Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book #19 (19) Paperback – September 10, 2019

I bought the first book in this series at the start of the pandemic lockdown, and I've been through almost half the series now. They're good puzzles for a serious crossword solver. The typeface and space to write are a good size, and the paper takes well to a pen---no bleed-through. Simon & Schuster created the very first crossword puzzle book ever in 1924 (I know this because I wrote about it in New York City Firsts), and they're still putting together good puzzles.

Crossword puzzles are proven to improve brain function, memory, and knowledge. It's like a Jeopardy round on paper with subjects like: geography, literature, history, science, sports, movies, tv, food, politics, pop culture, etc. There's also the satisfaction of finishing one (answers are in the back just in case!) Each book has 300 puzzles, keeping you busy every day for nearly a year. I've ordered 22 of them over the years. True story.

The puzzles in this book are interesting and intelligent . The levels of difficulty are not in order. Sometimes the smaller puzzles at the beginning of the book are more difficult than the ones later on. I've shopped at the major book stores and most of the puzzle books there are not interesting. The value is in the clues. Interesting clues are those which require you to think in great variety of "boxes."

My husband likes crosswords and these puzzles are medium difficulty. He says some words and clues are occasionally repeated with different puzzles in the book, but overall I think they are providing a great activity for keeping the brain in shape!

The puzzles are challenging but not frustrating. I have to dig deep into memories and education but I am delighted for the cerebral exercise.

This is the second Mega I’ve bought. I like the perforated pages so I can keep my “cheat sheet” handy. Also can tear some out for traveling. The difficulty varies but I would say on average they’re Medium, challenging but not frustrating.

Starts out easy and gets harder as you go through the book. Some of the puzzles are pretty challenging due to their heavier use of proper nouns.

A mix of challenging and easier puzxles.