[Final version]
My initial grid is given below. I had it completely clued up, converted to Word documents, and ready to print out and mail off to Will.
[Version 1]
But I didn't actually do it because I didn't like UNVOICED and NONVOCAL. They're boring. I felt I needed something snazzier in those spots, so I came up with the idea of using words that follow SILENT, but cluing them as if the SILENT was actually there. In effect, the SILENT would be silent. This later got changed to a more straightforward version, in which the circles (or shaded squares) are explicitly referenced in the clue. It is a little different, but the basic idea is the same, and I'm not sure the solver would have appreciated the "silent SILENT" aspect anyway.
This gave me the grid below, which I submitted.
[Version 2]
But that's why editors exist. Will thought a lot of solvers would find that section unfair/undesirable, and, judging by comments I've received on some of my more pop culture-heavy puzzles in the past, he's almost certainly right. Fair enough.
Let's try it again.
[Version 3]
Very close, but this grid also has a problem -- well, not so much a problem as a small infelicity. Can you see it? It's the pair of symmetric cheater squares by AKIN and INGA. I've actually never known Will to be particularly bothered by cheater squares, so I was a bit surprised when he asked me to try to remove them. I certainly would have appreciated it if he told me to do this before I redid the grid, but, to be fair, he did say that he would accept this grid as is if removing the cheater squares proved to be too much of a challenge. But what would it say about my constructing skills if I couldn't meet Will's request? Of course I was going to remove them now.
So I did. And I finally got the final version. I'm mostly happy with how it came out. I would have liked to get more exciting answers in the long down slots containing COLORING and NONBASIC, but the theme really constrained those areas. FANZINES and FAIR GAME are decent entries, though, and there is very little dreck in this grid. The only answer I really don't like is NITA Naldi. Apparently she was a pretty big star in her day, but her day was a pretty long time ago.
Alright, some bullets, and then that will be that.
- Is the first L in LLAMA really a silent letter? Couldn't you just as easily say it's the second L? Or say that LL is a common letter combination that makes an L-sound, the same way GH sometimes makes an F-sound, so neither L is silent? I spent way too long thinking about this. Ultimately, I deemed LLAMA was okay as stands, because our convention with LLAMA seems to be that the first L is silent. As evidence, see the screenshot below, snipped from the Cruciverb database:
- As a parent of two relatively new boys (three and nine months), I'm glad my clue for COLIC -- "Woe for newborns (and thus new parents as well)" -- made the cut.
- Lots of personal likes for me in this one. I loved Rob REINER's movie Stand By Me as a kid; I very much enjoy Sissy SPACEK's work in Bloodline; and Downton Abbey (with maid EDNA Braithwaite) was probably the show my wife and I most agreed on. Although, come to think of it, I've never seen TORA Tora Tora; I'm not a huge fan of EMILIO Estivez's oeuvre (I'm about five years too young to have experienced peak "Brat Pack"); I've never seen OLIVIA Wilde in House (because I've never seen House, period); I don't have a particular affinity for ANI DiFranco; and I would have no idea who NITA Naldi was if not for crossword puzzles. So perhaps my likes are actually outweighed by my dislikes/don't cares.
- Oh, but I also love Claude AKINS. In fact, I run a FANZINE for The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. You should check it out. (Ha-ha, tricked you! Now you have to buy one.)
- Here is a quote from Jeff Chen over at XWordInfo: "It would have risen to the very top of my list of favorite silent letter puzzles if the down answer[s] also [were silent]. I'm 95% sure that'd be impossible to pull off though, given how many crossings you'd need to fix in place. Ah well, a guy can dream." 95%? For me it was 100%. I tried. I really tried.
- I'm seeing a comment online that the puzzle was too easy. I agree! This should have been a Wednesday. And if it was I would have completed the "NYT Day of the Week Cycle." Oh well.
- Before I go, I will leave you with Queensryche's Silent Lucidity. I really hate this song.
Until next time...
Update: Lin-Manuel Miranda responded to a tweet referencing my puzzle! How cool is this? Do you think this could be my in for tickets?
Update: Lin-Manuel Miranda responded to a tweet referencing my puzzle! How cool is this? Do you think this could be my in for tickets?
9 comments:
Fun puzzle, but EDNA really hurt me when ANNA is so much better known and when the two crosses did nothing to save me. Thanks for the other 99% though!
Yes, Scott, fair point. I didn't consider the potential for an EDNA/ANNA mix up, which is particularly devious for fans of "Downton Abbey," being that ANNA is the much more prominent character. (It's one of those rare cases where having more knowledge about the subject could actually hurt you.) Probably should have gone with a standard Mrs. Krabappel clue.
I do know the feeling about rewrites - in the end it's for the best.
One one of my puzzles I had already done a couple of section rewrites on request, got the approval, but I then found after that approval that I had two very similar words (different tenses/spellings, which is why I missed it). I did a third rewrite on my own and quickly sent this off with explanation to replace the previous; this was the version that ran about a year later. In the end, the extra effort is worth it, even if people don't know the "behind the scenes" story.
By the way, nice puzzle!
Thanks, Howard!
I absolutely agree with your point about the extra effort. In fact, when I was thinking about whether to send in the original version or try to make a better one, the only reason against a rewrite is that it would take more time and work. Once I realized this, I then *had* to do it, otherwise I would be plagued with guilt for being lazy. I imagine I'm not the only one who relies on these types of mental games for motivation.
Oh man, ANSARI/KIDCUDI would have been great, but well, I guess not NYT.
Nita Naldi was a Silent Movie Star. This makes her inclusion a feature, not a bug.
Could you please explain what makes the blackout squares in question "cheater squares?" What's special about that exact configuration that makes it undesirable?
A "cheater square" doesn't make a new word. Look at "AKIN" in the example. It is followed by two black squares. Make the first one a letter instead and the puzzle would have the same number of words. The second one creates four words instead of just two (across and down) so is not a cheater. These squares make a puzzle easier to construct, hence the constructor is "cheating."
Z, good catch on NITA Naldi being a SILENT movie star. I totally missed that! And your definition of "cheater square" is spot on. I never notice cheater squares in puzzles consciously (unless there are many lumped together, as you sometimes see), but I do wonder if subconsciously they affect my opinion of a puzzle a little bit by making the grid less aesthetically pleasing.
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