Tip: Examine clues for verb tense and plurality

[admin]

A good tip for solving acrostic puzzles is to pay close attention to how the clues are written, since one of the rules of acrostics (much like crosswords) is that the verb tense and noun plurality used in the clue should also be reflected in the answer. Even if you don't know the answer to a particular clue, you can sometimes make an educated guess about one or two of its letters based on these subtle hints.

Plurals - if the clue is in the form of a plural noun, it's often a good bet to try placing an S as the last letter of the answer. Note that this doesn't always work! Many English language plurals don't end in S - geese and children, for example. But the vast majority of plurals end with an S, so if you get stuck on a puzzle, give it a try and see if it opens up the board.

Verb Tense - if the clue is a past-tense verb (such as "Climbed, as a mountain") then the answer will be in the past-tense as well (i.e. SCALED). Same goes for present-tense and future-tense. Past-tense verbs are particularly helpful because so many of them end in -ED. Again, this doesn't always work - brought and forgot are two examples. But if you notice a past-tense verb clue and you're otherwise stuck on the puzzle, try entering "ED" as the last two letters, and see if it helps things along.

[Kerry]

Thanks for those tips - also you can often spot the word "THE" and words ending in "ING" - those are big helps for me.

Are you ever going to make a backspace delete? Sure would be helpful - thanks! Love this game

Kerry