A Puzzle by Jams
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The puzzle is available by clicking on the above grid.
As usual, the setter will be delighted to receive feedback from you, the solvers. We do ask that you remember that for most setters this is a new experience, so please only offer constructive criticism.
Welcome to Jams as our newest Rookie setter. Creating any cryptic crossword is an achievement in itself. Creating a good cryptic crossword is a herculean feat. I think that Jams needs some more muscle building to hone his or her skills. Although a lot of the basic framework was evident, there were far too many rough edges. Particular areas to concentrate on are:
- The use of first and last letter indicators. There was an overuse of the device in this crossword with many of the indicators not being used correctly.
- Avoiding repetition of wordplay indicators such as around/round and start.
- Making sure that synonyms are used correctly.
- Looking at the way the clue reads as a whole as a coherent sentence that you might use in everyday language. Whilst I am generally tolerant of surface readings in Rookie setters’ crosswords, there were far too many strained surface readings in this crossword.
There were some diamonds in the rough such as 3a, 13a and 1d. However, the commentometer reads as 13/36 or 36.1%.
Across
1a Fondles alien in games console (4)
PETS: The abbreviation for extraterrestrial (alien) inside the abbreviation for PlayStation (games console).
3a Butt in more artfully (4)
REAR: The answer is hidden (in) the last two words of the clue.
6a Photographer by hospital for Pulp (5)
PAPER: A three-letter word for a photographer (paparazzo) by the abbreviation for Emergency Room (hospital). I am not convinced that pulp is the same as the solution. As the abbreviation for hospital is an American term, this should arguably be indicated as also should the fact that it is more usually a department of the hospital.
10a Concerning authorities produces funds (9)
RESOURCES: A two-letter word meaning concerning followed by a seven-letter word for authorities that may be cited in support of an argument.
11a Gruesome, turning India into English – convinced (5)
LURED: A five-letter word meaning gruesome with the I (India) changed to an E (English). I don’t think that convinced is the same as the solution which means enticed or tempted rather than convinced.
12a Dungaree blanket (7)
OVERALL: Double definition. For the double definition to work, dungarees would need to be in the plural.
13a Second-born to relax topless year round (7)
YOUNGER: A six-letter word meaning to relax with the first letter removed (topless) with the abbreviation for year around it.
14a Hang out beef and bacon, I say! (4)
MEET: A homophone (I say) of meat (beef and bacon).
16a Help, or he gets final warning (6)
RESCUE: The final letters of or he gets followed by a three-letter word for a warning. A recurrent theme in these comments is the use of a final or initial letter indicator being used both incorrectly in the cryptic reading of the clue and also being used to indicate the beginning or ending of two or more words where the sense in which the word is used implies only one word’s beginning or ending. The number of times this is commented on also indicates that the device of selecting initial or final letters is being overused in the clues.
18a Gross fragment of feral lamb (3)
ALL: The answer is hidden (fragment of) in the final two words of the clue.
21a Hunter of Venetian leader scratching bottom (3)
DOG: The four-letter word for a Venetian ruler with the final letter removed (scratching bottom).
22a Leads regressively decay in ACs (6)
ACTORS: A three-letter word meaning decay is reversed (regressively) inside the ACs from the clue.
23a Fights start following revolutionary cook (4)
CHEF: The initial letter (start) of fights after (following) the three-letter name of a revolutionary. For start to work as an initial letter indicator, it would need to be fight’s start.
25a Professional nibbled around each roll because market ended (7)
ATHLETE: A three-letter word meaning nibbled around the final letters (ended) of each roll because market. The definition of “professional” is not the same as the solution required. Ended does not mean the final letter of a word, it would need to be X’s ending. Also using ended to indicate the endings of four words does not work. There is also a repetition of round/ around as a containment indicator. Round was used in 13a.
27a Lover hits pro – he chases us (7)
ORPHEUS: An anagram (hits) of PRO HE followed by (chases) the US from the clue. To chase means to go after, not go before.
29a White house? (5)
IGLOO: Cryptic definition.
30a Plan: I’ll start small, grabbing time and finishing tour (9)
ITINERARY: The first letter (start) of I’ll followed by a four-letter word meaning small into which you add a three-letter word meaning time and the final letter (finishing) of tour. Start on its own does not mean first letter in the cryptic reading of the clue. It would have to be X’s start.
31a Writing oddly eases dad. Why, I ask you! (5)
ESSAY: The odd letters of eases dad followed by a homophone (I ask you) of why.
32a River of audible twigs (4)
STYX: A homophone (audible) of sticks.
33a Bad mood from gone-off lube (4)
BLUE: An anagram (gone-off) of lube.
Down
1d According to plan, journalist put on a show (9)
PERFORMED: A three-letter word meaning according to followed by a four-letter word meaning to plan and the abbreviation for editor.
