You too can write puzzle clues!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Elsewhere in the guidelines I excerpted in the OP is a bit about “if you don’t know what a word means, don’t use it; if you have to use it, make sure you understand the dictionary definition before you paraphrase it.” Using technical terms incorrectly is guaranteed to get pissed-off letters.

Increasing difficulty by effing with accuracy is a no-no.

Brief flash in the current events pan. It’s certainly better known than it was six months ago, but most people will have forgotten about it six months from now.

42

Anyone still interested? I was thinking of giving you a set of 15 or 20 different words and seeeing what you came up with.

43

I’m up for a new challenge :slight_smile:

44

I’d be interested. Heck, I’ve quite enjoyed the last couple of words.

Just as an aside, I was having some fun this past weekend with one of the New York Times Sunday puzzles. I have a few of their Sunday collections. As I did the puzzle–which I completed (hooray!)–all I could think of was our little exercise here, and the question, “How would I write these clues? What different clue could I come up with for this word?” It was an interesting exercise, I must say.

So, twickster, if you’re willing to “host” the challenge, I’m ready and willing to participate.

45

Shouldn’t that be “Over __ and through the woods," as that next bullet suggests? :wink:

Now clues for STARE.

Easy: Look intently
Ogle
Observe wide-eyed

Medium: View bug-eyed
Astonished look
Hypnotic look

Hard: Legally, _____ decisis
Tears apart for a look (I know, it’s a cryptic.)
Look, a step up, I hear (Cryptic again, and I don’t like it much.)

46

rjk – all good, and all spot-on for difficulty. You’re right, your first cryptic is better than your second. I’d be curious to see a few standard clues from you at the “hard” level.

And, um, clears throat yeah.

Overall: B+ (didn’t really write the three hard clues requested)
Everyone else: I got busy last night, but will post the new challenge soon.

47

Yeah, indeed. It’s a better grade than I expected; I was drawing a blank on hard clues. I’ll keep thinking and see if anything happens today.

I’ll be looking for the new thread!

48

As promised clears throat a few days ago (sorry, I think I’ve mentioned I’ve got a few things going on IRL these days?), here’s a new cluding challange.

Here’s the premise:

We run a puzzle called “Trios.” This involves 15 words or phrases, each of which will have the same three-letter sequence in it. (I’m going to use P-E-N in the one I’m about to give you.) We provide blanks to indicate where the letters go, but do indicate where the theme word fits in. For instance, if the answer were “Pencil,” we’d provide: P E N __ __ __ .

Simple, right? Very simple. It’s designed to be a quick bit of fun; most people aren’t actually going to touch pencil (ahem) to paper for this, they’ll just solve it mentally. The trick from the editor’s point of view is to come up with delightfully fun and vivid clues for the words. The solver will take maybe a minute or two to run through the whole list – but he or she should definitely be smiling at the end – so it’s not just the idea behind your clue, but the way you phrase it. If the opportunity presents itself, fun trivia is an appropriate way to go.

Difficulty level: medium. If you budge off medium, budge in the direction of hard, not easy – but easy is okay if it’s fun enough.

I’m gonna grade a lot more strictly this time, so you should probably give a little thought to your clues, don’t just give me the first thing to pop into your mind.

I’m gonna give the list in all caps – when you cut and paste, pls. put your clue to the LEFT of the answer word, just for my mental convenience (that’s how we do it at the puzzle factory).

for instance:

Item in a first-grader’s bookbag PENCIL

Got it? If not, feel free to ask any questions.

[ol]
[li]PENNSYLVANIA[/li][li]SEAN PENN[/li][li]INDEPENDENCE[/li][li]PENGUIN[/li][li]HAPPENING[/li][li]PENSIVE[/li][li]SIXPENCE[/li][li]PENTAGON[/li][li]PENN AND TELLER[/li][li]IMPENDING[/li][li]APPENDIX[/li][li]OPEN DOOR[/li][li]ASPEN[/li][li]MONEYPENNY[/li][li]PENINSULA[/li][/ol]

Hm, some fun stuff there … I don’t want to intimidate y’all by posting my own clues, though. :wink:

Okay – have at it!

