The Stickler Weekly 39 Solution

For a setter, not all words are equal when it comes time to insert them into a grid. New or amateur setters often make life hard for themselves by inserting any word that fits into a given slot, rather than backtracking a little to make sure all the words selected aren’t too difficult to clue. So what makes words difficult to clue and how can they be avoided? The same short words turn up in grids all the time, so coming up with new clues for these can be challenging after the first few times. Proper nouns are notoriously troublesome as many names contain few vowels and may be foreign and not easy to break down cryptically. They also qualify under the next category, which is minimal definitions. If a word or phrase has just one definition (as in diseases), clueing it will be challenging as disguise between wordplay and definition will be almost impossible. Lastly, words with very few vowels or an overabundance of consonants will cause trouble especially if you employ the no definition/wordplay etymology crossover rule that I try to stick to. Clueing options will be limited.
How do I avoid these difficult words? The software I use, Crossword Compiler, has an add-on called the Professional Grid Filler which lets me pick words for the grid one by one. Better than that, I can look up any electronic reference directly and make an informed decision on suitability. I also use what I call the anagram technique, where I test the target word in CC’s anagram function to see how “good” it is. Very few anagrams, or words contained within the target word, means it doesn’t break down well, and I probably won’t pick it. Lastly, I try and formulate a clue or a clue structure for every word before entering it into the grid. That way I get a feel for how hard it will be to clue and the clueing process gets a head start.