http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crossword3tj.jpg (finished)
That's a crossword from an old booklet I have, and that's as far as I got... I can't find the answers page so I thought I ask you (extraordinary erudite folks) for help to finish it, or I won't be able to sleep tonight...
Excuse my untrained handwriting (and naturally I may have made mistakes).
Edit: the 2nd crossword
http://img8.picsplace.to/img.php?file=img8/1/Crossword4.JPG (finished)
4 down jujitsu*. 12 across scampi
*Usually spelled jiujitsu but hey, it cruciverbalist license.
15 down = sweetsop
I thought that 25 across might be nougat, but that tangles with the second s in sweetsop.
ah, scampi! I couldn't get calamari to fit...
> sweet sop
well, sweetsop ain't got enough letters, so nougat may still be right...
Ah. Sweetener, with nougat as the across word.
And one across is strait jacket, which makes three down incorrect.
24A: nearside
revise 21A: scum
13D: clincher
(edit number ref)
21 across is therefor scum
2 down is reality, I think
24 across is leftside, though I would have made it 4,4
and 26 across is blast furnace
I'd already got 2 of those TEd - ya gotta read as well as write.
17D amends to numeral to fit with blastfurnace
yeah, near side, and the last down one is numeral.
did I ever tell you I'm halfway decent at these?
what do the numbers following the clues indicate?
If 2 down is "reality" then 12 across "scampi" is incorrect (I'm trying to post a revise version, if I only had a moment to breathe!)
Edit: actually you're finishing it with a few more, so it doesn't matter if I do
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what do the numbers following the clues indicate?
The number of letters. And if it is two or more words the number of letters in each word, like blast furnace is 5,7
number of letters in the word
2D ain't reality - no way.
Yes, that works perfectly. Crossword is done! and much faster than I thought. Thanks!
words, phrases, crosswords. we do it all...
The masterpiece (!) -
http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=crossword25sw.jpgyes, I edit "reaism" letters via the PC as I scanned it a bit earlier heh... that was fun, we should have a section for crosswords
Thing that gets me is this is in the form of a cryptic but the clues ain't.
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Thing that gets me is this is in the form of a cryptic but the clues ain't.
What do you mean "in the form of a cryptic"? Cryptic and non-cryptic crosswords both use the same shape and grids here. Often the same grid will offer two sets of clues. Do your cryptic crosswords have a different shape?
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What do you mean "in the form of a cryptic"? Cryptic and non-cryptic crosswords both use the same shape and grids here. Often the same grid will offer two sets of clues. Do your cryptic crosswords have a different shape?
By [arbitrary, I suppose] US convention there are no unkeyed letters in a "regular" crossword, while cryptics are modeled after the British(?) practice of having just about every other letter unkeyed. As is the case in this non-cryptic one.
Come to think of it, I've never seen a British crossword puzzle that wasn't cryptic!
What is the practice in other countries?
"Unkeyed" = not crossed by another word. With all letters "keyed" there is always another way to check that you have the right answer, as each letter is part of two words, one across and another down. A composer would have to work much harder to get words that are ambiguous in two ways simultaneously...
ah. that was my assumption, but thanks for the clarification.
I worked with a church organist for a while that used to write crosswords for the NYT... quiet little old lady she was, but.
I'm told that these days if you want to write a puzzle to submit to the Times (and get paid for it, of course) what they really want to know is the theme and the major words. Those being found worthy, you can go ahead and write the rest of the puzzle...
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What do you mean "in the form of a cryptic"? Cryptic and non-cryptic crosswords both use the same shape and grids here. Often the same grid will offer two sets of clues. Do your cryptic crosswords have a different shape?
By [arbitrary, I suppose] US convention there are no unkeyed letters in a "regular" crossword, while cryptics are modeled after the British(?) practice of having just about every other letter unkeyed. As is the case in this non-cryptic one.
Come to think of it, I've never seen a British crossword puzzle that wasn't cryptic!
What is the practice in other countries?
I've only ever seen the "no unkeyed letter" format in children's puzzles here in Zild. Both cryptic and non-cryptic crosswords routinely use the pattern shown in the example under discussion.
Dag-gone, y'all ran off and did all this on me while I was at choir practice!
Give a girl a chance next time, won'tcha? Logwood, this is all your fault!
wink
*practice for marriage* Yes dear.
Edit: *flees!!*
If you don't mind me spamming your boards with those, I wouldn't mind to make a habit out of it... seems much more fun racing for the answers in "help Logwood the crossword never-finisher" sessions... hehe
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I've only ever seen the "no unkeyed letter" format in children's puzzles here in Zild. Both cryptic and non-cryptic crosswords routinely use the pattern shown in the example under discussion.
Here in USnainia you're more likely to see children's puzzles as unkeyed.
It's certainly easier to compose an unkeyed puzzle than a keyed one but the ambiguity is in the clues. And example of one that is fairly common is:
Nice season
They will also play with words that could be either a verb or a noun. The New York Times puzzles have themes on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday*. Friday puzzles are just plain hard and Saturday puzzles tend to have longer words. Sunday puzzles are larger (23x23 as opposed to the daily 15x15) and also have themes. The Wednesday and Thursday puzzles will sometimes have a further trick, e.g., using an & for the character string 'and'. This can lead to the solvers muttering that they know the answer but it's two letters too long for the space given until the light comes on.
*Maybe on Monday, too, we wouldn't know. It's way too simple† to waste time on.
†OK, Tuesday's is way too simple, too, but sometimes we try to get just the theme words.
...one that is fairly common is: "Nice season"
That has three letters, oui??
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… three letters …
Yup.
And tea.
SOS (2!), another crossword goes incomplete on my nightly watch, help me finish it prithee!
http://img8.picsplace.to/img.php?file=img8/1/Crossword4.JPGI may have (naturally) made mistakes
I would suggest strata for 5 down, faculty for 1 down and telephoned for 13 down(which would fit with cliffhanger for 16 across), leaving -l-t for 12 across.
never mind...
tropic for 21 down
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*practice for marriage* Yes dear.
LOL! 
25 across - liquor
though the plural of the clue is odd...
UPDATE:
I'm only left with
Across:
9) Promise (4) a___
12) Restore ater deleting (4) _t_t
Down:
7) Be made up of (7) ___s_s_
the famous theatre must be the "opera house", meaning 7 down "include" is incorrect
"elegance" must be "neatness"
and could "promise" be "avow"? (rescanning in a jiffy)
(Woah, sorry for the spam) This is how it looks like right now:
http://img8.picsplace.to/img.php?file=img8/1/Crossword_5.JPG
12A is the printing trade term STET
Ah! good ones, mave. and thanks to sjmaxq and esp. etaoin. crossword completed. Once again I can sleep soundly. Thanks!
Edit: You know, I was thinking to construct my own crossword, using really outlandish and even archaic terms I know just to see if you guys could crack it up... *begins to scheme*
Rats. Go across town for dinner at grandma's and all the fun goes down without me. My word, that makes me cross.
What about me, when can I play?