49
  1. PENNSYLVANIA – State that’s home to Intercourse, Climax and Paradise
  2. SEAN PENN – Actor who played Jeff Spicoli
  3. INDEPENDENCE – Boyhood home of Harry S Truman
  4. PENGUIN – Burgess Meredith’s Batman role
  5. HAPPENING – What’s _______________?
  6. PENSIVE – Thoughtful
  7. SIXPENCE – One fortieth of a pound
  8. PENTAGON – Shape of home plate
  9. PENN AND TELLER – Jillette & partner
  10. IMPENDING – About to occur
  11. APPENDIX – Material at the end of a book
  12. OPEN DOOR – Policy of some managers
  13. ASPEN – Colorado ski resort
  14. MONEYPENNY – Movie role played by Lois Maxwell
  15. PENINSULA – Florida or Sinai
50

In the name of accuracy, I probably should have stated this as “Formerly 1/40 of a pound.”

Sorry.

51

Oops… my bad. I actually read this, but must have got my hands confused.

52

NP – I had a tap teacher once who’d tell us to do such-and-such with our left foot; and, when we would, she’d say “no! no! your other left foot!”

BTW – you can’t use “and” in a clue if “and” appears in the answer (ditto for any word) – so you need to try again on #9.

53

OK, hoW about “Jillette plus partner” instead.

54

Or, you could go for something a little more interesting… (hint hint hint)

55

like, maybe “Univ. in Philadelphia plus a bank employee”?

56

:stuck_out_tongue:

I was thinking more like " ‘Bullshit’ artists"
“Vegas headliners” or
“Modern magicians”

57

Precedes 6-5000 – PENNSYLVANIA
Madonna’s ex – SEAN PENN
Harry Truman’s hometown – INDEPENDENCE
Burgess Meredith role – PENGUIN
1970’s sitcom, What’s ___!! – HAPPENING
Lost in thought – PENSIVE
Maugham’s The Moon and ___ – SIXPENCE
Arlington landmark – PENTAGON
Jillette accompanied by silent partner – PENN AND TELLER
What doom may be – IMPENDING
Book end? – APPENDIX
__ Policy of trade with China – OPEN DOOR
Quaker in the forest? – ASPEN
Role for Lois Maxwell – MONEYPENNY
Iberia is one – PENINSULA

58

Okay, here we go…

  1. Part of Glenn Miller’s phone number PENNSYLVANIA
  2. Former Mr. Madonna SEAN PENN
  3. Colony’s demand INDEPENDENCE
  4. Mr. Breathed’s Opus PENGUIN
  5. Groovy 1960s occurrence HAPPENING
  6. Thoughtful person’s look PENSIVE
  7. Half a shilling SIXPENCE
  8. Place to polish the brass? PENTAGON
  9. Tricky pair PENN AND TELLER
  10. Bound to happen soon IMPENDING
  11. Book extra APPENDIX
  12. Manager’s policy? OPEN DOOR
  13. 1970s Dodge ASPEN
  14. Recurring Bond character MONEYPENNY
  15. Iberian or Crimean PENINSULA
59

These may veer too far to the hard side of things, but here they are.
Monooly Avenue: PENNSYLVANIA
Madonna’s Ex: SEAN PENN
A day for fireworks: INDEPENDENCE
Emperor of the Ice: PENGUIN
Eighteen of these in six parts: HAPPENING
How Rodin’s man feels: PENSIVE
Sing a song of: SIXPENCE
General address: PENTAGON
They produced a helluvan act: PENN AND TELLER
Coming soon: IMPENDING
Obsolete organ: APPENDIX
Boxers hate this policy: OPEN DOOR
Colorado resort: ASPEN
Bond’s girl Friday: MONEYPENNY
Yucatan, e.g.: PENINSULA

Now to read other folks’ replies.

Daniel

60

1 is good, if a bit risque. Okay, very good and very risque. :wink:

9, even rewritten – boring. 6 and 10 also a bit dry; 13 not that great. The others are all okay to good. Like #7.

Overall: C+