What kind of solver are you? A few of us from the Australian Crossword Club meet occasionally for lunch at the Harold Park Hotel to fill in the time between the official ACC functions every November. We don’t talk about crosswords all the time, but there is often a variety of puzzles available on the table for people to fill in leisurely. Sometimes we make a game of it and pass around a puzzle where a clue must be solved under time pressure. We are a small merry band, yet there are different solving abilities, and we are all different kinds of solvers, and I think this reflects the solving community at large.
Let’s look at a solver that I would call a completer: this solver is only interested in finishing the crossword – the journey doesn’t really matter. They are only satisfied when all the answers are in and may not be certain everything is right. Wordplays are checked casually, and so a few wrong answers may have to be fixed before the job is done. As the end is all the matters, quality of the clues and the crossword in general aren’t that important and difficulty is directly related to the time taken to finish the crossword. Crossword status is important and they are keen to announce that they have already completed today’s crossword. I know there are solvers out there like this as crossword blog postings reflect it. Personally, I like the fact that a cryptic crossword doesn’t have to be finished to be enjoyed as every clue, if properly constructed, can provide satisfaction in its own right. It’s nice to finish but also nice to enjoy the solving journey.
| Across | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | CAFFEINE | |
| Small restaurant acquiring blend of fine coffee ingredient (8) | CAFE outside anagram of FINE | |
| 5 | CROWDS | |
| Presses compact discs containing file (6) | CDS outside ROW | |
| 10 | COURT | |
| Judicial tribunal got heard (5) | Sounds like CAUGHT | |
| 11 | GROVELLED | |
| Crawled from woodland valley heading in the wrong direction (9) | GROVE + (DELL reversed) | |
| 12 | ENDANGERED | |
| Got very annoyed finalising resolution in a perilous situation (10) | ANGERED after END | |
| 13 | BEAU | |
| Sweetheart, outspoken, tied knot (4) | Sounds like BOW | |
| 15 | TONGUE | |
| Speech guy almost completed in a manner of speaking (6) | (GU)Y inside TONE | |
| 16 | BRUNETTE | |
| Brown animal passed around snare (8) | BRUTE outside NET | |
| 17 | INFUSERS | |
| Tea makers reduced information needed by consumers (8) | (INF)O + USERS | |
| 19 | AIR-BUS | |
| It transports men taken from damaged submarine (3-3) | Anagram of SUBMARINE minus MEN | |
| 21 | RATE | |
| Very angry with opener lacking speed (4) | IRATE minus I | |
| 22 | AGGRESSION | |
| A group’s leader twice treated seniors with hostility (10) | A + [(G)ROUP x 2] + anagram of SENIORS | |
| 25 | THERAPIST | |
| Healer is captivated by the enchanted (9) | IS inside (THE + RAPT) | |
| 26 | ASHEN | |
| White, like a bird (5) | AS + HEN | |
| 27 | RESULT | |
| Score drug addict brought back late, oddly (6) | USER reversed + (L)a(T)e | |
| 28 | POSEIDON | |
| Missile put in operation with one inside (8) | (POSED + ON) outside I | |
| Down | Answers and Clues | Explanations |
| 1 | CYCLE | |
| People not committed to clemency organised revolution (5) | Anagram of (CLEMENCY minus MEN) | |
| 2 | FOUNDING FATHERS | |
| Pioneers noticed in groups embracing female (8,7) | FOUND + IN + (GATHERS outside F) | |
| 3 | EXTINGUISH | |
| Old partner can be highly sentimental about one put out (10) | EX + TIN + (GUSH outside I) | |
| 4 | NUGGET | |
| Professional killer returned to receive a small, valuable item (6) | GUN reversed + GET | |
| 6 | REED | |
| Animal uprooted strip of grass (4) | DEER reversed | |
| 7 | WELL-ESTABLISHED | |
| Pool table is relocated next to shed and fixed firmly (4-11) | WELL + anagram of TABLE IS + SHED | |
| 8 | SADDUCEES | |
| Conservative Jews abbreviated quote in presence of witnesses (9) | (ADDUC)E inside SEES | |
| 9 | DOG-EAR | |
| Establish a place to take drugs (3-3) | DO + GEAR | |
| 14 | SNAILS PACE | |
| Very slow speed digital screens stored in room (6,4) | NAILS inside SPACE | |
| 15 | TAIL ROTOR | |
| Small propeller and rubbish found in gut of fish (4,5) | ROT inside TAILOR | |
| 16 | BUS | |
| Coach, one sitting on bench, retired (3) | SUB reversed | |
| 18 | REGAIN | |
| Get back, for example, in wet weather (6) | EG inside RAIN | |
| 20 | GROTTO | |
| Cave reached crossing river (6) | (GOT TO) outside R | |
| 23 | NINON | |
| Musician ultimately aware of fine material (5) | MUSICIA(N) + IN ON | |
| 24 | ||
| Send some self-defence material (4) | Double Definition |
I definitely don’t fall into the “completer” category. I don’t consider that I’ve solved a clue until I’m 100% satisfied that I’ve nailed the construction. But then, I’ve never been particularly competitive.
The feeling of achievement is always better when you come back to the puzzle after a frustration break.
Which reminds me that I need to hook up the printer. Doing the online version doesn’t feel right.
Hi David,
19-across: Which source gives AIRBUS as hyphenated?
For me, working out the correct parsing is probably a little more rewarding than the folowing mechanics to get the answer, e.g. working out that a clue is an anagram of FODDER around an X is more fun than actually doing the anagramming to get the answer.
19-across: you are quite right Steve. Airbus is a trademark so there’s only one way to present it. I can only think that one of the wordlists I used to build the puzzle had the word format incorrectly specified, and that got carried through. It’s something I would normally spot but missed this time.
David
Chambers has it as a trademark with the upper case, but both Macs have it as a generic with the lower case. Nobody hyphenates it, though.
Quite correct. My wordlists have been accumulated over more than 15 years from a variety of sources, and the main one I use is a real mixture that provides me with the most possible choices. I do rely on the clueing process to iron out word formatting wrinkles that come from using such a wordlist, but it slipped through this time.
Update: Air-bus as a registered trademark appears in my original Chambers wordlist sourced from an early 1990s edition of Chambers. Either the name has changed over the years or Chambers got it wrong at the time.