Puns & Anagrams #5

Puns & Anagrams #5 - PUZ | PDF | PDF (Grayscale) | Solution (PDF)

Back with another Puns & Anagrams puzzle! I hadn't realized it has been so long since I've posted one of these -- three and a half years to be exact. For a quick refresher on P&As:

1) Puns & Anagrams feature a fully interlocking grid, and each answer is an acceptable entry in a standard crossword. Unlike standard block cryptics, where roughly 50% of the squares are checked by crossing entries, P&A grids qualify as standard themeless crossword grids, with a max of 72 entries in the grid. Every square is a part of an across and down entry. This affords solvers many more opportunities to solve an entry than a cryptic does, which helps explain some of the looseness of P&A clues.

2) Anagram clues (which comprise about half of the clues in a P&A) do not include anagram indicators, which are required for cryptics. In addition, homophones of letters (or groups of letters) included in the anagram are fair game. So, the word "sea" could signal a C to be included in the anagram; the word "seize" could signal multiple Cs to be included in the anagram; and "seedy" could signal the letters CD to be included in the anagram. The best anagram clues incorporate an anagram into a natural-reading definitional hint for the entry.

3) While anagram clues will include a definitional hint to the entry, non-anagram clues do not require a definitional hint. Non-anagram clues will include cryptic tropes such as hidden words, reversals, and homophones, as well as more P&A-typical conventions as visual rebuses, puns, and fill-in-the-blanks.

One principle I keep top of mind while writing P&A clues is that no clue in a P&A could be a legitimate clue in a cryptic crossword. I get annoyed when I hear P&As described as "watered-down" or "lesser" cryptics. While certainly as a format Puns & Anagrams is indebted to the cryptic, it stands alone and does its own thing. 

Happy solving!

Made by Andrew J. Ries with the crossword puzzle maker from Amuse Labs

Puns & Anagrams #4

Puns & Anagrams #4 - PUZ | PDF | PDF (Grayscale) | Solution (PDF)

Back with another Puns & Anagrams puzzle! Here's another recap of trademark P&A features to keep in mind while solving:

1) P&As feature a fully interlocking grid, and each answer is an acceptable entry in a standard crossword. Unlike standard block cryptics, where roughly 50% of the squares are checked by crossing entries, P&A grids qualify as standard themeless crossword grids, with a max of 72 entries in the grid. Every square is a part of an across and down entry. This affords solvers many more opportunities to solve an entry than a cryptic does, which helps explain some of the looseness of P&A clues.

2) Anagram clues (which comprise about half of the clues in a P&A) do not include anagram indicators, which are required for cryptics. In addition, homophones of letters (or groups of letters) included in the anagram are fair game. So, the word "sea" could signal a C to be included in the anagram; the word "seize" could signal multiple Cs to be included in the anagram; and "seedy" could signal the letters CD to be included in the anagram. The best anagram clues incorporate an anagram into a natural-reading definitional hint for the entry.

3) While anagram clues will include a definitional hint to the entry, non-anagram clues do not require a definitional hint. Non-anagram clues will include cryptic tropes such as hidden words, containers, and homophones, as well as more P&A-typical conventions as visual rebuses, puns, and fill-in-the-blanks.

Hope you enjoy! As always, any and all feedback is greatly encouraged - feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email. 

A reminder that subscriptions for Aries Rows Garden and Aries Freestyle are always open! I've updated the monthly bundles through January 2022, so pick up a bundle or two to see the kind of puzzles you'd get as a subscriber. 

Happy solving!

Puns & Anagrams #3

Puns & Anagrams #3 - PUZ | PDF | PDF (Grayscale) | Solution 

Back with another Puns & Anagrams puzzle! I've mentioned before that P&As are a tough format to categorize. They were inspired by cryptics but are a wholly different format that does its own thing. No clue in this puzzle is an acceptable clue in a cryptic. Here's another recap of the major distinguishing features of a Puns & Anagrams puzzle: 

1) Fully interlocking grid. Unlike standard block cryptics, where roughly 50% of the squares are checked by crossing entries, P&A grids qualify as standard themeless crossword grids, with a max of 72 entries in the grid. Every square is a part of an across and down entry. This affords solvers many more opportunities to solve an entry than a cryptic does, which helps explain some of the looseness of P&A clues.

2) Anagram clues (which comprise about half of the clues in a P&A) do not include anagram indicators, which are required for cryptics. In addition, homophones of letters (or groups of letters) included in the anagram are fair game. So, the word "sea" could signal a C to be included in the anagram; the word "seize" could signal multiple Cs to be included in the anagram; and "seedy" could signal the letters CD to be included in the anagram. The best anagram clues incorporate an anagram into a natural-reading definitional hint for the entry.

3) While anagram clues will include a definitional hint to the entry, non-anagram clues do not require a definitional hint. Non-anagram clues will include cryptic tropes such as hidden words, containers, and homophones, as well as more P&A-typical conventions as visual rebuses, puns, and fill-in-the-blanks.

