I've been setting cryptic crosswords since 2019. I've used the pseudonym Chameleon for self-published puzzles, some in 1 Across Magazine and a couple in the Guardian's Genius slot. Since 2021 I've set regularly for the Independent as Methuselah.
How do you pronounce your surname?
METH as in soMETHing; VEN as in informatiVENess.
How do you pronounce your first name?
It rhymes with my surname.
Are you the Charlie Methven who used to be on the board of Sunderland AFC?
No relation. But here's an interesting crossword clue.
How can I learn to solve cryptic crosswords?
Find an introduction to the rules of the game like this article
by Sandy Balfour or this set of
tutorials by Sarah Wooley, then try your hand at some crosswords at the easier end of the spectrum, e.g.
the Guardian's quick cryptic or quiptic puzzles. Guardian and Independent
puzzles also tend to be easier on Mondays. Find the Fifteensquared blogposts covering these puzzles so you can follow
along with how each clue is constructed.
After that it's a case of solving regularly until you're
familiar with the sorts of words setters use as wordplay indicators and the long list of sometimes obscure
abbreviations that turn up in a lot in crosswordland. Hopefully you'll soon be able to see that baffling clues
are actually niftily constructed mini-puzzles which can sometimes manage to tell a joke as well.