Reddit reviews Chambers Crossword Manual: 5th Edition

Good clue setting is often described as 'an art' and think I'd agree. After solving my favourite setters' puzzles I am usually lost in admiration for their enormous skill and inventiveness.

So, as with any other creative activity, there is no magic formula for how to 'do' it. Some people, it seems, are just naturally gifted, while others have to work very hard to become even half decent.

For me, a minimum first step is to thoroughly learn the basics by becoming proficient as a solver. For that I always recommend using The Guardian's free archive – with the weekly Everyman, Quiptic and Monday's cryptics generally being a bit easier, so good for beginners – in conjunction with the FifteenSquared parsing site, where every clue's construction is explained and regular users discuss their likes and dislikes in each puzzle.

With that said there are some good setting tips to be had here and I'd heartily recommend The Chambers Crossword Manual as an excellent book for budding setters to learn the basics.