I’m not sure I agree. You can pretty much pick up an American crossword puzzle for the first time and understand the clues.
Not really. There are maybe half a dozen basic “rules” of cryptic crosswords, and once you grasp them you can get solving. I love them. I really really hate American-style (and English “quick”) crosswords, which are infuriatingly vague. Cryptic ones are pure logic and wordplay, really.
Cryptics drive me nuts, mainly because I just can’t figure them out. I’ve read over the clue types, rules, did practice clues, etc., but in the wild, they just infuriate the fuck out of me. I’m lucky if I can get one clue.
That said, what you say is correct: if you get the answer, you pretty much know you definitely got the answer, given the way the clue is constructed. You don’t have situations like “God of war” four letters, and you’re wondering whether it’s ARES or MARS (or possibly ODIN or THOR, but those are usually further clued in with "Scandinavian god of war.) On the other, other hand, I enjoy this type of ambiguity, as it makes the orthogonal clues important and works the logical part of the brain in narrowing down what possible letters can go in what spaces. It’s a different type of puzzle, I guess. A good American style crossword (New York Times is the gold standard for me) I find very satisfying, and I enjoy the tight nature of the grids (where each letter in each word has to be part of at least another 3-letter word). To me, there’s a certain beauty in that.
Which part is the "embargo? part?
The word “bar” (as shown in post #12). Some meanings of “embargo” are essentially the same as some meanings of “bar.”