Chambers XWD: A Dictionary of Crossword Abbreviations (Crossword Dictionary) [Paperback]

SUMMARY: You'll want this comprehensive reference to help you solve clues containing single and multiple letter indicators, especially if you prefer the more difficult cryptic crosswords which often have obscure indicators. British English.
DETAILS: Authors Kindred and Knight are crossword setters Emkay and Mordred for 'The Listener', so you can be sure they know all the clue-setter's tricks of the trade, and so the book is as comprehensive as they could make it. Handy for those who solve cryptic crosswords of any standard, from the Telegraph to the Solver Silver Salver standard of The Listener's most fiendish. This book is NOT a general crossword solver aid, but concentrates on only ONE aspect, namely the use of 'group indicators' (word(s) indicating two or more letters in a clue's answer) and '(single) letter indicators'. Phrases are omitted, understandably as clue variety is infinite so no mention of (common) phrases like "central England" or "end of April" to indicate the single letter L. The book has a section explaining what indicators are, with tips for how to spot them. Obviously as one, two or more letters are being clued, there are thousands of combinations e.g. "United States" for the letters U and S together. Example clue: "American woman's a court official. (5)" Answer: USHER (U.S. plus HER). (That clue is not in the book.) Many entries are obscure or unlikely to be at the forefront of the brain, so helps crossword lovers (cruciverbalists) for whom otherwise there is no dedicated reference work in such detail. The book claims over 10,000 entries. They are arranged as a two-way glossary. First is 'full form' e.g. "United States of America" and 'abbreviation' (USA), and then that list is presented the other way round i.e. 'abbreviation' first. There are a few minor omissions e.g. they have "parking" to indicate the letter P but not "double-parking/parked" (which was in a clue I solved yesterday) to indicate the two letters PP together. Numbers do not have their own entry thus, for instance, you need to look under "L" for 50 (the Roman numeral) but there is no entry "50" - you need to know to look at the Appendix on Roman numerals. You must do your own cross-referencing as no explanations are given e.g. "IR" says "taxmen"; there is no cross-reference to "Inland Revenue", so if you did not already know the context you would have to look under "Inland Revenue" where it says simply "IR" (oddly, "IRS" is missing from the entries though it is still often used in puzzles). It includes the most well-known Internet abbreviations. There are 13 appendices giving bulk group lists: armed services, books of the Bible, chemical elements, colleges, England and Wales counties, countries, decorations, degrees, first names, Roman numerals, servicemen/women, unions and USA states.

The fact that this book ONLY concerns itself with abbreviations makes this book stand out as a reliable cryptic crossword resource. Yes it only helps with one small chunk of the crossword solving process but for me that is a strength. I have found it to be very useful - especially considering the 2nd hand price these sell for !

The only negative I can think of is that the book is now 6 years old and may not include abbreviations that have only recently surfaced.

I thought this book might show me the 'how tos' of cryptic crossword solving - concentrates on codes.
'Cryptic Crosswords and How to Solve Them' is the book you need!