How to Do a Real Crossword Puzzle Or What’s a Four-letter ...
How to Do a Real Crossword Puzzle
Or What¡¯s a Four-letter Word for
¡°East Indian Betel Nut¡± and Who Cares?
By Stephen Sondheim
There are crossword puzzles and crossword puzzles. The kind familiar to most
New Yorkers is a mechanical test of tirelessly esoteric knowledge: ¡°Brazilian potter¡¯s wheel,¡± ¡°East Indian betel nut¡± and
the like are typical definitions, sending
you either to Webster¡¯s New International
or to sleep. The other kind, prevalent in
Great Britain but inexplicably nonexistent
in the United States apart from The Nation and an occasional Sunday edition of
The New York Times, is a test of wits.
This kind of puzzle offers cryptic clues
instead of bald definitions, and the pleasures involved in solving it are the deeply
satisfactory ones of following and matching a devious mind (that of the puzzle¡¯s
author) rather than the transitory ones of
an encyclopedic memory.
To call the composer of a crossword an
author may seem to be dignifying a gnat,
but clues in a ¡°British¡± crossword have
many characteristics of a literary manner: cleverness, humor, even a pseudoaphoristic grace. In the best puzzles, styles
of clue-writing are distinctive, revealing
special pockets of interest and small mannerisms, as in any prose style. The clues
of the author who calls himself ¡°Ximenes¡±
in the London Sunday Observer are, to
the eye of a puzzle fan, as different from
those in, say, The Manchester Guardian as
Wilde is from Maugham. But a ¡°Bantu
hartebeest¡± remains a ¡°Bantu hartebeest¡±
whether it¡¯s in The New York Times or
The Daily News.
Railway coaches, undergrounds, lunch
counters and offices in England hum with
the self-satisfied chuckles of solvers who
suddenly get the point of a clue after
having stared at it for several baffled
minutes. Bafflement, not information, is
the keystone of a British puzzle. A good
clue can give you all the pleasures of
being duped that a mystery story can. It
has surface innocence, surprise, the revelation of a concealed meaning, and the
catharsis of solution. Solving a British
puzzle is far more rewarding than dredging up arcane trivia and is not annoyingly
difficult once you¡¯ve been initiated into
the methods of solution. It¡¯s a matter of
mental exercise, not academic clerk-work,
and all it takes is inexhaustible patience,
limitless time and a warped mind.
On the following pages are two puzzles
of this sort. One is a reprint from the
London Times and one is an American
adaptation of a puzzle from The Listener,
a weekly publication of the BBC. For
crossword fans who, out of fright, have
never attempted solving cryptic clues and
for those who have, but with limited success, this article will serve as an initiation
ceremony, with some ground rules.
In a British puzzle, definitions are called
¡°clues.¡± This is not a pedantic distinction.
Each clue, in actuality, is in two parts¡ªa
definition (i.e., a synonym) and an elliptical indication of the answer. In a scrupulously written clue these two parts are
separate and distinct but blended in such
a way as to cause maximum confusion.
(The clues in the London Times, incidentally, are not always scrupulous.) Theoretically, therefore, this kind of clue is
easier than the usual straightforward definition because you get two indications of
the answer for the price of one. But a
good clue is a deceptive clue and may
fool you.
The problem for the solver is that the
words in a clue may, if taken literally,
mean something quite different from their
apparent meaning. Here¡¯s a clue, for example: ¡°Stares at torn pages (5).¡± (Numbers in parentheses following a clue are a
conventional notation in British puzzles
and indicate the number of letters in the
answer, saving you the bother of counting
squares in the diagram.) ¡°Stares at torn
pages¡± may suggest at first glance some
obscure term in bibliophilia, but what
the phrase really means is ¡°A word meaning ¡®stares at¡¯ whose letters are those of
¡®pages¡¯ out of their normal order.¡± In
however veiled a way, that is literally what
it says. ¡°Stares at¡± is a synonym for
GAPES; ¡°torn,¡± in this context, means
¡°separated with violence so that the parts
are out of their normal order.¡± So there
are two separate and distinct references
to GAPES, one a definition and one an
elliptical description of the way the word
is formed. Your problem is merely to
punctuate the clue in an odd way: ¡°Stares
at torn ¡®pages¡¯.¡±
Mental repunctuation is the essence of
solving cryptic clues. Punctuation in ordinary writing is a guide telling the reader
where and how long to pause. But the
clue-writer, instead of trying to make the
true meaning clear, is trying to hide it.
