Crosswords are freakin' hard!

The Game Room
1

…to create.

I just downloaded some free crossword software and spent two hours sweating over an extremely simple grid. Only 40 words, and it still came out awful.

Observations:[ul]
[li]Even the free software comes with some pretty neat features. It allows you, for example, to click a word you have partially filled, and it gives you all possible one-word solutions for that row.[/li][li]It is really hard to resist the temptation to overuse acronyms.[/li][li]I think I’ve misused some crossword conventions. I’m never quite clear, for example, on when to end a clue with a question mark.[/li][li]It’s tough to have a consistent difficulty. Some of my clues are too obscure (foreign airport codes anybody?), some are too esoteric (chemistry questions?), some are too cute (19-down, if you’re interested). But at the same time, many others are total chip shots.[/li][li]I set up my grid for tons of 3-letter words. It’s too intimidating even to think of anything more complicated.[/li][li]We’ve got Dopers who do this for a LIVING???[/ul][/li]
Here it is as a pdf. Lemme know what you think:
http://www.mediafire.com/?b1mgddddoiy (warning: loud popups on hosting site)

Any other amateur crossword creators out there?

2

I thought the ?'s are for the main clues to the puzzle. The theme clues.

3

No.

They’re usually for pun-type stuff. Which the theme clues often are, but not always.

4

www.morewords.com helped me a lot when I was trying to put together a puzzle. You can give it partial words (like “A–m-r-i-s” and it will tell you which words work fit what you have already. It was invaluable to me.

5

Let’s see what you got!
(I don’t really expect anyone do do mine, but I’d love to see what other amateur puzzle-makers can do. Here’s where I got my software. nudge nudge)