Monday, October 22, 2018

Aries Cryptic #2

Thanks for the comments regarding the first puzzle! Let's keep it going with Cryptic #2, which is a 13x13 puzzle.

Aries Cryptic #2 - PUZ

Aries Cryptic #2 - PDF

Aries Cryptic #2 - Solution


Introduction to Cryptic Crosswords - PDF

A note about 9-Across/17-Across in today's puzzle: Treat these two three-letter grid entries as one 6-letter entry, broken up into three-letter chunks. For cryptics, I prefer cluing one 6-letter entry to two 3-letter entries, with the caveat being that both three letter chunks are valid words unrelated to the full 6-letter entry. I'm curious what solvers think of this. Is it too confusing or inelegant? Would cluing two separate three-letter entries be preferable to this approach? I just don't like using 3-letter entries in a block cryptic, but I would be okay with them if solvers overwhelmingly preferred them. Feedback is greatly appreciated, as it will help future gridding endeavors.

Happy solving!

4 comments:

  1. Nice puzzle overall! Personally, I don't think splitting a six letter word into two three word entries is legit.

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  2. Andrew -- First off, these first two cryptics have been great. You have some amazing clues in #2 in particular. As to your "3 vs. 6" question, I personally don't have a problem with 3-letter entries in block cryptics, but as long as both 3-letter chunks are valid on their own, your approach here is fine by me.

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  3. Agree with Norm and partially disagree with Al. As long as it’s a cryptic and the individual halves are legit words, it works for me.

    Great cryptic puzzles so far! Is there any way we can get an email list to remind us when new cryptics drop?

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    1. Thanks for all the comments! You can subscribe to the RSS feed on the right sidebar - you will be emailed whenever there is a new post.

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