I’ve talked about difficulty recently, but only in terms of how a puzzle grid can add its own complexity to the overall crossword. A crossword’s difficulty in general comprises so many factors that it’s almost impossible to get it right for everyone. I regularly get conflicting emails about the difficulty of a particular crossword, which reflects the varying levels of solving ability among solvers and the need for a middle-ground. So how do I know how difficult I’ve made a puzzle? In a perfect world I would pay a team of people to test-solve my puzzles, and adjustments would be made based on their feedback. This process is done by The New York Times who relies on public submissions for their crossword puzzle content. Without this luxury, I must rely on my experience and a consistent approach which I believe yields a consistent, balanced outcome. Generally I aim for easyish to moderate clues throughout, with one or two harder ones to cover all levels of solvers. I don’t always get it right but be assured a great deal of thought goes into it.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PARKING SPOT | |
| Leaders in average corporation reserved perk? (7,4) | KINGS inside (PAR + POT) | |
| 9 | CLEAN UP | |
| Make a lot of money from tip in competition (5,2) | LEAN inside CUP | |
| 10 | SOLVENT | |
| So, large outlet is financially sound? (7) | SO + L + VENT | |
| 11 | ACADEMIC | |
| A person studying a rat and interbred mice (8) | A + CAD + anagram of MICE | |
| 12 | STREET | |
| Genealogical structure etched in stone road (6) | TREE inside ST | |
| 14 | REEL | |
| Five pulled out of riotous feast and dance (4) | REVEL minus V | |
| 15 | IMPLICATED | |
| One Government representative with an unusual dialect is under suspicion (10) | I + MP + anagram of DIALECT | |
| 18 | BITCHINESS | |
| Malice took hold in opening board game (10) | BIT + (IN inside CHESS) | |
| 19 | BRIO | |
| Spirit revealed primarily in personal account of life (4) | R inside BIO | |
| 22 | ADDICT | |
| Part of a play, staged outside, did upset aficionado (6) | ACT outside anagram of DID | |
| 24 | ULTIMATE | |
| Fundamental cult with leader lacking one companion (8) | (c)ULT + I + MATE | |
| 26 | DITHERY | |
| Hobbyist’s work clipping the roses at first is indecisive (7) | DIY outside [THE + (R)oses] | |
| 27 | G-STRING | |
| Government income association’s standard line for musicians (1-6) | GST + RING | |
| 28 | DISCONTINUE | |
| Stop broken unit cutting disc one (11) | Anagram of UNIT inside (DISC + ONE) | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | PREVALENT | |
| Stop carrying a large current (9) | PREVENT outside (A + L) | |
| 2 | RANGES | |
| Classifies fruit after opening of orchard (6) | o(RANGES) | |
| 3 | IMPAIRMENT | |
| Rogue pilots head to therapy with disability (10) | IMP + AIRMEN + T | |
| 4 | GIST | |
| Drift could be great around island (4) | GT outside IS | |
| 5 | POLITICO | |
| Statesman, one restrained by copilot going through turbulence (8) | I inside anagram of COPILOT | |
| 6 | THEME | |
| The central points of judgmental essay (5) | THE + judg(ME)ntal | |
| 7 | ECLAIR | |
| Bakery item is so free of rotten calories (6) | Anagram of CALORIES minus SO | |
| 8 | STATED | |
| Specified edition prefaced by sports figure (6) | ED with STAT at the front | |
| 13 | FLASHLIGHT | |
| It may be needed to see rope in escape (10) | LASH inside FLIGHT | |
| 16 | TURN ASIDE | |
| Deviate vessel when carried by movement of sea (4,5) | (URN + AS) inside TIDE | |
| 17 | SHOCKERS | |
| Quiet and loud Australians, disagreeable people (8) | SH + OCKERS | |
| 18 | BEARDS | |
| Hairy growths are trimmed in layers (6) | AR(e) inside BEDS | |
| 20 | ON EDGE | |
| Anxious one died, for example, in retreat (2,4) | ONE + D + EG reversed | |
| 21 | LISTEN | |
| Follow advice and write down both sides of equation (6) | LIST + E)quatio(N | |
| 23 | DATED | |
| Saw is square (5) | Double Definition | |
| 25 | TYRO | |
| Novice’s input acknowledged in duty roster (4) | duTY ROster |
