The Stickler Weekly 110 Solution

Over the years I’ve written just about every kind of crossword you can imagine, from the 3-minute, heavily-interlocked quick to the Y2K monster history puzzle that contained at least one clue for each year of the preceding century. Every puzzle type is different in content, style and audience, and a setter must take this into account when putting them together. Content is fairly straightforward, as is style, but catering for a potentially wide audience will always leave a setter with unresolvable issues. No two solvers are alike in solving ability and everyone’s vocab is different. A solver brings to the solving table a lifetime of word experience, some of which may be in a specific field related to study or work, and this will to some extent colour their view and interpretation of clues. For example, recently a solver commented on the equation of Average = Mean in an Australian newspaper crossword, stating that they are two very different terms. Of course, they are right, if you look at them from purely a mathematical or statistical perspective. However, as there is no context given in most clues, all aspects are permissible and a general term is certainly not incorrect. This often won’t stop the avid long-time scientist or biologist from voicing their displeasure, certain that their interpretation of a particular clue is the only one that should be considered. For people who have thought of a word one way their whole life, it’s hard to think of it any other way. Remember, there are countless words that start with a narrow meaning and spread their wings over time, many taking on informal or colloquial aspects. All this is good for the cryptic setter who must exploit these to bring variety to their work.