Other setters write comparatively straightforward clues but the endgames are extremely intricate and things of real beauty. I’m in the former camp, so my barred puzzles tend to have quite difficult clues but relatively straightforward endgames. For them, it is the endgames of the barred thematic puzzles that are particularly interesting. Others aren’t that interested in daily cryptics but love difficult logical puzzles. I think there are people who love crosswords but, after years of practice, find the daily cryptics too easy they relish the additional challenge of solving puzzles with clueing gimmicks. What kind of people do you think are attracted to barred tough puzzles? Oxford Dictionary of Quotations and Wikipedia for barred puzzle research. Qxw and Qat are both available from Quinapalus’s website. Qat for pattern-matching and searching, which is absolutely essential for barred puzzle construction. The Chambers dictionary and thesaurus apps for my phone/tablet. Crossword Compiler for assembling puzzles in a format acceptable to editors.
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The disguise in the surfaces – plus any thematic clueing gimmicks – suffice to make the clues difficult enough. This means I can write clues that are similar to those that I write in blocked puzzles. I think I’m unusual in also trying to avoid obscure vocabulary in my barred puzzles: I try to populate my grids using a rather limited dictionary. Many barred puzzles contain quite obscure words, limiting the possibilities for disguising the definition.Ĭlues for these words often end up as a list of instructions for constructing the answer tacked on to a straightforward definition. Now, you’re unusual in using the same name in your weekday puzzles as your tricky weekend ones. There are many reasons a paper or a crossword can be rejected, so it’s important to give an editor as little as possible to find fault with. Setting a crossword is a bit like setting an exam: there’s no point in making it too hard or too easy, so there have to be a few entry points.Īlso, the process of preparing puzzles for publication, especially when one is trying to first get published, has similarities with preparing academic papers for submission. I find it very helpful to think of clues in this way when I’m analysing whether the cryptic grammar of a clue is correct. The wordplay can be thought of as expressions in a formal language, in which wordplay elements represent variables and wordplay indicators represent operators on those variables. What’s the overlap between your old day job and the puzzles? We’ve talked here before about how the business of crosswords can involve as much maths as it does literacy. An unsuccessful clue contains inaccurate cryptic grammar or definitions.Ī weak clue uses pedestrian definitions and a list of wordplay instructions that simply have to be followed. I think successful clues contain at least one of the following: humour, misdirection, oblique definitions and inventive wordplay. What makes a successful clue? Or an unsuccessful one? Professor, eh? Any other setters you know of in the same echelon?Īt least a couple: Monk is a professor of mathematics at Leeds University and Sabre – setter of brilliantly fiendish barred puzzles – is also a maths professor, at Arizona State University.Īh, Sabre. Skipjack is another cryptographic algorithm, but everyone thought it was a reference to tuna! And Jack is a contraction of Skipjack. I had intended to choose other cryptographic algorithms if I needed further pseudonyms but then decided that words related to Serpent would be better, hence Basilisk. Serpent is a cryptographic algorithm, so it was connected to my day job as a professor of information security. I got the setting bug when I attended one of Boatman’s masterclasses. I started solving cryptic crosswords at university. Here’s a review of it (and a link, which might work on some devices). Of my blocked puzzles, perhaps my favourite is the one I wrote following the death of my dog, Bo: every across entry contained his name and the unchecked cells in the central row spelt out GOODBYE. Do you have a favourite of your own puzzles?
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