Book excerpt: A dazzling treasury of vintage cryptics from puzzle maven Henry Hook. Selected from out-of-print books, these cryptics have been described as “challenges from the far side of puzzledom’s new wave” by the Copley News Service. Cryptics are crosswords with a twist, and Hook makes even the most confident cryptic solver work to find the answers cleverly hidden amidst anagrams, reversals, homophones, and palindromes. The most contemporary verbal wizard on the scene, Hook laces his puzzles with a playful wit, uncanny linguistic trickery, and as many references to pop culture as to high art. Representing the ultimate in puzzle creativity, this collection is a must for all fans of serious wordplay.