EV1707
Crassword by Stick Insect
Setter’s Blog
All but three clues contain a single error each.
Setter’s blog
This puzzle started with its title – a first for me. I can’t remember what made “Crassword” pop into my head, but it got me thinking about what a crassword would look like. A single letter misprint was a possibility, but that’s used in many puzzles and not a theme in itself; instead crass suggested a badly-constructed puzzle in some way, which led almost immediately to having clues be faulty in some way.
I needed some final step to round off solving (and show understanding of the theme) and the apology seemed like a good way to do it, so I constructed the grid around that using QXW as usual. I didn’t put in any other constraints, but was rather pleased when the crosswording gods gave me lapsus calami in the first column, a phrase I didn’t even know but seemed entirely appropriate for the puzzle. Shame I didn’t actually do it deliberately.
Writing “wrong” clues was actually quite hard. I wanted a variety of errors, ideally a different type in each clue, but I couldn’t manage that. Errors needed to be reasonably obvious, at least on close inspection, so the normal clues would be identifiable. Improving that was the main thrust of editorial revisions. The theme doesn’t feel like one that can be repurposed in future puzzles, but if it was I doubt I’d be rushing to repeat it!
The intention clearly was to give solvers a bit of fun in working out what was going on, but I did wonder if some (most) might just find it annoying. It was good to see from the feedback I’ve read so far that it seems to have been taken in the spirit intended. The apology stands for anyone who didn’t. My thanks to all those who’ve commented, which is always appreciated, and to the editor for multiple improvements.
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A full review of this puzzle can be seen over on fifteensquared.