The Telegraph Cross Atlantic Crosswords 1

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There’s a little something for everyone, no matter what your skill level or how much time you have; our Mini Crossword and PlusWord should only take a couple of minutes of your time each day. In case you’re not familiar with the basic story of The Last of Us, it’s an emotionally driven story about a young girl and a man caught in a zombie apocalypse. If that sounds familiar, yes, all this has been done before. There are plenty of horror films and television shows that explore the journeys of survivors following an apocalyptic event, from George A Romero’s Night of the Living Dead to recent series such as The Walking Dead.

For too long, people have considered games to be filled with needless violence or boring stories, when that’s simply a common misconception. The televised The Last of Us is a great demonstration of gaming’s worth as a medium for art and world-building. So far the show has been very faithful to the game. People who’d never think to turn on a PlayStation (or indeed any games console) are loving the series, and it’s scoring highly with critics and audiences alike. Another regular feature in Terrell’s armoury is using one or two clues that rely on initial letters to find the answer: Our Cross Atlantics are particularly friendly to solvers, as they feature more topical references than our other puzzles, and are created in a more compact style. This means that solving just a handful of clues will give you hints to help you find other answers, and can help get you out of a jam. If only Ellie and Joel’s journey was as simple.

Crossword clues for ATLANTIC

As well as the Toughie, there are plenty more challenges and teasers to play online. Can you beat our team’s average solving times? This year, I’m already trying to be better about my eating habits, so I’ve not got a whole lot to give up. Although I might try my hand at my dad’s pancake recipe, just to keep the tradition going. At least that’s what I’m going to tell my trainer.

Two other new puzzles are also joining the digital collection: an all-new, entry level Mini Crossword, and the existing print favourite logic puzzle, Killer Sudoku. These join PlusWord, a newly created puzzle from The Telegraph which was launched earlier this year and combines the challenge of a crossword with online word-finding games. That’s not to say that the puzzles are free of subtlety and nuance. In probably my favourite clue today, some lateral thinking is required:

How to Play Holiday Mahjong Dimensions

Terrell has set more than 500 Telegraph Cryptics, in addition to having almost 150 Toughies published under his pseudonym of Beam (a synonym for “ray”, as in a ray of sunlight). This makes him one of our most experienced compilers, as well as one of the most distinctive. Whereas most of us mere mortals (myself included) are more than content with simply writing cryptic clues that work, Terrell sets himself a number of self-limiting challenges, each of which is evident in today’s crossword. Despite an accusation thrown at me by a colleague just now, “short and occasionally slightly blue” isn’t a description of a certain well-known royal’s frostbite. Rather, it’s a pretty accurate précis of today’s Cryptic Crossword, which bears the hallmarks of one of our regular Thursday compilers: Ray Terrell.

And this process of creation won’t stop with Cross Atlantic. Rather, it will be the first in a production line that should see a new puzzle or game delivered every six months or so. ‘It’s a whole new area of game development,’ says Silver. ‘We’re already working on next year’s candidates. Who knows where this goes?’ Here, says The Telegraph’s Dan Silver, in charge of the new project, is a game that will give the successful solver that small yet potent glow of pride in their achievement, while being fun and accessible, too. It will not require being steeped in the lore of the game, but will plumb the depths of recall and knowledge, and hopefully do you a bit of good along the way.The Telegraph’s General Manager of Puzzles and Games, Dan Silver says: “This is an American-style crossword but wearing a bowler hat, carrying a briefcase, with a rolled up umbrella under its arm, and a British accent. All of the references and cultural touchstones are hand-tooled to delight homegrown crossword fans.” Assembled by the country’s best compilers it will have, he says “a real British twist, with that sense of fun and character”. So, that’s the “short” covered. But what about the “blue”? Well, typically, one or more clues in any puzzle by Terrell wouldn’t feel out of place in a Carry On film, if read in a certain way. Try the following for size:

The game has been such a success that it made it to the small screen, and so we mark that success today with our very own tribute. In today’s Cross Atlantic crossword you’ll be able to spot some The Last of Us themed clues and answers. If you’re not familiar with the game or the TV series, don’t fret; the puzzle can be solved by anyone, whether they know of the franchise or not.The machine room at Bletchley Park, where Britain’s WWII code-breakers worked to decipher Nazi messages We’ve been working with academics and scientists to identify the behaviour that promotes brain health,’ says Silver. Telegraph Puzzles Editor Chris Lancaster notes that research suggests solving is ‘good for exercising your brain. Puzzles probably can’t stop the onset of dementia, but keeping mentally active may contribute to people being affected only later, or more slowly.’ A happy distraction that may actually be good for you: what’s not to like? Of course, while Cross Atlantic looks across the ocean for inspiration, it is resolutely British in the detail of its clues and solutions, exploring our culture, language, general knowledge and mores. This is a crossword, says Silver, ‘wearing a bowler hat, carrying a briefcase, with a rolled-up umbrella under its arm. It has a British accent. All of the references are British.’ Assembled by the country’s best compilers, it will have, he says, ‘a real British twist, with that sense of fun and character’. No other British newspaper regularly offers anything like it. As is the case when solving any cryptic crossword, remember one thing: the first meaning that springs to mind is generally not the one that’s needed. Some of the puzzles we’ve been running at The Telegraph have been around for decades and decades. Our world famous Cryptic Crossword, for example, is known for playing a crucial part in World War II. In 1942, it was used to test the wits of the fastest solvers in the country, which led to the best of them being invited to work as code-breakers at Bletchley Park. Even with our long history of puzzling, we’re dedicated to giving you new and exciting puzzles. This is where Cross Atlantic comes in.