Sup #2
◆ · By Supware · Published 18 days ago
Constructor's Note
2nd attempt at setting, please do let me know if I got something wrong! Aimed for a relatively easy puzzle with straightforward clues and striking surfaces
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- Chris Jones 🤓16:05 · 18 days agoVery nice - few that I was overthinking but the construction was cleaner (and simpler) than I first thought
- nate 🤓18:57 · 17 days agoReally enjoyed this one! Your surfaces are great, I especially like 8a, 18a, 2d, 5d and 14d. Also "As" as the def for 1a is super clever, had me totally fooled lol. I didn't notice anything outright wrong but there were a few nitpicks/best-practice things, if you're down for that kind of feedback. Definitely will look out for more from you!
- Supware constructor · 17 days agoThanks very much! Yes I'm absolutely down for any and all feedback, would love to get my puzzles as fair/standard/publishable as possible
- nate 🤓18:57 · 16 days agoThe things I noticed were: in 1a, I would expect “naked” to indicate deleting the outer letters of a single word, not a whole phrase; in 11a, “regularly” could technically indicate any regular interval, but if it’s not every second letter I would prefer a more explicit indication; in 8d, the non-contiguous deletion feels clunky—deletions tend to work better when the whole word being deleted (or a synonym of the word) appears together and in order in the fodder; in 10d, I might be misparsing this but if it is a homophone of “been” containing CO, that kind of partial or transformed homophone usually feels too many steps removed to me.Most of these could technically be justified so others may disagree, but it's more about solver expectations w.r.t. what feels fair. It's fun to be fooled or surprised by clever wordplay and get that "aha" moment, but when it feels like you've been had on a technicality it tends to feel unsatisfying.Sorry if that was a lot, hopefully it's helpful
— again, I loved the puzzle, can't wait to see more!- Supware constructor · 16 days agoAh, this is super useful for sure! I'll try my best to address these in the next attempt
Does your 1a gripe not also apply to the "outside" in 10d...? And speaking of 10d, yes, that's exactly what I was going for - perhaps there was some neater container indicator I could've used without breaking the surface (though there wasn't one readily apparent, as you may imagine).What would you have preferred as an alt to "regularly"? I thought that "regularly" would be, like, the most standard arbitrary nth-interval indicator.As for 8d, do you have an thoughts on how one might clue that kinda thing more cleanly? (I must admit I came up with that clue first, figured it was probably questionable, and still wrote the rest of the puzzle around it regardless cuz of the pretty surface)Again, thanks so much for your feedback- nate 🤓18:57 · 15 days agoYes, the "outside" gripe would also apply to 10d, and on second look that's probably the bigger issue with that clue. People usually take issue with partial homophones when they're not real words, but since BEAN is a legit homophone for BEEN it could be fair as long as the rest of the clue is solid (though I'm not sure if I've seen a homophone-container clue like this before so mileage may vary by publisher/editor).For my liking, "regularly" potentially referring to any regular interval offers too much ambiguity so something like "every fourth" is better, but this is just a preference. This about sums it up: Conventionally, this construction is used for either the odd or the even letters but there is no reason why “regular” could not mean every third letter. Some editors will not allow this form of construction though. The other thing about 11a is that it's a partial hidden—i.e. a hidden/acrostic/alternating combined with another form of wordplay—which are generally not used (at least in US cryptics).For 8d I would use something like "without ingredients of hint" that points to the individual letters of hint each being removed from the fodder (obviously that particular example doesn't make sense in the surface but you get the idea).btw the cryptic setting channel on the crosscord discord is a great place for these kind of questions, and if you search for keywords you'll find lots of great past discussions!
- metagloria 12:30 · 15 days agoSome really clever stuff here, but most of my comments - both positive and negative - would be echoing a lot of what nate said :D Really enjoyable. Keep at it, you've got good setting instincts!
- nate 🤓18:57 · 15 days ago"Setting instincts" is a great way to put it, totally agree!