Australian 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.

The 100 year anniversary of the first published crossword (try some puzzles from history here) led a number of bloggers around the world to speculate about the future of the crossword in the digital age. Would it last another 100 years? I think most forms of crosswords translate seamlessly to digital media and they will continue to thrive, but I don’t believe the same can be said about cryptic crosswords. I don’t like interactive cryptic crosswords, and I’m a child of the computer age, in fact, I’ve had a computer screen in my face since I was 18. Cryptic crosswords take time to solve, and a large part of the enjoyment I get from solving comes from the piecemeal way I solve them. Not only don’t I want to spend my free time in front of a computer, but I want somewhere to scribble down an anagram or speculate on possible word endings. It’s not the same with an electronic scratchpad – the romance isn’t there. I want to be away from the temptation of Google and blogs and word pattern-match software. I know there are many out there like me. How? Every week I give solvers the option of choosing a PDF to print or an interactive puzzle to solve. The stats since The Stickler Weekly started show 80% prefer to print and solve. Is this a generational thing? Let’s hope so or cryptic crosswords won’t survive when printed newspapers are no more.