Chansey favours the prepared mind.

Image credit: Eurogamer

Over the past few months, I have developed a taste for cryptic crosswords. Different to normal crosswords, these puzzles revolve around clues that are self-contained miniature riddles, of sorts, that prioritise wordplay and brain-teasing, rather than just giving you a direct definition to figure out. The problem is, I'm not very good at them. Understanding them is like understanding a different language, and until recently, I didn't know how to go about beginning to comprehend it. But now I do. My daily morning routine consists of making my coffee and opening up the fantastic Minute Cryptic app on my phone as I wait for my caffeine to brew. I feel like I've gone from greenhorn to adept in a matter of weeks.

The app is a gift for people trying to learn the arcane magic behind cryptic crosswords: there are free 'courses' that teach you how to understand the weird clues, broken down into letterplay and wordplay.…