Crossword #1: An Early Report
This is my first foray into crossword puzzle creation. The idea occurred to me Sunday night (at about midnight, unfortunately). I downloaded a crossword grid creator for Linux and got to work straight away.
I created a grid with a theme in mind and it took me about three hours to fill it with answers. In hindsight, I know that the grid was not a good one. It included too many three-letter words for one thing, “unchecked” squares, and made use of an awkward triangular “hole” in the middle of the puzzle for another.
Nevertheless, I completed it. If you work the puzzle (please do!) you will find that I painted myself into a couple of corners, and was forced to make use of at least two very dodgy answers.
The solution to this puzzle was published on Tuesday, October 9.
Yesterday I spent almost twice as long creating clues as I did filling in the grid. I do not have a crossword puzzle dictionary, so I am to blame for all of the clues. Well, you can blame Wikipedia for a few of them.[1] I think the puzzle is Monday- or Tuesday-ish in difficulty, but it’s hard for me to judge this (I knew the answers before the clues were written). It employs a theme that would not be typical of a Monday or Tuesday puzzle.[2]
Scrabble enthusiasts might see the game’s influence at work in a couple of places.
Download a PDF copy of my puzzle and let me know what you think. Creating it was fun, but I will have to rely on you to tell me whether “fun” is a word you would ever use to describe it.
Constructive criticism and feedback will be much appreciated. Insulting characterizations and threatening words will not be unexpected.
| DATE | TITLE |
| 04/24/2020 | #k1: Meadow’s First! |
| 04/20/2020 | #24: Roadside Attractions? |
| 02/20/2020 | #23: World’s Smallest! |
| 06/20/2018 | #22: Northern Dialect |
| 01/30/2018 | #21: Special Editions |
| 10/10/2017 | #20: Saints We’d Like to See |
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Notes
- I work a lot of puzzles, so I may have unconsciously borrowed a few clues from puzzles gone by. I tried, however, to avoid the most hackneyed of clues. Did I succeed? You must judge for yourself. [^]
- When I refer to Monday and Tuesday puzzles, I am of course thinking of New York Times puzzles. I do not claim that my puzzle is NYT-worthy. Far, far from it. Did I mention this is the first puzzle I ever created? And no, I did not create it with the idea of submitting it for publication (anywhere but here). [^]
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