Standard and Variety Cryptic Crosswords
Out of Left Field, Book 6
This is the final compilation of cryptic crosswords by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto that were published in The Nation. The 47 Nation puzzles in this book ran in the magazine from 2018-2020. The 48th puzzle is a sample from the constructors' new venture, Out of Left Field Cryptics.
Out of Left Field, Book 6: Forty-Eight Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (which includes free shipping within the USA)!
Word Salad: A Guide to Cryptic Crosswords
This e-book by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto is the most comprehensive guide to cryptic crosswords ever published in the United States. The intended audience ranges from the cryptic newbie to the seasoned constructor. It's available for purchase via the authors' website, Out of Left Field Cryptics, or directly from the Out of Left Field store, where you can also find solvable electronic versions of earlier books.
If you'd like to get more of Joshua and Henri's cryptics, check out their their Patreon page.
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 4
If you thought Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were mind-blowingly awesome, then ... well, you know. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. 45 new variety cryptics from Jonathan Berkowitz, Adam Cohen, Yossi Fendel, Mark Halpin, Paul Henderson, Dan Katz, Joshua Kosman, Kevin Mulcahy, Henri Picciotto, NeilFred Picciotto, Todd Rew, Andrew J. Reis, Dave Shukan, Bob Stigger, Kevin Wald, and Roger Wolff.
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 4 is available for $20.95 (which includes free shipping within the USA)!
Click here to try a sample puzzle from Out of Left Field: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords by Kosman and Picciotto
(click here for the solution)
Click here to try a sample puzzle from 50 Variety Cryptic Crosswords ("Keynote Address" by Roger Wolff)
(click here for the solution)
Out of Left Field, Book 5: Forty-Eight Cryptic Crosswords
This is the fifth compilation of cryptic crosswords by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto, all but one of which were published in The Nation during 2017-2018. Following the publication of Book 4, there were 94 puzzles left for this book series, and it seemed best to break them up into two books, this one and Book 6, which is the last of the set. The 48th puzzle in this book is a sample from the constructors' new venture, Out of Left Field Cryptics.
When you've got maestros like Kosman and Picciotto on your home team, you're in good hands. You want humor? You got it. Themes? Naturally. New standards in cryptic forms? Damn right.
Put it this way: I know these guys, they're okay.
— Brendan Emmett Quigley, crossword constructor
Out of Left Field, Book 5: Forty-Eight Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Out of Left Field, Book 4: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords
This is the fourth compilation of 60 cryptic crosswords from the pages of The Nation. Co-constructors Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto are happy to present these puzzles, which appeared in the magazine in 2015 and 2016. We hope that they will amuse, entertain, and bedevil you as pleasingly as the contents of the first three books did.
There are two ways to solve a cryptic. You can interpret the clue and come up with the answer, which is where Kosman and Picciotto really shine. Their wordplay is clever and their definitions are fair.
Alternatively, you can guess the answer from the crossing letters and see if it jibes with the clue. This is where Kosman and Picciotto really really shine, because that's when their clues suddenly detonate like little fireworks and are actually funny, eliciting what in the trade we call “laffs.”
What more could you ask for?
— Ellis Wiener, author and humorist
Out of Left Field, Book 4: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Out of Left Field, Book 3: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords
Welcome to Out of Left Field, Book 3, the latest compilation of 60 cryptic crosswords from the pages of The Nation. Co-constructors Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto hope these puzzles, which appeared in the magazine in 2014 and 2015, will amuse, entertain, and bedevil you as pleasingly as the contents of the first two books did.
I thoroughly enjoyed Out of Left Field #2; not only were there many new discoveries and clever clues, but I was impressed at the number of ways the puzzles innovated within the cryptic structure. One of my favorite puzzle books in years.
— Trip Payne, three-time winner of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
Out of Left Field, Book 3: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Out of Left Field, Book 2: Sixty (More) Cryptic Crosswords
This collection contains the second set of puzzles constructed by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto. These puzzles were first published in The Nation from October 2012 to March 2014.
Even if the country boasted a hundred different weekly cryptic crosswords, the Nation puzzle would stand out. It flies its own flag and pipes its own tune. It makes the world less dreary and more cheery.
— Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, cryptic crossword constructors for The Wall Street Journal
Out of Left Field, Book 2: Sixty (More) Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Out of Left Field: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords
This collection is sure to appeal to lovers of cryptic crosswords, those devilishly ingenious puzzles in which each clue is a mini-puzzle by itself, offering two separate paths to the answer. It reprints the first 60 cryptic crosswords to appear in The Nation from constructors Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto, beginning when they took over from longtime constructor Frank W. Lewis in 2011. In addition to inventive clues, many of these puzzles include a mini-theme to tie the enterprise together.
Out of Left Field: Sixty Cryptic Crosswords is available for $19.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 4
If you thought Volumes 1, 2, and 3 were mind-blowingly awesome, then ... well, you know. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. 45 new variety cryptics from Jonathan Berkowitz, Adam Cohen, Yossi Fendel, Mark Halpin, Paul Henderson, Dan Katz, Joshua Kosman, Kevin Mulcahy, Henri Picciotto, NeilFred Picciotto, Todd Rew, Andrew J. Reis, Dave Shukan, Bob Stigger, Kevin Wald, and Roger Wolff.
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 4 is available for $20.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 3
If you thought Volumes 1 and 2 were mind-blowingly awesome, then you'll think Volume 3 is mind-blowingly awesome as well. 45 more variety cryptic crosswords from Bob Stigger, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Dan Katz, Dave Shukan, Henri Picciotto, Jeffrey Harris, John Forbes, Jonathan Berkowitz, Joshua Kosman, Kevin Mulcahy, Mark Halpin, Paul Henderson, Rebecca Kornbluh, Roger Wolff, and Todd Rew. What more could you possibly ask for? Besides a fourth volume...
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 3 is available for $20.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 2
If you thought Volume 1 was mind-blowingly awesome, then you'll think Volume 2 is mind-blowingly awesome as well. 45 more variety cryptic crosswords from Bob Stigger, Brendan Emmett Quigley, Dan Katz, Dave Shukan, David Ellis Dickerson, Hayley Gold, Henri Picciotto, Henry Hook, Jeffrey Harris, John de Cuevas, John Forbes, Jonathan Berkowitz, Kevin Wald, Mark Halpin, Mark L. Gottlieb, Mike Selinker, Rebecca Kornbluth, Roger Wolff, and Todd Rew. What more could you possibly ask for? Besides a third volume...
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 2 is available for $20.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 1
A book of 45 variety cryptic crosswords edited by Bob Stigger. Puzzles by over a dozen long-time constructors: Henry Hook, Mike Selinker, Bob Stigger, David Ellis Dickerson, Mark L. Gottlieb, Joshua Kosman, Kevin Wald, Hayley Gold, John Forbes, Todd Rew, Roy Leban, Mark Halpin, and Roger Wolff.
Cryptic All-Stars Volume 1 is available for $20.95 (free shipping within the USA)!
50 Variety Cryptic Crosswords
The title just about says it all. This book is a compilation of 50 (American style) variety cryptic crosswords. A small handful have previously been published (in GAMES Magazine, GAMES World of Puzzles, and The Enigma, the newsletter of the National Puzzlers' League). The rest are never-before-seen puzzles sure to provide hours and hours of brain-racking entertainment.
50 Variety Cryptic Crosswords is available for $20.95 (free shipping within the USA)!