The aims of the course are to improve solving skills and extend specialist crossword knowledge. At the end of the course, students should feel comfortable solving puzzles at an intermediate level and be able to attempt the more challenging puzzles that are published in the national broadsheet newspapers.  Most of the time will be spent working together on progressively more challenging puzzles from newspapers, starting with a relatively easy warm up puzzle and ending the day with some harder puzzles from the quality press.  Specific aspects of clue construction will be explained in short teaching sessions in order to build knowledge and support the further development of practical solving skills.