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Ultimate Cryptograms: 500 Large Print Puzzles to Sharpen Your Mind
This collection of 500 Cryptogram puzzles was specially hand crafted to provide the perfect level of difficulty, in an EXTEMELY large size so you have plenty of room to work! Enjoy hours of entertainment that will challenge your brain, not your eyes!
246 pages, Paperback
Published April 27, 2020
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 15, 2020
Mostly What I Like in a Cryptogram Book
This book has most of the elements I like to see in a good cryptogram book. It is organized into categories, some of which are unusual, like Quotes by Musicians. There is an introductory section that gives some good hints about how to figure out a cryptogram. An end section just before the full answers gives four-letter hints for each puzzle, e.g., C = I.
I had two main issues with this book. When I flipped back to look at the answers, I was surprised to see that the first category, which is American History, had quotes that weren't about America or by Americans. In the first 10 quotes, quoted people include Aristotle, Tony Blair, and Winston Churchill! And no, the latter two were not discussing America. I didn't check out all of the sections to see if the quotes were inaccurately categorized, but I did find this one on American history to be alarmingly not American.
The other issue I had with this book is one that I have with most cryptogram books. Some quotes are long, which is fine as it gives you more letters to puzzle out the right answers. But the authors of this book put too many on a page; sometimes there was very little space between the quotes… not even enough to write out the figured-out quote. I honestly believe that most cryptograms, especially the large print ones, should be one page per cryptogram, with lots of space between the lines so you can write your guesses about the letters above or below the quote, line by line. I also like to see a small grid at the bottom of the page where you can write the equivalents; I’ve seen a grid list the alphabet with a space next to each letter so you could fill it in as you figure each letter out. Admittedly, the grid is just a thing that I like. But I certainly think there needs to be plenty of space between the lines of a quote so that way you can write letters right above or below it.
By the way, I did find some of these quotes to be enjoyable reading and fun to puzzle out. If you don't mind the inaccurately categorized quotes and just enjoy cryptograms, you may very well appreciate this book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
This book has most of the elements I like to see in a good cryptogram book. It is organized into categories, some of which are unusual, like Quotes by Musicians. There is an introductory section that gives some good hints about how to figure out a cryptogram. An end section just before the full answers gives four-letter hints for each puzzle, e.g., C = I.
I had two main issues with this book. When I flipped back to look at the answers, I was surprised to see that the first category, which is American History, had quotes that weren't about America or by Americans. In the first 10 quotes, quoted people include Aristotle, Tony Blair, and Winston Churchill! And no, the latter two were not discussing America. I didn't check out all of the sections to see if the quotes were inaccurately categorized, but I did find this one on American history to be alarmingly not American.
The other issue I had with this book is one that I have with most cryptogram books. Some quotes are long, which is fine as it gives you more letters to puzzle out the right answers. But the authors of this book put too many on a page; sometimes there was very little space between the quotes… not even enough to write out the figured-out quote. I honestly believe that most cryptograms, especially the large print ones, should be one page per cryptogram, with lots of space between the lines so you can write your guesses about the letters above or below the quote, line by line. I also like to see a small grid at the bottom of the page where you can write the equivalents; I’ve seen a grid list the alphabet with a space next to each letter so you could fill it in as you figure each letter out. Admittedly, the grid is just a thing that I like. But I certainly think there needs to be plenty of space between the lines of a quote so that way you can write letters right above or below it.
By the way, I did find some of these quotes to be enjoyable reading and fun to puzzle out. If you don't mind the inaccurately categorized quotes and just enjoy cryptograms, you may very well appreciate this book.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
Displaying 1 of 1 review