There are seven basic kinds of clues,
Originally printed in New York Magazine, April 8, 1968
according to Ximenes, the current Dean
of British puzzles:
1. Anagrams. These are indicated by
some word or phrase such as ¡°bad,¡± ¡°torn,¡±
¡°confused,¡± ¡°erratically,¡± ¡°naughty,¡±
etc., words which imply that a mixture of
letters is to take place. The anagram is of
the word or words actually printed, not
of synonyms. E.g., in ¡°Wed a silly admirer (7),¡± ¡°silly¡± is the operative word.
A ¡°silly¡± treatment of the letters in ¡°admirer¡± would lead to MARRIED, which
is defined by ¡°wed.¡± Simple? Yes. Tricky?
Yes. Fair? Yes. Try this one: ¡°American
confused by wide-screen movie (8).¡± (Solutions to these examples are at the end
of the article). And don¡¯t forget, an anagram can be of more than one word. Like
¡°A snit is the most foolish basis for disagreement (10).¡±
2. Multiple meanings. This form of clue
combines two or more definitions (and not
always the primary or most obvious definitions) of the answer in a misleading
way. E.g., ¡°Fight enclosure in the theater
(3)¡± may look baffling but is simply two
meanings of a single word strung together
to make a peculiar set of associations. The
answer, as you¡¯ve guessed, is BOX. In this
type of clue, watch out for words that
look like one part of speech but turn out
to be another. ¡°Deliver from bar (4)¡±
leads to SAVE in two senses: ¡°deliver
from¡± and ¡°bar¡± (as a preposition meaning ¡°except¡±).
3. Reversals. These clues lead to words
which, when read backwards, form other
words. Indications like ¡°reflex,¡± ¡°looking
back,¡± ¡°from East to West¡± (in the case
of Across words), and ¡°upwards,¡± ¡°doing
a headstand,¡± ¡°rising¡± (in the case of
Down words), are what you should be on
the alert for. E.g., ¡°Emphasized trifles¡ª in
a roundabout way (8).¡± Here there is
a small extra deception in that ¡°trifles¡±
doesn¡¯t refer to trivia but to desserts,
which, when looked at ¡°in a roundabout
way¡± are STRESSED, which means ¡°emphasized.¡± Two or more words may be
reversed, too, of course. As in ¡°Push
through the District Attorney¡ª otherwise
he lies back (8).¡± Get it? Well, first try to
decide which is the definition part of the
clue. Still don¡¯t get it? Look at the answer
at the end of the column.
4. Charades. These lead to words which
fall into convenient complete parts.
1
Here¡¯s an example from Ximenes: ¡°Remains precisely how he is (5).¡± You probably wouldn¡¯t think of ¡°remains¡± as a noun
in this context, but that¡¯s the definition.
And the answer is ASHES. ¡°How he is¡±
becomes ¡°As he¡¯s¡±¡ª the whole word is a
phrase in itself. Here¡¯s another: ¡°One in
flames made a landing (4).¡± ¡°One¡± = a, ¡°in
flames¡± = lit, ¡°made a landing¡±= ALIT.
Here¡¯s one: ¡°Sinister purpose of an auction? (10).¡± (Question marks and exclamation points at the ends of clues usually
indicate some form of pun or outrageous
misuse of meaning).
5. Container and contents. This type of
clue resembles the Charades type in having wholes and parts, but the parts are
outside and inside instead of side by side.
Words in the clue like ¡°in,¡± ¡°around,¡±
¡°holding,¡± and ¡°embraces¡± are signs of
Containers. E.g., ¡°Crooner takes clarinet
inside¡ª good manners (8).¡± What crooner?
Bing, of course. A clarinet is a what? A
reed. Let BING take a REED ¡°inside¡±
and you get BREEDING. Good manners.
