There were two clues in The Stickler Weekly 193 that got people talking: 12-across Mountain track up for restoration say ? (11,4) and 4-down. 12-across is the type of clue that I think EVERYONE should be able to nut out (eventually). The reason? Everything is there when looked at the right way. Some clues CAN’T be solved from the clue alone – an extraordinary leap is necessary (like in the clue mentioned in this insight), but this one, although tricky, is nothing more than an anagram with an unusual definition! I love it as a setter when terms pop up in my software that go so naturally together, such as MOUNTAIN TRACK, because I know this will add an element of disguise to any anagram without me really trying to make it happen. Add UP, and an anagram indicator of “for restoration”, and there’s just the definition left. Problem is, the definition is SO different from the rest of the clue that some creative thinking is required. When I looked up PUNCTUATION MARK, I was presented with a list that included , . ? ! : etc – surely I could work with one of these as an example? I still had a problem though – in normal circumstances a clue that used SAY and ended with a question mark would look like this: Mountain track up for restoration, say? BUT there are two things wrong with this. First the “,” is also a punctuation mark, so using it as well as the “?” in the definition would be inconsistent – it had to go; secondly, the “?”, if used as a question mark, had to be directly after the last character in the clue (according to the Australian Style Guide) and I thought it would be wrong to do this as I was indicating that this particular character was an example of the answer that I wanted, hence the added space. These subtle changes to my normal clueing I hoped would put some focus on this part of the clue and make people think a little deeper.
4-down, Bring up 11 – 2 + 8 as suggested by auditor? (7) is an interesting clue from my perspective. I don’t rate it as anything special because the surface reading is passable at best. That’s important to me, but I know many people enjoy solving something a little different, so I include such things now and then to hopefully raise a smile.
The Stickler
Notwithstanding
Still bemused by Arthur’s “rest oration” for 12a – – – as well as 4d.
I knew my rest oration would not pass muster with David, but it was the best I could do to avoid several sleepless nights. I thought the ? (punctuation mark) was advice to think laterally. It did not cross my mind that say ? would be “punctuation mark for example”.
I think 4d was a favourite because it was quirky. It did not take much imagination to solve the clue, but it did raise the smile in many quarters
I enjoyed following the blog as more people contributed.