# Lazy crossword clues **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 29, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514 "2011-08-29T17:16:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/1 "2011-08-29T17:16:33Z")
As is my wont, I was doing the [USA Today crossword puzzle](http://puzzles.usatoday.com/) this morning, and I noticed a couple of peculiar clues. 56 across was “Rand of ‘Atlas Shrugged’”, and 73 across was “‘The Fountainhead’ novelist Ayn”. Does this strike anyone else as lazy construction? I mean, sure, there’s not really any other way to clue the answer AYN, but they could have done “With McNally, an atlas” for RAND. Or clued the two together, like making 56 across “With 73 across, objectivist writer”. Or tweaked some of the words so that the same puzzle didn’t contain both AYN and RAND. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/2 "2011-08-29T17:43:04Z")
As a former constructor… yes, that seems lazy. There’s another possibility, however: nowadays, the software for constructing puzzles is so good, it can do 95% of the work for you. It wouldn’t surprise me if the constructor created the 3 or 4 long, themed entries and made up the clues for those… and then just let his software package fill in both the rest of the entries AND the clues, which he already had in a pre-existing database. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/3 "2011-08-29T17:48:08Z")
Which, really, is just a special case of “lazy constructor”. Even if you’re using one of those programs (and the best crossworders don’t), you still ought to at least go over it once to make sure there aren’t any awkwardnesses in it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/4 "2011-08-29T18:26:20Z")
This is a direct copy-and-paste of an email I sent to the SF Chronicle last year: > [@](#): > > I have been a daily reader of The Chronicle for nearly 15 years, since I moved to California. One of my very favorite parts of the paper are the puzzles - especially Sunday. I do all of them, or at least I attempt them all - sometimes I get stumped. My favorites are the crosswords - all three in the back of the Pink section, and even the Hollywood Crossword in the TV section. > > I understand that the Hollywood crossword is intended to be light fare - nothing particularly difficult. But do we really need these four clues from the July 4th puzzle? > > Actor McRaney’s Initials > Acuff’s Initials > Shaw’s Monogram > Initials for Goulet > > Are we now giving half of the answer in clues? I suppose only one-third of the answer is given in the clue “Shaw’s Monogram,” since the Shaw referenced is George Bernard, not Robert, but that doesn’t excuse it. > > If the crossword is produced in-house, as opposed to syndicated, perhaps some editorial guidance is in order. > > Regards, Joe ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/5 "2011-08-29T18:48:25Z")
My pet peeve is cutesy puns and put-together nonsense. Lazy clues I just see as filler and perhaps a necessary evil. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/6 "2011-08-29T19:12:26Z")
Definitely lazy. They could have made 73A South African money. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/7 "2011-08-29T19:26:01Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Definitely lazy. They could have made 73A South African money. Or the new Senator from Kentucky ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/8 "2011-08-29T19:46:25Z")
The “initials” clue are often found in TV crosswords. It’s not particularly lazy; it’s just that they often have two-letter words in them (because the people doing them want them easy). So you ask for someone’s initials. But I prefer cryptic crosswords, so this sort of laziness doesn’t occur (the one exception is the New York Times, but that also avoids the easy clue). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/9 "2011-08-29T19:46:32Z")
Or “Unpredictable computer function”. EDIT: > [@](#): > > The “initials” clue are often found in TV crosswords. It’s not particularly lazy; it’s just that they often have two-letter words in them (because the people doing them want them easy). So you ask for someone’s initials. I don’t think that’s quite what **wheresgeorge04** was complaining about. It’s not _just_ that they’re initials, but that they’re giving away half the answer. You could also do “Actor who played so-and-so (initials)”, or the like, without giving the answer half away. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/10 "2011-08-29T23:44:33Z")
But isn’t the Monday puzzle designed to console those of us who weren’t able to complete the Saturday puzzle? The repeats struck me as peculiar, but was grateful just to complete the damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/11 "2011-08-30T02:09:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or “Unpredictable computer function”. > > EDIT: > I don’t think that’s quite what **wheresgeorge04** was complaining about. It’s not _just_ that they’re initials, but that they’re giving away half the answer. You could also do “Actor who played so-and-so (initials)”, or the like, without giving the answer half away. Some of both, but yeah, you’re right. Next step is “\_ill Cosby initials.” Joe ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/12 "2011-08-30T02:15:46Z")
Joey: Wheel! Chandler: Of! Joey: Fortune! This guy is so stupid. It’s Count Rushmore! Chandler: You know, you should really go on this show. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/13 "2011-08-30T13:07:24Z")
> [@wheresgeorge04](#): > > This is a direct copy-and-paste of an email I sent to the SF Chronicle last year: Did you get an answer? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/14 "2011-08-30T13:21:35Z")
Well, it’s not like the USA Today crossword puzzle is known for being challenging. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/15 "2011-08-30T14:17:07Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Or “Unpredictable computer function”. > > EDIT: > I don’t think that’s quite what **wheresgeorge04** was complaining about. It’s not _just_ that they’re initials, but that they’re giving away half the answer. You could also do “Actor who played so-and-so (initials)”, or the like, without giving the answer half away. True, but the crosswords in our TV section used to be filled with things like “Carrey’s monogram” or “Brando’s towel markings.” It’s not laziness, but just setting the puzzle for the ability level of those who fill it out. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lazy-crossword-clues/594514/16 "2011-08-30T14:41:37Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Did you get an answer? Heck no. Joe