User Submitted Post – Ambiguous Clues
Hi,
Do you have any examples of ambiguous clues other than the homophone and reversal ones? I think it’d be pretty cool to make an entire grid of them. Something like “Sticks containers outside back of house” (5), I think the answer was CANES, but I think TUBES also works.
Secondly, do you know of any crossword solving or making software? For solving, something that creates a grid given a photo of a crossword.
Thanks,
George
Hi George
It’s not too hard to produce ambiguous clues, but it is very much a matter of trial and error. Anagrams are a possibility, eg ‘Very bad live broadcast’ for EVIL/VILE. The removal of letters specified by position (rather than being explicitly identified) offers potential, eg ‘Wood wet, beginning to split’ for (w)ASH or (s)OAK. Broadening the definition as much as possible will help further, eg ‘Girl rejecting outsiders, one eating to excess’ for (g)ANNE(t) or (b)INGE(r).
The fact that clues which can lead to two entirely different answers very rarely occur by chance indicates how hard they are to produce ‘to order’. I have considered such clues in the past for inclusion in a puzzle, but I couldn’t see it being possible to write enough of them to make the thing worth while. I decided that a puzzle where some of the clues have one wordplay but two definitions, leading to two different answers, might work (eg ‘Study to reject special container’ for SCAN or SPURN), but I never came up with a suitable pay-off.
There are several free utilities for crossword creation, but the only one I have used is Qxw, and I could only recommend that for complex grid fills. Other readers may be able to suggest good options based on their own experience. As far as producing a grid from a photo, it isn’t something that I’ve ever needed to do; again, others may have some ideas.