A few pointers

A few standard crossword norms to be used in clue setting and solving :

Ship --- SS
Nothing --- o
Sailor --- ab
Goggles/Glasses/Spectacles --- oo
Journalist/Editor --- ed
Soldier --- GI
Albert --- Al
Edward --- Ed
Gangster --- Al
Quiet --- sh
Left --- l
Right --- r
One --- i
Former --- ex
Accountant --- CA
East --- E
West --- W
South --- S
North --- N
The --- t ( when not used as a filler/ connector word ... How you interpret it, is of course, the question. You'll get better as you keep doing more crosswords )
Numbers --- usually Roman numeral representation ( for eg. Hundred is C etc.)
oddly --- odd letters
evenly --- even letters
regularly --- letters selected in some regular sequence  (usually 1 or 2 apart)
in/contained --- the word is contained in the parent word or is more often than not in the conjunction of  two  words
Words in the middle of the clue with Capitalized first letters --- The first letter
Proper nouns --- first letter(s) (For eg. Royal Air Force is RAF)
heartless --- word minus the middle letter
endless --- word minus the last letter
Perhaps --- er
somehow --- word, in some form, usually a part of it
hollow/within the limits(or boundaries) of --- Only first and last letters of the word
going up/backwards/turned back --- word in reverse ( for eg. 'it' turned back( or going up) is 'ti' )
girl --- usually represents a girl's name ( like eve or anna etc. )
Anagram indicators
------------------------
Altered
Disturbed
Mixed
A sort of
Concocted
Stirred
Cooked



I'll keep adding stuff as and when I remember  or come across more ....
Pl. feel free to add others in the comment section

Cheers

Lets clue !!!

Right ... So we're solving crosswords now. The next step?? Why, making clues of course. How many times have we seen the solutions in the paper the next day and felt "Oh! come on now .... That was a sad clue. Even I could have framed a better one." So whats stopping you then? Go ahead.. You'll soon find that you'll quite enjoy cluing and soon enough, you'll start cracking more crosswords simply because you will now be tuned to the mind of a cruciverbalist and will be looking at clues from the point of view of a crossword setter.

Now, creating a clue is simple enough. All you have to do is to break down a word, give its meaning and then somehow, cryptically, clue it. Sound simple enough, and it is. But the real catch is creating clues that are of an acceptable standard.

Here are a few basic ground rules :

1. Every clue, MUST have an indicator to the meaning of the solution.
2. Do NOT over complicate the clues, keep 'em simple.
3. Shorter the double definition clues, the more elegant they are.
4. Use standard abbreviations and annotations while cluing.
5. Try to keep the clues as short as possible.
6. Take care of the tense. ( If the clue indicates the past tense, the solution must be in the past tense as well.)
7. Do not use too many connector words. Use only those that are absolutely necessary. (Connector words are those that do not have any role to play in the solution but are necessary to maintain the grammar of the clue.)
8. Clearly give indicator word for anagrams.
9. Homophones must be indicated as best as possibly by placing the indicator words such as "loudly" or "overheard" close to the homophone, and not the solution. (For eg. Put a lid on the loud rooster(4) means 'cork' and not 'cock'. )
10. Avoid ambiguity. Make your clues as precise as possible.

Most importantly, HAVE FUN !!!

 

Cheers

Crossie part 3

And we're back ...

Now onto #4 ...

4. Workable clues

These are perhaps the most advanced of all the types of clues. These are the ones that get you to use your(and my) grey cells that lay dormant most of the time :)...
These are the clues in which, almost every single word in the clue has some part to play in the formation of the final answer.
The clue usually has the defenition of the answer in it, and the rest of the clue has hints to form the entire word.
Here's an example :

                        Beloved one shows courage, sheltering a liberal(7)
                        The answer: Darling 

Lets break it down, shall we ?
one shows courage : daring.
liberal : L.
so daring sheltering l is l in daring goves darling.
And of course, beloved one : darling !!

Another one:

                    Well mannered, but showing anger about penalty(7)
                    The Answer: Refined 
anger in crossie terminology is red ( as in red with anger)
penalty is fine.
red and fine together make refined ...


Well these clues are perhaps the most difficut to crack at first attempt but as you keep solving, you'll get better at them and in time understand the beauty of these clues.

5. Hybrid clues

These are just as the name suggests, mix and match of any of the above 4 types of clues. There maybe workable clues in which there are anagrams that are parts of the answer.


So thats a basic wrap of the different types of clues found in crosswords.
SO the next time you come across these grids in the newspapers, go ahead, give 'em a try ... You never know, you could just end up becoming an addict.
But a word of caution, like most other things, you have to be patient ... Dont expect to complete the crossword, the first time you try it ...
I would suggest THE HINDU CROSSWORD as it's undoubtedly THE BEST one there is out there. The crossies on the other newspapers are just simple trivia type in which you dont actually get to appreciate the wordplay and the skill of the cruci ..

Cheers

p.s Check out the blog called http://www.crosswordunclued.com/
Absolutely brilliant and a much much more in-depth tutorial ..

Crossie part 2

Right, so lets begin..
There are basically 5 kinds of clues :

1. Straight clues
2. Double defenitions
3. Anagrams
4. Workable clues
5. Hybrid clues



1. Straight clues

Very simple. Direct defenitions of the answers form the clue.
For eg. :

They show up the player’s(or umpire’s) skills in retrospect (6,7)
Answer: Action Replays
Easy enough, eh? Well the thing is that sometime the most apparent of answers don’t strike you and so more often than not, you’ll find that these direct clues are the ones filled up towards the end, once you’ve got letters of the answer from the solutions of different clues.

Another one ….
One like Mao? (8)
Answer : Chairman



2. Double Defenitions
These clues generally are very short. These clues can be decomposed into two distinct parts, each a different meaning of the answer to the clue.

For eg. :
The Language of the Britisher(7)

Now break it down into 2 parts:
The Language
Britisher

The answer to this is “ English “
English is obviously a language and a Britisher is English ….

Another example :

Apply the sqeeze on the print media(5)
Answer : Press … pretty straightforward ….



3. Anagrams
Now, we come to the more challenging clues.

An anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once. (Read the wiki article for more)

Right, so coming to the clues with anagrams, here’s one :

Fish, an amber sort (5)
The answer : Bream ( an anagram of Amber )


Now, how do you discern that the clue is an anagram?
Look for words that indicate that the answer is an anagram of a part of the clue. In the above clue, the hint is the word “sort”. From this you can decide that it is an anagram, and since the answer is 5 letters and the only 5 letter word in the clue is “amber”, its quite simple, isn’t it? Well then again, figuring out the word to be anagrammed is the easy part. Figuring the actual
answer is the more hard part…

Here’s another :

A disturbed sister has the power to oppose (6)
Answer : Resist ( Anagram of “sister” )
The tell-tale word here is “disturbed”

And another :

A conifer from a cadre altered (5)
Answer : Cedar ( anagram of “cadre”)

So look for these words to check if the clues are anagrams.Also, these clues will be complete, as in, apart from the anagram part of it, the rest of the clue will also be an indication to the answer. Like, in the above clues, a cedar is a conifer and to resist is to oppose.

Some of the words that usually indicate anagrams are:
Altered
Disturbed
Mixed
A sort of
Concocted
Stirred

More to come ...




Cheers