December 09 2010
Havoc Ahead
Nervous? A little, since the looming DA crossword is out of the box.
Don’t worry. I’m not dealing in spoilers. But I can say the cryptic due to run this Friday in Sydney, and in Saturday’s Age, is the strangest I’ve made for yonks. Full-stop even. And I’m nervous about it.
The key reason links to the Herald’s page, where the Cryptic and Quick grids – usually a snap in every regard – require different treatment. Patterns and symmetry are identical, but the cryptic clue-numbers within the grid break convention. Even to Age solvers, the figures will seem random. Or worse – wrong. But they’re not, as you’ll discover.
Hence the butterflies, as the intrepid Lynne Cairncross (our part-time crossword editor) will soon need to usher this odd grid past the subbies and typesetting software to ensure the puzzle escapes any well-meaning interference. Let’s hope she succeeds. And the solvers make merry, once they waken to the challenge.
And while chatting on chequered things, for anyone who happened to attend the Gleebooks Clue Clinic a month back, then the puzzle slated to follow on December 17/18 is the grid that holds the session’s six offered words and phrases, including a name (3,7) that regulars here will know too well.
Enough preambling. Enjoy the ambling, when the puzzles lob.
Comments
SK — 09 December at 08:32AM
Looking forward to it DA...gotta love a bit of risk-taking. Maybe a few shots of single malt tomorrow night will get the brain cells working.
LR — 09 December at 01:24PM
Well I am intrigued! It's times like this I wish I was still part of the inner sanctum. Any idea when this puzzle will be unleashed on the public? (I'm back from NYC on NYE!)
LR — 09 December at 01:39PM
Oops. After closer reading I can answer my own question. Anyway, looking forward to having a crack at it!
DA — 09 December at 02:13PM
LR - great to hear from you, and good to hear you're swapping the Big Apple for the Big Pineapple. Hope the trip, and head-trip was a blast. Ask a pal to save those two puzzles in particular. Mayhem assured.
JT — 09 December at 02:57PM
Out of interest:
"Even to Age solvers, the figures will seem random"... why the Age caveat? What's different about the Age numbering?
dg — 09 December at 02:59PM
Us Mexicans use Roman numerals :)
DA — 09 December at 03:21PM
In the SMH, the Cryptic grid is mirrored by the Quick grid that sits below. (Tomorrow, that won't change - but two won't share their numbering. Hence the need for vigilance at the 11th hour.)
In The Age, where the Cryptic stands alone, the numbering pattern will seem as freaky, without the sober alternative nearby.
robskee — 09 December at 07:42PM
Looking forward to it.
Mr X — 10 December at 01:12PM
XXX WARNING - SPOILER ALERT XXX
Just finished it. The numbering worked A-Ok.
Mr X — 10 December at 01:14PM
Actually there was no spoiler in the comment above. I was going to add another possible 15 -letter answer (a nursery rhyme) but thought I'd avoid giving away anything at this stage.
GB — 11 December at 07:07AM
Excellent work - very enjoyable. No need to be nervous about the twist, when its coupled with good clues!
robskee — 11 December at 10:54AM
Nice one, David. It made my brain wrinkle. All ironed out now.
dg — 12 December at 01:48PM
Loved it!
Jonathan Nolan — 12 December at 06:44PM
Loved loved loved it! Felt like we are were all part of a revolution for cryptics! I loved that the theme didn't have to be referred to through other clues, but discovered, like a true explorer would.
DA — 12 December at 07:19PM
Thanks all - appreciate the support. As you may have heard through the same Lynne C, the initial feedback via SMH.com was pretty dire. (And that's despite getting the renegade numbers in order.)
Not my custom to focus a post on a Fairfax puzzle here. That's the stuff of other sites - but this one demanded the exception. First to flag the pains we took behind the scenes, and second, to straw-poll your response.
Mr X — 13 December at 01:49PM
I also enjoyed the conjoining, in the Quick below, of same-sex marriage and the Bible belt. If there's a commotion about "ringing the changes" in the Cryptic, perhaps those two might slip by unnoticed.
Anthony Douglas — 13 December at 10:25PM
It was great to again get one of your more adventurous works, but...
Despite the best efforts of staff at various papers, mistakes happen. For instance, just last week, the SMH had to apologise for printing the wrong bridge column.
...which meant that I was predisposed to mistrust them when the numbering came out 'wrong', not having looked here or elsewhere first. I'd got three quarters of the way through correcting the numbering (writing over the top of the printed clues) before it occurred to me that it might have been accurate.
All of which is a plea - I could have been saved by three small letters: 'sic' wouldn't have hurt, would it?