2d Sat up to every beginner, showing appreciation (5)
TASTE: A reversal (up) of the SAT from the clue followed by the initial letters (beginner) of to every. Beginner on its own does not indicate the beginnings of two or more words.
4d Brilliant! Software before Easter! (9)
EXCELLENT: The five-letter name of spreadsheet software followed by the name of the period before Easter.
5d Not what it used to be, pig’s house buried by start of record unemployment (5)
RUSTY: A three-letter word for a pig’s house underneath (buried by) the initial letters (start) of record unemployment. Start of record unemployment means only the start of the first word, not two or more words. Also start has already been used twice before as an initial letter indicator in 23a and 30a.
6d Defiled, Odell put out (8)
POLLUTED: An anagram (out) of ODELL PUT.
7d Composition for piano followed by a freeform harp raga (9)
PARAGRAPH: The abbreviation for piano followed by an anagram (freeform) of HARP RAGA. Avoid repeating wordplay indicators. Following by was used in 23a. The a in the clue should be omitted as it does not feature in the solution. In terms of the structure of the clue, you can have wordplay for definition but should not use definition for wordplay.
8d Endless gloom after opening real ale tracking system (5)
RADAR: A four-letter word for gloom with the final letter removed (endless) after the initial letters (opening) of real ale. For opening to indicate the initial letter it would need to be opening of. Also, opening on its own means the opening letter of one word only. It cannot be used in this way to indicate the opening letters of two or more words.
9d Sweet older woman replaces company with sons (5)
SUGAR: A six-letter word for a sexually active older woman with the abbreviation for company replaced by the abbreviation for sons.
15d Chick-defending protein-holders? (9)
EGGSHELLS: Cryptic definition.
17d London engulfing building is our collector’s item (9)
CURIOSITY: A four-letter word for a place such as London includes (engulfing) an anagram (building) of IS OUR. As London is being used as a definition by example of the word required in the solution, this should be indicated.
19d Queer yetis fell into a way of being (9)
LIFESTYLE: An anagram (queer) of YETIS FELL.
20d Feline ecstasy – bloody class! (8)
CATEGORY: A three-letter word for a feline followed by the abbreviation for ecstasy and a four-letter word meaning bloody.
24d Southerner urinated with momentum (5)
SPEED: The abbreviation for southerner followed by a four-letter word meaning urinated. S is the abbreviation for southern, not southerner.
25d Funny Maine cartoon (5)
ANIME: An anagram (funny) of MAINE.
26d Arranges awards, needing no introduction (5)
EDITS: A seven-letter word meaning awards with the first two letters removed. Devices such as needing no introduction should be used remove a single letter, not two or more letters from the beginning of the word.
28d Message for European men: beer, by the sounds of it! (5)
EMAIL: The abbreviation for European followed by the abbreviation for men and a homophone (by the sound of it) of ALE (beer). M is the abbreviation for male, not men. Another clue where you have definition for wordplay.
Welcome to Rookie Corner, Jams. This was a curate’s egg for me. There are some good clues and interesting ideas, but quite a lot which fell into the “nearly but not quite” category. Although it’s not the first consideration when you are starting out, several of your surfaces do need considerable attention.
My scribbles are as follows:
6a – the abbreviation for “hospital” is American.
11a – for me, the definition is too much of a stretch for the answer.
12a – “dungarees” is synonymous with “overalls” but only in the plural.
25a – I can’t see how the definition means the answer.
6d – Even though it is needed for the anagram fodder, Odell is rather an obscure choice of name.
7d – the “a” is surplus to requirements.
15d – the surface is meaningless. A good surface is particularly important for a cryptic definition.
17d – I think you need to add “perhaps” after London to indicate it is a definition by example.
24d – S is the abbreviation for southern not southerner.
26d – I think you can only use “needing no introduction” to mean delete the first letter, not two letters.
On the plus side, my ticked clues were 3a, 13a, 16a, 23a, 29a, 4d & 20d.
Thank you, Jams, and well done for sticking your hear above the parapet. It’s no mean feat to compile a cryptic crossword. Please pay heed to the wise words of Prolixic and the other commenters on this site and come back with another puzzle with the rough edges smoothed out. Enlisting the help of a test solver would help to iron out some of the niggles.
Singer Tom Odell had a few hits about a decade ago:
I mean, not so well-known that ‘Odell’ in a clue could reasonably used to indicate the letters ‘tom’ in an answer, but probably good enough for a surface reading.
Thanks, Smylers. I’ve never heard of Mr. Odell, but I did enjoy that YT video.
I had Tom Odell in my head, but alas – the main thinking was NFL star Odell Beckham Jr.
Is that too American for a cryptic?
