This was the summer reading challenge I created for my library last year. The instructions below are followed by all ten puzzles in that challenge without interruption in posts over the course of the day given the nature of how it works. Other than the instructions below, the titles preceding each puzzle are the only help given.
The best way to solve this challenge is to open each puzzle in a separate window.
I hope you enjoy.
Welcome to the Summer Reading Program Crossword Challenge where the puzzles during the course of the next two months will work differently than standard puzzles. While many of the clues are stand-alone clues to solve a puzzle as you would expect to find, there are some that look a bit strange. That’s because these puzzles are interlocked with one another, meaning that some of your answers in one puzzle are clues in another.
To help you solve the puzzles, there are a couple of things to keep in mind: words only appear once in each puzzle and there are no themed puzzles because of the overarching theme they are simply labeled by difficulty and number.
Crack the code, solve the puzzle.
Once you figure out the code used, you’ll be able to find the clues to solve the puzzles. Most of the codes appear in the medium and higher puzzles, but don’t count on that. There are a few clues that rely on at least partial solutions from the more challenging puzzles. Yes, you will want to hold onto your completed puzzles because you won’t know which ones have the clues for the puzzle.
Why this challenge?
Mainly it’s brain science. There are quite a number of studies that show crosswords and other puzzles help keep the brain active and healthy in the same way exercise does for the body. This challenge also fits the summer reading program theme of building your brain.