Tag Archives: solution

I was alerted by the rec.puzzles.crosswords newsgroup to an editing mistake in a recent Times crossword, and thought I’d talk about it briefly as I think it highlights a couple of interesting things. Here’s the faulty clue: Disturbance in field … Continue reading →

I think a cryptic clue is very much like an algebraic expression, where the wordplay is represented by the various symbols on one side of the equation that should equal an answer on the other side of the equation. It … Continue reading →

Exploitation. The job of a setter is all about exploitation. They exploit everything involved with crosswords, from language quirks, word classes, shapes of letters and things related to the orientation of answers in a grid and grid structure. They even … Continue reading →

A couple of week’s ago a Stickler Weekly solver, Greg, noticed that my grid contained two clues that were fully checked, that is, the answers may be fully obtained from solving other answers potentially making the clues for these answers … Continue reading →

A few weeks ago an avid solver pointed out an ambiguous clue in a Stickler Weekly. To be ambiguous two things must happen – first, there must be at least two answers to the clue that satisfy all the normal … Continue reading →

A few years ago I ran a number of community college courses on how to solve cryptic crosswords. Each course covered the whole term (2-hour sessions for 8 weeks) as I believe there’s a need to learn and do and … Continue reading →

In my early Australian Financial Review (AFR) days, I was told to create a difficult weekly crossword for use in a competition. “Times style” was the term used – the idea was to create a real challenge and keep a … Continue reading →

Eagle-eyed Steve noticed that I annotated a solution from last week’s puzzle differently from how it’s usually done, and flagged it as a possible mistake. Annotating crossword solutions has no set formula – maybe there should be one. In fact, … Continue reading →

I’ve talked a number of times about the difficulty of a crossword, and how each part – the grid design, word choice and clues – contributes to the overall difficulty of the end result. It’s important to realise that a … Continue reading →

It’s often said that the job of a setter is to entertain solvers, provide them with a diversion that evokes a sense of pleasure during and after solving. For some solvers, entertainment is all that matters, that is, it doesn’t … Continue reading →