[to be expanded upon]

Many people have tried a crossword once or twice, but don't like
how they use very esoteric words or really stupid not-quite-accurate
clues.  Yes, there are a lot of bad puzzles out there, commonly found
in airline magazines and the like.

However there *are* consistently good puzzles to be had: most notably,
the NY Times is great for new solvers, as it starts out
at a beginner's level on monday, and gets progressively harder
through the week.  (Myself, I can handle Wednesdays fine, Thursdays are
a battle, and Fridays I need a friend to work with.)
The editor (Will Shortz) makes it a point to
use words that people *actually* *use* in real life, rather
than obscure stuff like "etui" and [...well, i can't think of
examples, since i never use those words :-]
It's a goal that's not always achieved, but it's usually close.

I'm sure there are many other good puzzles as well.  Ones
I consistently enjoy are (a) from Games magazine (which has
one-star through three-star puzzles, and (b) Merl Reagle's puzzle
in the San Francisco ..Chronicle?  (Not sure if he's still doing those.)
I think the LA Times has a good puzzle as well.


Finally, note that I find crosswords a great two-person social activity!
Just be sure to (a) have one person choosing and reading clues, so you
can both brainstorm on a similar area of a puzzle, and (b) if you know
the answer right away, wait just a couple of moments to give the
other person a *chance*.  (It's not condescending to give somebody 5sec
to think about a clue!)