Both Containers and their Contents
often employ symbols and abbreviations,
as in fact do all sorts of clues. But only
well-known symbols and abbreviations
are used and, in the Americanized puzzles
on these pages, only those known to the
American reader. There are dozens which
pop up continually. When you see North,
East, West or South or ¡°point¡± (meaning
compass-point) in a clue, think of N, E,
W, or S. For ¡°nothing¡± or ¡°no¡± or ¡°love¡±
(as in a tennis score), think of O. For
¡°about,¡± keep in mind ¡°re¡± (meaning
¡°concerning¡±) or ¡°c¡± (abbreviation for
¡°circa¡±). ¡°Note¡± often refers to notes of
the scale¡ª ¡°do,¡± ¡°re,¡± ¡°mi,¡± etc. ¡°One¡±
may mean ¡°a,¡± ¡°an,¡± or ¡°I.¡± Other Roman numerals, too: V, X, L, C, D and M
might be indicated by their arabic equivalents. ¡°Steamship¡± for SS, ¡°saint¡± or
¡°street¡± for ST, ¡°glamor¡± for IT or SA
(abbreviation of Sex Appeal), ¡°acceptable¡± or ¡°high-class¡± for U (as opposed
to non-U), ¡°first-rate¡± for AI (A1), ¡°soft¡±
or ¡°loud¡± for P or F (musical dynamics)¡ª
these are a few of the devices to watch for.
Unusual abbreviations will always be
hinted at by ¡°briefly¡± or ¡°in short.¡±
¡°General, in short¡± could indicate GEN
as part of a word.
Here are some Container clues that use
these devices: ¡°When Peg holds a note,
it comes out clear (5).¡± Look for a word
meaning ¡°peg¡± that holds a word meaning
¡°note¡± that will make a word meaning
¡°clear.¡± How about ¡°High priest seen in
the morning in Los Angeles (4)¡±?
6. Puns. Some clues deal with homonyms¡ª words of different meaning which
have the same sound. Indications of them
usually consist of phrases like ¡°we hear¡±
and ¡°sounds like,¡± as in ¡°We hear the
new musical is German (4).¡± The new
musical is ¡°Hair¡± and we hear it as HERR
(German as a noun). Two-word puns are
even lower and more frequent, as in
2
¡°Ethyl alcohol is one way to kill a fish if
you listen closely (6).¡± Ethyl alcohol is
SPIRIT (yes, ¡°spirits¡± can be singular)¡ª
listen to it closely.
7. Hidden. These clues are both the
easiest to solve and the most deceptive.
They involve burying the answer in the
letters of the clue¡ª either within a word
or as a bridge between words. In point
of fact the answer stares you so innocently
in the face that you often don¡¯t see it.
Watch out for indications like ¡°seen
in,¡± ¡°within,¡± ¡°containing,¡± ¡°found in,¡±
¡°some of.¡± E.g., ¡°This girl appears in
black at every party (4).¡± Can you see
KATE there staring out of ¡°black at
every¡±? Or ¡°Beg for a piece of an apple
a day (5).¡± Which piece? The core ¡ª that
is, the core of ¡°apple a day,¡± which is
PLEAD.
Those are the basic types of cryptic
clues in their simplest forms, but you will
encounter many which are combinations
of two or more types: clues, for example,
which contain anagrams and reversals
within the container, like ¡°Return to look
around the dilapidated tavern for tires
(9).¡± This is a characteristically complex
clue. In attacking it, you should first off
suspect the word ¡°return¡± and connect it
with ¡°to look.¡± ¡°To look¡± is to see, so
¡°return¡± it: EES. ¡°Around¡± suggests that
EES is ¡°around¡± another word: E . . . . . .
ES. What word? A ¡°dilapidated tavern,¡±
of course ¡ª and your now-warped mind
should tell you that ¡°dilapidated¡± indicates an anagram. There are six letters
missing still in the answer and ¡°tavern¡±
has six letters, so your hunch is confirmed.
EntreavES? Check the dictionary to see
if it¡¯s an obscure word for rubber wheels
(¡°tires¡±). No¡ª I told you there would be
very few obscure words. Ah¡ª EnervatES!
¡°Tires¡± as a verb, meaning ¡°weakens.¡±
One more complex example should suffice before you plunge in or throw your
pencil down in disgust. ¡°The Last of the
Mohicans is my composition paper (6).¡±
Looks like a needless piece of information instead of a clue, but take it apart.
Literally. Suppose that the answer, the
word itself, is speaking. Then you could
repunctuate the sentence something like
this: ¡°The, last of the Mohicans, is¡ª my
composition; paper.¡± The first part is
what composes ¡°me¡±: i.e., THE, S (last
of the Mohicans in the sense of the last
letter of ¡°the Mohicans¡±), IS. THESIS.
