Fucking crossword puzzles

Sometimes things in the radiology department get boring, and I find time to work on a crossword puzzle. Why is it that there is always one last word, the clue to which is so obscure, that I can never figure out? I mean, how am I to know that a yarkil is a small-nostriled asian marsupial that lives on decomposing sheetrock? (From the turkmenistan word yark, meaning the sound a small marsupial makes after it ingests sheetrock)

Can they find any more vague references?

Have you tried to make a crossword puzzle?

Try it, and then ask again.

…THATS
…0…I…
…0…M…
…E…
…C…
…O…
…N…
…S…
…U…
…M…
…I…
…N…
…G…

Neptune has a point. Sometimes the only way you will be able to make the puzzle in the first place is if you resort to obscure words. Having said that, the puzzle setter should do everything in his/her power to ensure that he doesn’t use words like that. It’s just that sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Also, making crossword puzzles is far more fun than actually doing them. It’s a greater challenge as well. Cryptic crosswords are the most fun IMO. Give it a shot next time you’re bored.

Is a “cryptic crossword” a particular style of puzzle, or just one with difficult clues?

A cryptic crossword looks just the same as a normal crossword but instead of straight clues, the clues rely on wordplay, anagramming, homophones, homonyms etc… The effect of this is that each clue is like a small, self contained riddle.

For example, let’s say I was writing a normal ‘straight’ crossword and wanted to include the word arena. The clue might be:

Fighting area most commonly associated with Roman Gladiators (5)

However, if I wanted to include the same word in a cryptic crossword, I might write a clue like this:

Karen always displays an engagement ring (5)
If you look at the words ‘Karen always’ you will see that it ‘displays’ the word arena. The word displays is a hint to you that the answer you are looking for is embedded in the clue itself. The words ‘engagement ring’ are a literal definition of the word Arena.

In short a good cryptic clue has three elements. The straightforward definition (in this case ‘Engagement Ring’) the ‘signifyer word’ which is the word that tells you, albeit indirectly, what type of wordplay is being used in this clue (for example if the clue relied on an anagram the signifyer word might be ‘muddled’ ‘confused’ or ‘mixed up’. In this example clue the signifyer word was ‘Displays’) and the actual wordplay element (in this instance ‘Karen Always’)

Gomez,
do you happen to know of any links or sites where I could learn more on how to do cryptic crosswords? I’m totally stumped by the concept and would love to learn them. And thanks for the example above; it was very useful.

Thank you!

Global Citizen

I bet Gomez does, Global Citizen, but in the meantime here’s my suggestion.

Thank you, everton. I appreciate the help.

Global Citizen

I looked at the link, too, and it’s pretty interesting. Just what I need, though: A crossword that takes me a month.

If it drives me crazy, I’m emailing you guys for help.

Go to the Guardian at everton’s link and look for the “quiptic” crosswords. They’re a lot easier than their regular ones and are good for beginners.

First, if you want crossword puzzles that are challenging, clever, and don’t rely on the same handful of obscure words, the current New York Times puzzles are very good, as are Stanley Newman’s in New York Newsday, Merl Riegel’s, Henry Hook’s, Rich Norris’ puzzles in the LA Times… you don’t HAVE to settle for bad puzzles.

I write puzzles and games semi-professionally (I’ve had puzzles published in many leading newspapers, including the NY Times), and I can tell you this: since taking over at the Times, Will Shortz has changed the nature of the puzzle. The previous editor, Eugene Maleska, liked puzzles that used obscure words, thinking the puzzle should be educational. Shortz (and most of the other constructors and editors I mentioned) believe that there shouldn’t be any words in a crossword that a reasonably well-educated person wouldn’t know off the top of his head. For them, the emphasis is on clever clues, NOT on obscure entries.

Also, Shortz and those others are VERY tough on what they call “Crosswordese.” You know what those are- words like ADIT (mine entrance), ESNE (medieval laborer), ERNE (sea bird), ARIL (seed covering)… words that NOBODY knows, except for crossword buffs who see them all the time. I try VERY hard to avoid such words, and I guarantee this: if I submit a puzzle with more than 1 such words, the editors I mentioned will reject it automatically.

Now, as a constuctor, I CAN tell you this: it’s not easy to make a puzzle without using words like that! Ever play Scrabble? You know what it’s like toward the end when the board is getting filled up, and you’re stuck with a bunch of vowel, plus an L and an R? It gets tough to come up with words that will fit, doesn’t it? You start resorting to ANY word in the dictionary, just to use up your letters, right? Well, that’s essentially the dilemma a constructor of crosswords faces. It’s VERY easy to get stuck in a corner with a couple of E’s and an S, and wind up almost forced to use ESSE (Latin for “to be”) or ESTE (“commedia del _”).

The standard, syndicated puzzles that get reprinted in most of the mainstream newspapers still do things the old-fashioned way… and while I don’t like that, I understand it. MOST crossword solvers are still elderly folks. And when elderly folks get used to things being a certain way, they raise Cain when changes occur. Will Shortz got a lot of hate mail when he first took over, from seniors who LIKED to sit at the kitchen table with the Times puzzle and a Oxford ENglish Dictionary, and spend all day on a puzzle.

So, the OP should know… even if the newspaper replaced the puzzle you hate with a more clever, mopdern one, there’d be thousands of people who LIKE the current puzzle who’d be just as steamed as yo uare now.

I, for one, am glad of this. It drives me right up the wall to have one “unsolvable” corner when I do a crossword. Generally, even if I don’t know a word, I can work around it. But I do need to have ONE clue that I can understand in each area.

That’s so funny! I hadn’t thought about it before, but I only know the words “adit” and “aril” from crosswords - and my god they come up often.

“Erin” also comes up a massive amount.

Don’t forget Erie, ocher and the triplets czar, tzar and tsar.

And of course my all time favorite, ort.

I love Merl Reagle! His puzzles are better than anyone else’s I’ve ever encountered – just the right level of difficulty and his puns are great. They’re published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, for one, if anyone’s interested in finding them.

don’t forget oleo…

I hate that word.

And…

Apt = Likely

Damn, CRorex beat me to the punch with Oleo.

Who the hell knows what that word means anymore these days?

Truly a relic outside the sphere of crossword puzzles.