It's also important to note that the clue syntax is structured as clues are structured in a standard crossword - that is, there is an imperative function of the clues that many cryptic clues lack. Cryptic clues are often structured like a random sentence, and its surface sense doesn't "ask" the solver any inherent question in the clue. P&A clues do contain this imperative function, and this is another reason that I find the format closer to a parody of a standard crossword than a cryptic. 

I'm running long now, but I do think it's important to codify the rules of P&As more clearly and explain the philosophy that I employ when writing these offbeat puzzles. This puzzle started with the long entries at 25- and 54-Across, which are my favorites of this puzzle. As always, any and all comments are much appreciated!

Also, I've updated the archive to include May bundles for Aries Rows Garden and Aries Freestyle. And a reminder that Aries subscriptions are always open for the truly dedicated solver.

Happy solving!

Puns & Anagrams #2

Puns & Anagrams #2 - PUZ | PDF | PDF (Grayscale) | Solution

It's been a while since I've posted a Puns & Anagrams puzzle, so happy to return to this format for the December puzzle. As I've written before, P&As are a variety format derived from cryptics, but they stand apart from cryptics in several key ways. To recap the major differences:

1) Fully interlocking grid. Unlike standard block cryptics, where roughly 50% of the squares are checked by crossing entries, P&A grids qualify as standard themeless crossword grids, with a max of 72 entries in the grid. Every square is a part of an across and down entry. This affords solvers many more opportunities to solve an entry than a cryptic does, which helps explain some of the looseness of P&A clues.

2) Anagram clues (which comprise about half of the clues in a P&A) do not include anagram indicators, which are required for cryptics. In addition, homophones of letters (or groups of letters) included in the anagram are fair game. So, the word "sea" could signal a C to be included in the anagram; the word "seize" could signal multiple Cs to be included in the anagram; and "seedy" could signal the letters CD to be included in the anagram. 

3) While anagram clues will include a straight-forward hint to the entry, non-anagram clues do not require a straight-forward hint. Non-anagram clues will include cryptic tropes such as hidden words, containers, and homophones, as well as more P&A-typical conventions as visual rebuses, puns, and fill-in-the-blanks.

For this P&A, I made sure that none of the clues would work as a cryptic clue. As such this might play a little harder than a New York Times P&A, and it might be a little less wacky than a Times P&A can tend to be. I hope solvers enjoy! I realize that P&As are somewhat of a divisive format, but I find them to be a fun challenge to write and I want them to stand apart from cryptics. As always, any and all feedback is welcomed.

Happy holidays! I'm certainly ready to turn the page on 2020. I hope the puzzles were a welcome respite from this most challenging year. A reminder that you can always purchase monthly or yearly bundles of past subscription puzzles, and Rows Garden and Freestyle subscriptions are always open. Here's hoping for a better year in 2021!    

Puns & Anagrams #1

Welcome back! As I mentioned last time, I've got a Puns & Anagrams puzzle today. See below for the links; in the PUZ version, there is one clue (36-Across) that I could only use the Notepad to replicate, so be sure to click on the Notepad for that clue.

Puns & Anagrams #1 - PUZ

Puns & Anagrams #1 - PDF

Puns & Anagrams #1 - SOLUTION

Puns & Anagrams is a format that is related to the cryptic, but stands alone and does its own thing. Will Shortz wrote a column explaining the basics of P&As a few years ago, and I can't put it much better than Will, but I'll try to sum up the most important concepts of the P&A that I keep in mind as I write these.

P&As differ from cryptics in two key ways. First, unlike cryptic clues which may read more like complete sentences, P&A clues are structured like a standard crossword clue, no matter how much wackiness the clue may entail. There is an imperative function of a standard crossword clue that the P&A must replicate; cryptic clues often lack this function. A fun characteristic of a P&A is that it can incorporate the familiar notations often seen at the ends of crossword clues (Abbr., e.g., et al., etc., cross-references, and so forth) into the wordplay itself. Keeping in mind that the clues must retain the structure of standard crossword clues, I like to think of a P&A like a parody crossword, in a similar vein to a Something Different puzzle (or "Cuckoo Crossword"), except that in a P&A, the grid is normal.

The second key difference is the grid. Since every letter in a P&A is checked twice, there's a lot more "falling into" answers than there would be in a block cryptic puzzle. Cryptics are much more rigid in their cluing structure because the solver inherently relies on each clue, since half of the squares in the grid are unchecked. In a P&A, it's possible to get most or all of an answer filled in by solving its crossing entries; hence, each P&A clue isn't required to give a straight definition, nor are anagram indicators required. This "looseness" in cluing rules is in place because the solver can rely on crossings much more so than in a block cryptic.

Hope you enjoy this change of pace - back to Cryptic #10 in two weeks!

Happy solving!