Australian Crosswords

Recently a friend contacted me wishing to reconnect with cryptic crosswords. He’s in his 40s and has dabbled with cryptics for extensive periods during parts of his life, but a stint overseas took him away from those he used to enjoy solving with. A renewed focus led him to me, as he searched the internet for help on Australian cryptics.
We met for coffee and discussed some recent Stickler Weeklys after going back to basics about clue structure the importance of identifying the definition by spotting likely wordplay elements. During our discussion I said something about setting that I don’t think I had realised before: “A setter generally looks for the simplest construction when making a clue, that is, the most obvious construction to the solver is probably the right one”. There are numerous ways to make clues hard, but intentionally making clues convoluted is not usually an option a setter takes. A solver’s first instinct on how a clue works is probably the right one, and if that doesn’t pan out, the second one is almost always going to get the job done. An experienced solver is one that has learnt the most likely way to work out a clue.
Inexperienced solvers tend to overthink things as the average clue can contain a multitude of solving possibilities, but, as the setter tends to follow the easiest construction path, they can be sure the most likely construction is probably the right one. A setter can exploit this, of course, but in subtle ways, not in ways that make a clue unnecessarily difficult.

Recently cryptic crossword setter John Halpern (aka Paul in The Guardian) ran the London marathon in a time of 5 hours 57 minutes, or about 13 minutes a mile. This was a marathon with a difference: at the start of every mile, John was shown a new word to clue by a volunteer, based on a grid designed by a crossword-setting colleague Richard Browne (aka Imogen) that John had not seen before. This was all about raising money for charity. With the aid of an Apple watch, John recorded his thoughts and clues on the run, with the aim to clue an entire crossword by the end of the race. It’s really hard to explain just how difficult this would be, as John had no references, lists of indicators, or anagram generating software – it all had to be done in his head. He would also have to keep a mental note of the types of clues he’d constructed to ensure a well-balanced crossword at the end. All amazingly difficult, but let’s not forget he was putting his body through physical torture at the same time!
A few concessions would have to be made. The words in the grid would be picked especially for the event, giving John the best chance of coming up with viable clues. For instance, if John didn’t know the meaning of just one of the answer words, the whole thing’s a bust. Imogen no doubt picked wisely to ensure this wouldn’t happen. The bit that’s most difficult is joining definition and wordplay as seamlessly as possible, usually only doable with lots of choices that multiple references give you. Without those, options are limited and roadblocks appear. It would be fascinating to hear John talk about what went through his head as he ran.

Read about John’s effort here.
Have a look at the actual crossword here.
Sneak a look at the blog of the crossword here.
To complete the picture, John’s fundraising page is here.

First, thanks for all the chatter regarding the financial model going forward. I’ve been away for a week and will endeavour to digest all comments and suggestions and reply soon. Thanks.

I’ve been a member of the Australian Crossword Club since its inception in 1990. The club was started by members of former SMH/Age setter Alan Eason’s crossword club after its demise. One of these members, Alan Walter, passed away suddenly last week. Alan was a unique solver with a meticulous nature. In the early years of the club an annual function was held at his home in Mona Vale, Sydney, and I met many keen crossworders who I still meet with every year. For 5 years I worked closely with Alan to produce the club’s monthly magazine, CroZworld. I used software to produce the grids and clues, and solutions from the previous month, and Alan used a typewriter, scissors and glue to produce the rest of the magazine. It was before the days when desktop publishing software was affordable and usable by the average computer user, so Alan did an admirable job cobbling the magazine together. Alan wasn’t only a great solver (he had a stack of completed SMH crosswords in his study that was the height of a man), but, for many years, he also compiled cryptics once a week for his local paper, The Manly Daily. Alan had a reputation for never giving up when solving, and would often go over his CroZworld competition crossword answers to double-check he had everything right. It wasn’t uncommon for him to adjust his answers before the cut-off date. If ever there was a dispute about an answer, Alan would present a case that a barrister would be proud of – such was the thought that went into every submitted answer.
Every five weeks I write a crossword for The Sydney Morning Herald called The Omega. It’s a hybrid crossword that features plays on words, picture clues, straightforward clues and labelled cryptic clues. Alan always sent me an email on publishing day with a critique of my work: clues he struggled with, clues he liked and didn’t like, and an assessment of how he went overall. I looked forward to his email as he is the only one to give me feedback on this crossword that I’ve been writing since the year 2000.
I shall miss him.