Back in the days when the world was very young and I still had a few working brain cells, I used to enjoy putting crosswords together, which of course is what a cruciverbalist does. I still have an interest in them, but for the last few years I've just been trying to solve them.
With the recent hot spell, I've been too sticky to do any modelling so I spent a bit of time cleaning up my PC. On it I found a crossword that I spent a couple of months on maybe 12-14 years ago. I can't remember why I stopped working on it, but I thought I'd have a fresh look at it.
You wouldn't get your breath but I've actually managed to get it finished after just one week! I'm in the process of dotting i's and crossing t's before I submit it to The Times for possible publication.
Now maybe you folks are thinking "This guy is some sort of idiot! Fancy taking months to put a crossword together!" However, I'm only writing this to show I still have a few brain cells left - even if they are stumbling about with the help of the mental equivalent of Zimmer frames!
The crosswords I write are for The Listener Crossword which appears every Saturday in The Times newspaper. Unlike normal crosswords, those designed for The Listener all contain some sort of gimmick which makes them much more difficult than the puzzles you normally come across. As an example, here's the preamble (instructions) for the last crossword of mine that they published:
"Each across clue is paired with a down clue in no particular order. Every clue consists of two parts (in either order): the definition of its own answer and wordplay belonging to to the clue to which it is paired.
Before entry into the grid, the initial letter of one answer in each pair must be transferred to the beginning of the other. Half of both the across and down answers have a letter removed and half have a letter added. Every letter removed is different and the initial letters of the words that have a letter added are also all different. No letter is added to a word beginning with the same letter."
There are 26 across clues and 26 down clues so you can see that the whole alphabet is both removed from and added to answers. Which is why I called the puzzle 'Alphabet Soup'!
If anyone is interested, I can PM a copy of the grid and clues so you can have a go.
That's why it takes me so long to write the things. I find that dreaming up suitable gimmicks and translating them into a workable puzzle an enjoyable challenge - much the same as some of you guys with your old, poorly made kits. Just like modelling competitions though, everything has to be done according to the set rules and submitted puzzles must be vetted before publication. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as the paper pays for every published crosswords - I got £175 for that one back in 2003.
At the risk of boring you to death, you already know I taught maths until I retired. The Listener also accepts mathematical crosswords. Here's the preamble to the one I got published - called 'Polygons Galore':
"The sequence of triangular numbers starts 1; 3; 6; 10; 15; 21 ..... each is a number of balls that can form a triangle, as in snooker. Similarly the sequence of square numbers starts 1; 4; 9; 16 .... and the sequence of pentagonal numbers starts 1; 5; 1; 22; ...etc. The triangular numbers can be designated as polygonal numbers of "order 3" with the square numbers "order 4" and so on.
The Nth term in the sequence of polygonal numbers of "order X" is given by the formula: N(N(N-2)-(X-4))/2
In this puzzle, each row and column has answers derived from numbers in just one of these orders from 3 to 12 inclusive. Each different letter of the title consistently represents a different term (from the first - always 1- to the tenth) in a polygonal number sequence; the letter values therefore change depending on the order, although the terms they represent stay the same.The allocations of orders to rows and columns, and letters to the first ten terms must be determined by the solver."
Again; if anyone's interested, I can PM the grid and clues.
Simples!
Annoyingly, the rules set for mathematical crosswords state that setters should stick to simple 'O' level or GCSE maths concepts. Hah! I've not talked to anyone at any of the colleges - including staff - who has even tried to solve it! As for trying to teach this level of stuff to students who can't get the same answer twice when counting their fingers ......
Even more annoyingly, compilers are sent all the comments from the people who submit solutions to the paper. I got lots of folks saying the puzzle was too easy and didn't deserve to be published!!!
Ye Gods! Doesn't he ramble on!
That's it. I'm done.
With the recent hot spell, I've been too sticky to do any modelling so I spent a bit of time cleaning up my PC. On it I found a crossword that I spent a couple of months on maybe 12-14 years ago. I can't remember why I stopped working on it, but I thought I'd have a fresh look at it.
You wouldn't get your breath but I've actually managed to get it finished after just one week! I'm in the process of dotting i's and crossing t's before I submit it to The Times for possible publication.
Now maybe you folks are thinking "This guy is some sort of idiot! Fancy taking months to put a crossword together!" However, I'm only writing this to show I still have a few brain cells left - even if they are stumbling about with the help of the mental equivalent of Zimmer frames!
The crosswords I write are for The Listener Crossword which appears every Saturday in The Times newspaper. Unlike normal crosswords, those designed for The Listener all contain some sort of gimmick which makes them much more difficult than the puzzles you normally come across. As an example, here's the preamble (instructions) for the last crossword of mine that they published:
"Each across clue is paired with a down clue in no particular order. Every clue consists of two parts (in either order): the definition of its own answer and wordplay belonging to to the clue to which it is paired.
Before entry into the grid, the initial letter of one answer in each pair must be transferred to the beginning of the other. Half of both the across and down answers have a letter removed and half have a letter added. Every letter removed is different and the initial letters of the words that have a letter added are also all different. No letter is added to a word beginning with the same letter."
There are 26 across clues and 26 down clues so you can see that the whole alphabet is both removed from and added to answers. Which is why I called the puzzle 'Alphabet Soup'!
If anyone is interested, I can PM a copy of the grid and clues so you can have a go.
That's why it takes me so long to write the things. I find that dreaming up suitable gimmicks and translating them into a workable puzzle an enjoyable challenge - much the same as some of you guys with your old, poorly made kits. Just like modelling competitions though, everything has to be done according to the set rules and submitted puzzles must be vetted before publication. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as the paper pays for every published crosswords - I got £175 for that one back in 2003.
At the risk of boring you to death, you already know I taught maths until I retired. The Listener also accepts mathematical crosswords. Here's the preamble to the one I got published - called 'Polygons Galore':
"The sequence of triangular numbers starts 1; 3; 6; 10; 15; 21 ..... each is a number of balls that can form a triangle, as in snooker. Similarly the sequence of square numbers starts 1; 4; 9; 16 .... and the sequence of pentagonal numbers starts 1; 5; 1; 22; ...etc. The triangular numbers can be designated as polygonal numbers of "order 3" with the square numbers "order 4" and so on.
The Nth term in the sequence of polygonal numbers of "order X" is given by the formula: N(N(N-2)-(X-4))/2
In this puzzle, each row and column has answers derived from numbers in just one of these orders from 3 to 12 inclusive. Each different letter of the title consistently represents a different term (from the first - always 1- to the tenth) in a polygonal number sequence; the letter values therefore change depending on the order, although the terms they represent stay the same.The allocations of orders to rows and columns, and letters to the first ten terms must be determined by the solver."
Again; if anyone's interested, I can PM the grid and clues.
Simples!
Annoyingly, the rules set for mathematical crosswords state that setters should stick to simple 'O' level or GCSE maths concepts. Hah! I've not talked to anyone at any of the colleges - including staff - who has even tried to solve it! As for trying to teach this level of stuff to students who can't get the same answer twice when counting their fingers ......
Even more annoyingly, compilers are sent all the comments from the people who submit solutions to the paper. I got lots of folks saying the puzzle was too easy and didn't deserve to be published!!!
Ye Gods! Doesn't he ramble on!
That's it. I'm done.
.
. PaulE
