Australian Crosswords

I had a number of people ask me about clues from The Stickler Weekly 12, namely 4-down, “One who’s keen to take a break? (6)”, and 11-down, “Handy communicator? (6)”. They quite rightly pointed out that this type of clue doesn’t appear very often in Stickler puzzles, and there’s good reason for that. These are cryptic definition clues, that is, clues that are definition only and have no wordplay. A cryptic definition’s very nature means the solver is unlikely to work out the solution until all or most of the cross-letters are in place, as there’s no wordplay to provide a second pathway, and the solver isn’t told what type of clue it is. If they knew it was a cryptic definition, they may have a chance to work it out. Even then, the solver NEEDS cross-letters to confirm.

So why is this less-than-whole cryptic clue used in cryptics at all? I believe their inclusion is largely historical, as puns were originally introduced to add spice to everyday clues in early crosswords. These puns were added to other different clue types to eventually form cryptic crosswords – they have always been part of a cryptic crossword setter’s arsenal, except in the US, where “quick” crosswords dominate and puns continue to be used to mix up the cluing. In fact, publishers of US cryptics generally don’t allow cryptic definitions as they believe single definition clues have no place in cryptic crosswords – they belong in everyday puzzles. This a view that I tend to share, so only the odd one may pop up – that is, I don’t actively look to write cryptic definitions.

Why that is, I’ll leave for another time.

(Answers: 4-down SURFIE, 11-down SIGNER)

There are always elements found in cryptic crosswords that may cause division among setters and solvers: cryptic definitions, the use of extraneous words, subtraction techniques, the importance of surface meaning to name just a few. This crossword contained a contentious device in 25-down – the use of capitalisation to deceive – that some won’t agree with. Much of my cluing philosophy is based on my experience as a solver – I don’t use techniques that irk me when I solve – so I’m happy to include things that sit well with me as a solver (I also take note feedback from other solvers). In this particular instance I view the capitalisation of any word as OK, since all words could appear in a book or film title, or a newspaper heading, with a capital without changing the meaning of the word. However, de-capitalising a proper noun changes the meaning of the word – solvers look at it differently and in most cases they will have never seen that word written starting with a lowercase letter. Simply, if a solver sees a capitalised word, they can consider both cases easily as there aren’t many in any crossword, however, I believe it’s unreasonable for a solver to be expected to evaluate every non-capitalised word as a potential proper noun as they make up the bulk of the words in a crossword’s clues.