Never heard of him either! But Smylers is right; as long as it is not a totally made up name, it doesn’t matter if it is being used simply as anagram fodder and not as part of specific wordplay.
There’s also Noel Odell who was the last person to see Mallory and Irving on Everest. He was quite a mountaineer and led a very interesting life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Odell
Sorry Jams can’t comment on the crossword as I haven’t looked at it. Just popped in to look at the comments. Well done on your debut anyway
Thank you for having me and thanks in advance for any comments and advice!
First time I’ve had anyone fully solve my stuff too – I’ll have a look around and see if anyone I know can test solve for me.
Welcome to the blog
Welcome to Rookie Corner
There were a few ‘easier’ clues but most of the crossword was very tough, not helped by a great many of the definitions not quite being synonyms of the solutions. We have to go out shortly and so I ended up revealing letters to finish.
As RD says, take note of the wise words of Prolixic and the other comments and return with another puzzle in due course
Welcome to Rookie Corner, Jams.
There are plenty of good ideas here but some of the surface readings are pretty meaningless.
I liked 3a, 13a, 29a and 20d.
Do take note of Prolixic’s advice. I look forward to your next puzzle.
We enjoyed your puzzle, Jams, thank you. One or two queries but we’ll leave those to the experts and check with Prolixic. Please come back with another puzzle soon.
Welcome to the Corner, Jams. A real mixed bag here for me and I’d agree with Gazza about which clues really worked.
There is certainly a lot of work for you to do on surface reads and synonyms but no reason why you can’t get there if you take on board the wisdom of Prolixic and our other experts.
I do hope that you won’t be disheartened, it’s a very brave move that you’ve made to bring us your first puzzle.
Welcome, Jams.
As has been said, it’s no small feat to compile one’s first cryptic puzzle, but my printed page had negative notes written against more than half of the clues unfortunately. Firstly, some of the surface readings made little sense (e.g. 1a, 10a, 22a, 32a, 19d) and just plonking words like “start” or “final” before or after one or more other words is not acceptable to mean choose the first or last letters; 16a, 23a, 25a, 30a and 8d are all guilty of this, with 5d using “start” a second time to refer to two words rather than just one. 7d is “definition for (leading to) wordplay” which goes contrary to convention and there were some dubious abbreviations too, i.e. “sons” in the plural and “southerner” for S and “men” for M. “London” in 17d should have a “definition by example” indicator, like “maybe” or “perhaps”.
Four homophones, including two in successive clues, is probably at least one too many, even in a 36-clue grid.
I did detect some inventiveness in the puzzle, but it was far outweighed by the cryptic grammar errors and meaningless surfaces. You must have some experience solving puzzles given the use of devices like “revolutionary” for CHE etc., so please take note of the review and aim to return with a more polished product next time.
Thank you, Jams.
Well done, Jams; really enjoyed this. Thanks for your efforts which are much appreciated as I have total respect for someone who can put together a puzzle like this which also entertains. I look forward to the next one!!
Thanks for the puzzle Jams, I enjoyed solving it, but I would echo the previous comments about cryptic grammar and surfaces.
Favourites for me were 13a, 31a and 20d.
Re the Odell thing, while it’s technically fine, if you use an unusual name like that (and that goes for any names, places etc not just US ones) you are basically telegraphing that this word is just fodder for some kind of wordplay – probably an anagram or a lurker. It can kind of give the game away very quickly.
Thanks again, and I look forward to your next puzzle.
Many thanks for the review, Prolixic, I think you’ve given Jams quite a lot of homework – let’s hope he’s up to the challenge!
This is a brave first effort, Jams, for which I commend you. Talk about a baptism by fire!
I agree with most of the foregoing comments. I do however feel there is a vein of promise. Not to mention that Prolixic has described 3a, 13a, and 1d as ‘diamonds’ — high praise indeed! You can be proud of such a comment.
Despite its imperfections, this puzzle was doable with little need for assistance. I picked up your wavelength and followed your intended wordplay with interest. And, to be quite honest, I rather enjoyed the challenge!
Prolixic has provided you with an excellent critique. Please study it and take his advice. Further, if you don’t already have a copy, I fully recommend you to study his guide, A Brief Guide to the Construction of Cryptic Crossword Clues by Michael Callaghan [Prolixic’s real name]. You will find it on cryptic crosswords net where you can download a PDF. I simply Googled the title and author and it came up. In addition, you might find it very useful to look at some of the previous Rookie puzzles. Each has a critique by Prolixic, so providing you with some actual examples of good and imperfect clueing.
I am looking forward very much to your next puzzle, Jams. I hope you will improve by leaps and bounds. A test solver is a very good idea. All the very best! Thanks you very much for revealing your first puzzle here.
A huge apprecative ‘thank you’ to Prolixic who has done so much to nurture the Rookies, some of whom are now well-established setters. Brilliant!