It may surprise to find out that I’m not all that happy with last week’s Stickler Weekly. It seems many people had trouble and there was talk of “giving up” in the ranks. Unlike some cryptic crossword setters, I’m happy to lose the battle with solvers, in fact, I must lose to win. It’s simply no-good for solvers to become so frustrated that they consider not trying to finish the puzzle: that’s a fail for me. I’ve gone back and studied this crossword in detail to try and find out why it caused so much trouble, as trouble is not what I was looking for. There are many factors that cause difficulty in a crossword, everything from grid design to answer choice to clue construction, sometimes it can be as simple as a few difficult clues intersecting, creating a block that is hard to break into. I’m not buoyed by “well dones” in this case, as, if the regular posters on the site are struggling, then the rest must be pulling their hair out. My aim is not to defeat, but to present a challenge that I’m happy to lose over time. I will say, though, it’s clear that cryptic solvers have become increasingly impatient, with cries of despair appearing after only one day, even though there’s a whole week before the next Stickler Weekly. Gone are the days of slow and steady and chipping away: solving websites and software tools provide workarounds that solvers seem to rely on, creating an environment that seems to elicit the need for an instant result. I think if you look at the celebrated English crosswords like The Times and The Guardian, you can see the effects of this: setters find it harder and harder to create challenges for solvers even though it’s the actually solvers causing the problem and robbing themselves of the true joy of solving. This has a knock-on effect, keeping experienced solvers at the forefront and giving new solvers little chance of getting a foothold.
The Stickler
David – I LOVED IT
Well into a Second day just extended the pleasure & “joy of solving” for me
PS>>>>>
I used to be border-line “Quick Fix” – now longer it takes the better.
Degree of Cryptic maturity perhaps?
Well into Third day actually – Friday.
I’m certainly not complaining that #205 took me a few days. With The Stickler Weekly, I know that I’ll get there eventually, and so the only external help I ever use is a couple of dictionaries and a thesaurus – along with the occasional brilliant contribution from Mrs Mansell.
I have tried to analyse what was so difficult last week. I sailed through the major part of the grid. Then as the hard words fell into place, there was a chorus of “Of Course”. There were only a few new words. Perhaps their placement contributed to the challenge. I relied heavily on the crosses and analysis of the clues to guide me to the word play, identify the definition and fill in the blanks. It was not instant success (see above). Among the bloggers there is a range of experience, vocabulary, and knowledge. Multiply that by the number of solvers who we hope are out there, and there is a real challenge in setting a puzzle that can be solved by novices, and satisfy the more experienced. One thing is constant, and that is the attention to reliable cluing.
I love the “aha” moments.