And what does it mean? Paper (in the
sense of a doctorate or term paper). Note
two further devices used in this clue: first,
that ¡°I¡± or some other form of the first
person may refer to the word itself. ¡°I
run,¡± for example, might be the definition
part of a clue to MILER or RIVER or
even POLITICIAN. Second, part-words
are often trickily spliced into a clue. Just
as ¡°The Last of the Mohicans¡± indicated
S, so a ¡°tailless bird¡± might be BIR, ¡°half
a sixpence¡± might be ENCE or SIXP, and
a ¡°beheaded King¡± might be ING. Al-
ways look for the possible literal meaning
of a clue.
Well, if you¡¯ve slogged through the undergrowth of all this logodaedaly (a word
worth going to the dictionary for) and are
still unruffled, it should give you a start
(pun meaning both ¡°beginning¡± and ¡°unpleasant surprise¡±). In the Listener-type
puzzles which will appear on these pages,
the solving of clues is only part of the
task. Each of the puzzles has a gimmick
of some sort which is fully explained in
the Instructions accompanying the diagram. Be prepared for odd shapes, sizes
and problems. Sometimes, for example,
the words you enter into the diagram (or
¡°lights,¡± as the British call them) are not
the same as the answers to the clues. The
light may be a word associated with the
answer (e.g., the answer may be ABERCROMBIE but the light may be FITCH)
or it may be the answer in code or the
answer with all vowels omitted or whatever the composer of the puzzle has in
mind to torture you with. Most often,
however, the light and the answer are one
and the same, and always there are Instructions if some device is involved, so
don¡¯t worry. Not this week, anyway.
The puzzles will employ as few East
Indian betel nuts as possible and they will
hopefully be more challenging and rewarding than those which do. The rewards, by the way, will be material as
well as intellectual: each week copies of
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary (published by Hawthorn Books, Inc. and
available at bookstores at $5.50) will be
awarded to the senders of the first three
correct solutions opened (we will open
submissions not in order of receipt but all
at once on the day of deadline¡ª some
contestants would otherwise suffer from
living in outlying postal districts, such as
The Bronx). If no solutions are received,
the prizes will be held over, accumulating
as in a sanitation strike, and the offices of
New York will eventually open a gift shop.
Send completed diagram with name
and address to Puzzle Editor, New York
Magazine, 207 East 32nd Street, New
York, New York 10016. Entries must be
received by Wednesday, April l4, at
which time they will be opened.
If you haven¡¯t ripped these pages up by
now, clip them out and keep them as a
guide for future weeks. And as for ¡°Bantu
hartebeest,¡± I say it¡¯s ¡°lebbek¡±¡ª and I
say the hell with it.
Answers to clues unsolved in the text
above:
1. Anagrams: CINERAMA
(American)
ANTITHESIS
(A snit is the . . .)
3. Reversals: RAILROAD
(D.A. / or / liar)
4. Charades: FORBIDDING
5. Containers: PLAIN (p-la-in)
LAMA (L.-A.M.-A.)
