I do the crosswords with a pen (don't own any pencils) or, if I am in a resto and reading their paper I do them in my head.
I always use a version of shorthand caps. Depending upon how I feel, I will write small neat caps that fit inside the boxes or big bold caps that fill entire box and sometimes overlap the lines.
When I do the Gazette crossword puzzle I do it with my left hand (I am a righty). Perhaps Bill can explain this to me. When I do it with my right hand, I can usually finish it off in 10 to 15 minutes. If I use my left hand the answers don't come as easily and it can take me some 5 to ten minutes more. If I get stuck on a word, a switch to my right hand will make the word pop into my head.
I never finish the NY Times crossword. There are so many references to U.S. people and events that I have NO clue about. I am always amazed that people in the U.S. will know the name of the wife of the guy that lost the presidential election in 1946.
Cryptics...well, I haven't gotten past the "what on earth are they going on about" stage.
Oh and, one grrrr point...crossword solving is contagious; my son has now taken to sneaking the crosswords out of the paper and finishing them off before I even get a look at 'em.
