We all know what an acrostic looks like, right?

As you can see, the first letters of each word spell out a word themselves. Acrostic puzzles work similarly.

First of all, ACROSTICS AND CROSSWORDS ARE NOT THE SAME THING!! It’s easy to confuse the two because the grid in the corner has black boxes that call to mind crossword puzzles, BUT they are not the same.

The grid contains letters that make up a quote. In the top left-hand corner of each white box is a number. In terms of the grid this number merely represents the sequence of boxes. The letter in the top right-hand corner represents the clue in the word list, the series of dashes and numbers around the grid.

The idea is to fill in the dashes above the numbers, and then take each letter and place it in the same numbered box in the grid. For example, consider the following:

A. Buffalo Bills quarterback ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

who played 8 seasons in 17 9 84 39 78 10 66 100 22 45 8

the CFL (full name)

The answer to this clue is "DOUG FLUTIE." You would fill in the letters, one above each dash, then transfer each letter to the same numbered box in the grid. The "D" goes in box 17, the "O" in box 9, the "U" in box 84, and so on, and so on, and so on...

It’s also possible to work the puzzle backwards. If you notice that certain letters in the grid spell out a word you recognize, enter those letters into the boxes and then transfer them back to the word list. The letter in the top right hand corner tells you which word or phrase in the word list it belongs to. The more letters you can determine between the word list and the grid, the easier it will be to solve the puzzle.

When the puzzle is complete, the quote will be revealed in the grid, and the first letter of each word spells out the quote’s author and source--hence the name "acrostic."

A word of caution: sometimes you’ll come up with what you think is an easy answer to a clue. THINK AGAIN!! Acrostics aren’t meant to be that easy. I’ve solved them for several years, and I ALWAYS, ALWAYS fall into that same old trap.

Any questions? Drop me an e-mail.