARY" version.

After going through a number of less useful crossword dictionaries, I have been using the past edition of this book for three years. I find it to be the most thorough and helpful. As the past edition aged I did find there were more current listings I was seeking that were not included, so this new edition has been eagerly awaited and appreciated. I can't imagine a more comprehensive crossword aide. I'm 100% happy with it.

The Million Word Crossword Answer Book fills the 'missing links' when you can't find the word you are looking for! It works hand in hand with the Million Word Crossword Dictionary and is a winning combination. Wish I'd had this long ago especially where it comes to movies and that type of info. It really is good!!!

This is a good reference book if you have some of the letters and would recognize the answer if you saw it.

This is a very special book which can help in solving those tricky clues in crossword puzzles and word games. Be sure to read the "key" at the beginning of the book which explains how to find the patterns and page layouts. Once you learn the patterns you will discover the wonders of the book. It's really ingenious.

Not the type of dictionary I like. Would not have ordered if I had known the type of crossword book it was.

What a great piece of work. I enjoy making crossword puzzles, but with this book I LOVE making crossword puzzles. It really expands the possibilities of making more interesting and challenging puzzles. It also reduces the time it takes to create a puzzle.

I already have the 2004 edition of The Million Word Crossword Dictionary. Because this book looks just like the one I have except it's The Million Word Crossword Answer book, I thought I was buying the latest version of the 2004 book. I wish they wouldn't make it look almost the same.

I go through stages of addicition with the NYT puzzles to taking a few months off. I had the NYT Crossword dictionary and loved it but it was paperback plus well used so it fell apart after a couple years. I looked for several months for the newest version (and in hardcover) of a NYT puzzle dictionary but the only one was my old published 8 or more years before. Anyway I saw the Million Word Crossword Dictionary in Hardcover and the latest publishing date with Wil Shortz as a reviewer(sorry cannot think of the word I want to say-is it prologue done by Wil Shortz?), so I bought it. I love it but wish it had tabs for each letter like a regular dictionary. I than saw The Million Word Crossword Answer Book by the same author so I bought it. I always thought myself pretty good at puzzles with some help from the dicitionaries, but I cannot figure this book out. Maybe if someone explained it to me a light bulb will go off but as of right now it just sits with its mate.Maybe tabs of some sort would help this book and me. It did have some interesting information in the back but never knew it was there until I went on sabbatical from puzzles.So I cannot even tell you what it is-I think trivia questions/answers common in NYT puzzles.

I have actually used it a few times playing scrabble when desperate. SO PRO for SCRABBLE PLAYERS!!

Hope this helps...