Originally printed in New York Magazine, April 8, 1968
New York Magazine Puzzle
By Stephen Sondheim
Clues
ACROSS
1 T h e m e - w o rd A
(8). Variations: 13
(4) and 36 (4)
11 E n t e r t a i n a n d
wind again? (6)
14 ¡°Foremen
Do¡±
¡ªpoem in Old
English (7)
18 Is it unnecessary
to want fewer
things? (8)
19 The straight prefix bit¡ªha! (5)
21 What¡¯s gone by
sounds like it
went by (4)
22 ¡°Tramp, tramp,
tramp¡±¡ªa catchphrase (6)
24 T h e m e - w o rd B
(6). Variations:
28 (5) and 8 Ac. (4)
1
2
3
26 Heavy wig they
messed up (7)
27 Uproot the house
plant at the station? (5)
29 This Unit is still
part of the Resistance (3)
31 T h e m e - w o rd C
(9). Variations:
31 Dn. (5) and
17 (4)
34 State
housing
South American
Men¡¯s Club (3)
37 Hydrogen weapon can cause injury . . . (4)
39 . . . or about the
opposite (5)
41 Take back the
bet¡ªI may explode (4)
4
5
11
6
15
DOWN
1 T h e m e - w o rd E
(5). Variations:
7
8
9
16
21
6
7
8
10
10
17
22
24
25
27
28
31
23
26
29
32
38
33
39
40
42
47
4
19
20
45
3
30 (5) and 12
Ac. (3)
Concerning the
district income
(7)
Oh, gosh, the
moulding¡¯s like
an S (4)
Water propeller
sounds like the
alternative (3)
Drinks all around
might cause song
(4)
Negative printed
in brown-orange
(3)
One with a lot of
gossip (3)
Is unable to talk
hypocritically (4)
Carol is to sing
just as Morris is
13
18
37
2
9
12
14
30
42 All ten ruined
with anger (6)
43 To carve with
hesitation is
more dainty (5)
45 Purge from the
East¡ªso be it,
from the East (5)
46 T h e m e - w o rd D
(8). Variations:
16 (5) and 5 (3)
47 What goes from
the center to the
edge in the Strad
I use (6)
48 Considers an affront almost all
the gifts (7)
34
35
36
to dance (7)
12 The last letter is
in French relish
(4)
15 Lean out of a
gas-lantern (5)
19 Members of the
ruling class use
rash logic, being
spoiled (9)
20 Left the role in
the middle of the
Act (8)
21 L a b o r e r w i t h
nothing in prison
(4)
22 This is a prison
term. This is another. (8)
23 Write for someone else with
spirit (5)
25 Ice gliders from
26
32
33
35
38
40
44
Sark, set in motion (7)
Half this is an
idiot¡ªall this is
quite the reverse
(3)
Dance from ¡°The
Spanish Hour¡±
(4)
Hesitation in
French-born musician¡¯s note (5)
Concerning part
of a permanent
wave (5)
Does she stick on
one note in ¡°La
Boheme¡±? (4)
Successor to
¡°The Sound of
Music¡± (4)
Heavy
French
fashion (3)
Instructions. The heavy bars in the diagram indicate
the beginnings and ends of words, just as black
squares do in the usual crossword puzzle. The numbers in parentheses at the end of each clue denote the
number of letters in the ¡°light¡± (the answer to be
filled in).
In this puzzle, fifteen of the lights have no written
clues: there are five Theme-words, ?, ?, ?, ?, and
?, which form a familiar group with something in
common. Each Theme-word has its own pair of
¡°variations¡± with a certain relationship to it. The relationship is somewhat different in each case.
E.g., if Theme-word ? were ???? , its variations
might be ?????? and ???; and if Theme-word ?
were ?????? , its variations might, be ??? and
??????? (pep = vim, per = through).
Ignore punctuation, which is designed to confuse.
41
43
44
46
48
Originally printed in New York Magazine, April 8, 1968
3
B
R
O
N
X
Q
D
C
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E
E
R
4
R
E
V
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N
A
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G
E
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D
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A
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D
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A
R
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P
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N
M
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M
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L
S
L
A
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H
O
R
A
U
L
E
E
E
S
S
K
A
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E
R
S
Y
Z
E
S
T
W
I
T
H
E
I
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N
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E
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T
E
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C
E
N
O
R
O
L
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A
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C
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A
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A
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A
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A
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Y
N
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M
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A
R
D
S
Solution to April 8 Puzzle
Theme-words: Five boroughs of New York
Variations: Brooklyn Navy Yard; Queens, kings, aces; Manhattan, manna, that (anagrams);
Richmond, Lee, Grant (Civil War); Bronx, cheer, zoo (associated phrases)
Across:
11. re-gale
14. O.(verse)E.
18. need less
19. ort-ho
21. passed
22. slog-an
26. wig they (anag.)
27. de-pot (pun)
34. S.A.-Y(MCA)
37. H.-arm
39. o(the)r
41. ante (rev.)
42. ten(anag.)-ire
43. cut-er
45. E.-amen (rev.)
47. hidden
48. (p)resents
Down:
2. re-venue
3. O,gee
4. or
6. song (anag.)
7. hidden
8. an-a
9. pun
12. Z-est
15. hidden
19. rash logic (anag.)
20. de(part)ed
21. pe(O)n
23. 2 meanings
25. Sark set (anag.)
32. pun
33. ne(um)e
35. hidden
38. mi,mi
40. air
44. 2 meanings
Originally printed in New York Magazine, April 8, 1968
................
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