Crossword lovers who solve puzzles frequently are thrill seekers at heart. They spare good time in the interesting world of words. That empty grid gives them the urge to complete it as soon as possible.
Relishing the dopamine rush, their brain rattles for puns and trivial details. The feeling when that last letter in the grid is filled which completes the crossword suddenly puts the universe to rest.
After a while, the satisfaction turns into the quotidian. When you start playing daily crossword puzzles, you will start wondering if there are any more potent puzzles that he can’t get his hands on.
The Love for MetaPuzzle Games
Over the past decade, a unique kind of puzzle has gained popularity among the hardcore crossword cruciverbalist. This type of puzzle promises to deliver time, and again the elusive kind of pleasure devoted cruciverbalist crave. Any guesses? Well, they are METAPUZZLEs.
When you start solving a meta-puzzle, you suddenly realize you have got a key to the adrenaline rush. Every crossword lover wants that ‘aha’ moment, and this puzzle promises to give it every time. There are a growing number of solvers who have started chasing it.
How is a metapuzzle is different from a standard crossword puzzle?
What do you expect from a standard crossword? Some clues that you have to answer, and those answers will fit in the spaces provided. But meta puzzles allow a wider variety of solving processes. When you start reading the clues of the meta crossword, you really don’t know how will you find what you are looking for. And this makes the ‘aha’ moment which is way more satisfying.
Media & Metapuzzles
Do you know that the iteration of the meta puzzles has been published earlier? Game Magazine published content in the 1980s, and so did the Dell Magazine. The Wall Street Journal has recently started publishing a weekly meta on Fridays.
This is a great achievement because this is the first time a regular newspaper published a regular meta-puzzle.
Peter Gordon posts 10 meta puzzles every year in the weekly Fireball crossword. He once published a meta with the theme “Thinking Caps.” The question asked: “What thing associated with the ringing of a bell is hinted at, by this puzzle?” Can you answer it?
At least give it a try. Well, the answer required some tortuous mental gymnastics. The solvers later realized that the four answers contained the last name of the baseball hall of farmers.
They also started thinking the teams they had been on Los Angeles, St. Louis, Atlanta, and Philadelphia. Then, he thought about their caps and finally the letters written on them. What those letters spelled when combined in a certain way. Phew! Now that is a long time to solve the crossword. The answer: ‘LAST LAP.’
Online meta-puzzle are amazing. Give them a try, and have a wonderful time.
