![]() Macnutt (1966, 32ff) provides detailed advice on the construction of the grid and discusses different arrangements. Crossword GridsĤOrdinary daily newspaper crosswords (as opposed to themed special crosswords, which appear on holidays or special occasions) have symmetrical grids consisting of 15 x 15 squares, and ideally at least half of the “lights” (white squares) are “checked” (meaning that they form part of two separate answers). An excellent example from the master setter Araucaria (John Graham) is this: This type is not covered by Macnutt’s taxonomy, presumably, it would fall into his miscellaneous “various” category, and might be characterized as an “embodiment” clue. At least one species of clue, in which the answer comes from describing the clue itself, seems to be more common recently. Some clue types, such as those based on literary quotation, appear to be less common in recent years, while some new conventions and clue types have developed. Although some have been more rigorously “Ximenean” than others, it is fair to say that the tradition of “cluesmanship” (Macnutt 1966, 42) has been remarkably consistent a crossword solver doing a regular puzzle in a daily newspaper over the last 50 years would not have experienced much change in the form and style of clues. In the decades since, crossword setters have largely conformed to these core principles. In his seminal work Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword (1966), Ximenes presents a taxonomy of clue types and principles for setters to adhere to in the interests of fairness. The wholly cryptic crossword evolved by the early 1940s, since which time cryptic crosswords have appeared daily in all major British newspapers.ģSeveral different types of cryptic clue emerged in the first forty years of the tradition, and the “rules” for setting clues were codified by the influential early setters Afrit (Alistair Ferguson Ritchie) and Ximenes (Derrick Somerset Macnutt). However, the first modern crossword did not appear until 1913, when Arthur Wynne authored a word-square puzzle which was published in the New York World (figure 3).Ĭrosswords featured in British newspapers from 1923, and, within a few years, some began to include clues which were more than “plain definitions,” such as “elusive definitions,” anagrams, and “hints” (Macnutt 1966, 19). A Brief History of the Cryptic Crossword in BritainĢWord-square puzzles such as the Sator Square (figure 1) have existed since ancient time (Austin 1939), and riddles such as those found in the Exeter Book (figure 2) are among the earliest English-language documents we have. Other types of cryptic clues exist, but this type (definition with instructions for construction) is the most common in modern cryptic crosswords and will be the focus of this article. The “constructor” can be explained thus: put a word for “dog” (CUR) inside a word for “insight” (SEE) to create SECURE, which can be glossed as “guard.” The coherence of the familiar phrase “guard dog” confounds the solver’s attempt to separate the constructor from the definition, as does the fact that the word “sight” is a noun in the context of the whole clue, but a verb when used as part of the constructor. ![]() The definition here is the first word alone. The words comprising the “constructor” (my term for instructions for constructing the answer) are purposely obscured by their distribution across a phrasal boundary. The answer is PUDDING BASIN, an anagram of “pub sign add in,” defined by “Cook’s vessel.” The instruction to decode an anagram is provided by the word “amending.” The complete clue suggests perhaps the addition of HMS Endeavour to a pub signboard. 2 “Cruciverbalists” (crossword compilers) are customarily known by pseudonyms, a tradition which goes (.)Īmending pub sign, add in Cook’s vessel (7,5).Finally, I present a TEI schema and an approach to encoding the components of cryptic crossword clues in a way that enables algorithmic analysis of trends, features, and clue types, with a view to creating a historical corpus of encoded clues which will illuminate the evolution of the tradition. Many cryptic clues depend for their effect on confusing the solver through the use of overlapping syntactic and semantic hierarchies, so they serve as evidence that overlapping hierarchies are not merely an unfortunate limitation afflicting XML languages but are psychologically and linguistically real. I argue that cryptic crossword clues have a great deal in common with poetry, and that we have much to learn from their structure. This article outlines a short history of the cryptic crossword and explains how cryptic clues work. The cryptic crossword is a highly sophisticated and challenging type of intellectual puzzle that has been a daily feature of British newspapers 1 for nearly a century, and yet the culture and traditions surrounding it have received little scholarly attention.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |