Comments on: Saturday Prize Crossword – Independent 7333 by Anax

By: sidey

sidey — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 21:38:40 +0000

anax I wasn't referring to your comment above.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:32:45 +0000

To be honest, I’d be surprised if anyone could have thought of those numbers in the clue as being anything else than the relevant clue numbers.

I don’t think it made the puzzle much harder as there were normal clues for answers at all those numbers.

By: anax

anax — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 20:02:03 +0000

Sidey

With every respect to you, I think that’s a tad unfair. Criticism isn’t just something I welcome – it’s something I relish; it’s criticism that helps me to improve as a setter.

My comment above wasn’t about criticism. Before submitting the puzzle I contacted a good friend and highly experienced solver to ask him what he thought of the concept of using a clue consisting entirely of numerical references to grid answers, because I was very unsure about its fairness. He thought it possible there could be a 50/50 split between “love it” and “hate it”, which is pretty much what I relayed to Eimi upon submission.

There was a never a claim that the device was innovative; OK, I hadn’t seen it before, but that counts for little. The responses here suggest that many found it original and enjoyable, and my comment above merely reflects my relief that the idea appears not to have backfired.

By: sidey

sidey — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:25:47 +0000

I suspect the lack of comments is partly due to th puzzle being a week behind online.

I’m reluctant to comment on this puzzle as anax has made it clear that he doesn’t welcome criticism.

I’m not as sure that this puzzle is as innovative as some think though.

By: jmac

jmac — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:24:28 +0000

To my mind the Indie Saturday puzzles are the finest series of blocked-grid crosswords around. In a week when at least two puzzles elsewhere have been generally slated for being too easy, I wonder why more people don’t treat themselves to the Saturday Indie and perhaps save the crossword for one of those weekdays when they feel the need for more challenging fare (apologies to overseas solvers who might not have this option).

By: eimi

eimi — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:02:11 +0000

I was confident that most people, having recovered their lower jaw from the ground, would appreciate 5 Down in all its glory. Thanks, Anax. I’m always keen to include the innovative in the Indy puzzles.

By: IanN14

IanN14 — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 00:22:19 +0000

Just saw the comments on the RSS feed for this.
I agree with nms about why so few comments.
After a week, things get forgotten, but I’d like to say this was an excellent puzzle, very original, and I hope anax keeps it up.
He’s rapidly becoming one of my favourite setters.

By: nmsindy

nmsindy — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:40:37 +0000

I think the number of comments tend to be quite a bit higher on weekday puzzles. Not quite sure why, but my guess is that people have more time to work out the possibilities with a weekend puzzle with some days before entries are due so there is less uncertainty and more time to wait till the solution is given. My solving experience with this puzzle may have been slightly different to some others, in that, esp with the enumeration, I saw the LET THERE BE BE LIGHT possibility almost straightaway and pencilled it in, only understanding why quite a bit later.

By: anax

anax — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:58:16 +0000

Many thanks to all for your kind comments. Not many of them, admittedly, but for once I’m sort of grateful. Generally, the more contentious a puzzle the more comments are made about it, and I had some fears that the “build your own clue” idea might elicit some “how dare you?” responses.

By: Paul B

Paul B — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 17:06:47 +0000

Agree very strongly. Nice work from the hugely talented fellow.