Australian Crosswords

I’m not sure how many of you take the time to read this commentary that accompanies the weekly solution, but if this week’s doesn’t generate some comments, I’ll assume there are very few of you.

I think crossword setters could write essays on certain cruciverbal concepts, and the one highest on my list would be the topic of “fairness”. How many articles related to cryptic crosswords have you read that contain the line “…but he/she always makes sure the clues are fair”? What does this mean? Isn’t fairness a subjective concept? Is there a definitive way to judge if anything is fair? It’s wrongly used to mean “solvable”, which makes every clue fair. Personally I don’t think fairness can be determined by the setter since it’s the solvers individually who decide whether a crossword, clue, device or answer is “fair”. Solvers often disagree, so unless ALL solvers agree on fairness, most crosswords are going to contain unfair elements in the opinion of some solvers. So, are these crosswords fair? Not to everyone. As a professional setter aiming to appeal to a broad audience, I want to make sure solvers should be able to work out all aspects of a crossword under particular circumstances, but there’s no guarantee that will happen, so to some people aspects of my crosswords may seem unfair. Fairness is not measureable as a general rule, so shouldn’t be applied as a measure to crosswords.

I regularly get asked how to get started in the crossword business. My first response is to say that there’s no money in crosswords as an individual (puzzle magazine companies like the Lovatts still prosper), and that the best someone can hope for is a little extra cash on top of a real job.

Since I started 18 years ago, the number of outlets in Australia has more than halved and new opportunities are non-existent. In fact, the need to reduce costs in print media and the availability of low-cost syndicated crosswords means you couldn’t find enough work to sustain a crossword business even if you wrote the best crosswords in the world. Multiple crosswords used to be needed to service all the different areas of Australia – now one online puzzle does the job. Computer software that generates all kinds of crosswords and word puzzles also means non-professionals can easily produce puzzles. While I believe a specialist should be used when compiling all puzzles, only cryptic crosswords can’t be done by a rank amateur.

So, what do I tell a budding crossword setter? Don’t give up your day-job; start by joining the Australian Crossword Club where you can have your crosswords published and get valuable feedback; learn the fundamentals of crossword setting – don’t rely on your favourite crossword to teach you; and do it for the love of it.

Recently I read a letter sent into a newspaper complaining about a setter’s use of obscure words as answers in a cryptic crossword. It seems the setter had used quite a few in the one puzzle, and this upset the reader. The appearance of a number of obscure words, or even just one, should be as a result of careful consideration by a setter, and balanced by alleviating devices. What do I mean? Take an obscure answer with a difficult clue and no given initial letter. I don’t think this has any place in a daily cryptic, however the same word clued with an obvious anagram, or simply clued with the initial letter obtainable is fine IMO. Cryptics can contain obscure answers as there should be two distinct ways to obtain the answers, however, with the definition unlikely to be of much use, the wordplay element must be spot-on, providing a clear way to the answer. A daily cryptic crossword should keep these obscure answers to a minimum inspite of the tools a setter can use to help solvers derive the answers. Some crosswords thrive on the use of obscure words, but these are usually known to be hard and there’s plenty of time between crosswords.