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Cryptic Crossnumber Midi 1

· By dilly · Published 2024-07-09T14:40:18.026Z

Constructor's Note
Another one of these, I guess. Like a normal cryptic, but with letters & numbers. In my mind there are four types of entries that we can have here: (1) regular letters-only entries (like “dog”), (2) numbers only entries (like “101”), (3) expressions with numbers and letters (e.g. “WD40”), and (4) expressions with number homophone wordplay (e.g. “sk8er” for “skater”). Other types of wordplay (like SOF2OD for “softwood”) is not allowed, though maybe it has a place? There is nothing like that in this puzzle at any rate. For clues where the use of a number vs. word is debatable, I assumed the spelling in the grid when putting the word lengths, so TOP 5 is (3, 1) not (3, 4), etc.
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  • dilly constructor · 2024-07-09T14:40:18.026Z
    1A: means to hold music; [ca]MP 3 S[ummers]
    4A: disregards; 8 (“oxygen”) in VIOLS (“string instruments”)
    5A: Nintendo console; pikmiN + 64 (“2 goes to the sixth”)
    7A: the ancient world had these; 76ERS (“athletes from Philadelphia”) with 1D (“a boy band”) replacing 6 (“back side,” i.e. in military slang)
    8A: wig; 2 + PEE (“number one”)
    1D: a video channel; “even” (letters from) eMpTy + V2 (“rocket”)
    2D: outside of the circle over the middle line, roughly; 14 (“won for” homophone) after (“leading off with”) 3POINT (“a high-scoring shot”)
    3D: does not attempt to do it alone; WHELP (“insolent child”) holds 8S (“two cubes”) and 4 (“a number of Tetris blocks,” i.e. number of blocks in a Tetris piece - this may be a bit stretchy I admit)
    6D: baby clothing; 1S (“the rightmost column” i.e. “the 1s column” vs. “the 10s column”, “the 100s column”, etc.) + [l]IE[s] (“sleeveless”)
    • The Noah 🤓16:39 · 2024-07-09T16:44:52.104Z
      All very fair! I had a tough time but really enjoyed several of the clues. Especially 3POINT14. Great puzzle!
      • dilly constructor · 2024-07-11T00:12:39.548Z
        Thanks for solving, these cryptic crossnumbers are weird, finding a good fill is almost as hard as the actual cluing! Glad you enjoyed :)
        • The Noah 🤓16:39 · 2024-07-11T01:16:40.305Z
          Filling with numbers is very hard. Considered making a program to find all words with syllables matching 1,2,4,8 and 10. I’d be impressed if you could find words containing any other letters as syllables.
      • SamuRai 5:16 · 2024-07-10T19:13:45.364Z
        Absolute disaster on the solve but all the clues are fair. I almost wet myself laughing once I got 8Across! You cryptic folks are a wacky bunch; I love it. And maybe just maybe in the next decade I’ll get decent at solving them.
        • dilly constructor · 2024-07-11T00:18:08.326Z
          Haha “absolute disaster” huh? I will say there are probably better cryptic crosswords to start with if you’re trying to learn, would be nice if there was a beginner-cryptic tag or something, like @theNoah was doing with his cryptic tutorial. Anyways thanks for attempting! Eagerly awaiting whatever you make next :)
          • The Noah 🤓16:39 · 2024-07-11T01:15:12.374Z
            You’re a very skilled cryptic clue writer. I’d love to see your take on an easier or beginner friendly cryptic crossword
            • The Noah 🤓16:39 · 2024-07-11T01:14:25.401Z
              Would love to see beginner cryptics. There’s a big difficulty gap for me.
              • SamuRai 5:16 · 2024-07-11T02:25:55.663Z
                I always enjoy yours because in retrospect I can usually unravel the clues on my own but when I can’t you include a key. For the newbie cryptic tag, I nominate de-cryptic. I’ll get there eventually. It took most of my 30s to overcome my poor spelling to do regular crosswords well. I’ll get cryptics by the time I’m 60! I’ve appreciated all the advice from you and @theNoah and am fascinated by how the crossnumber cryptics are developing.
            1A
            Means to hold music camp 3 summers in the Interior (4)
            1
            2
            3
            4
            5
            6
            7
            8
            Across
            1. 1A
              Means to hold music camp 3 summers in the Interior (4)
            2. 4A
              Disregards oxygen in string instruments (8)
            3. 5A
              Finally, Pikmin 2 goes to the sixth Nintendo console (3)
            4. 7A
              The ancient world had these athletes from Philadelphia, but a boy band took out the back side (1, 7)
            5. 8A
              Wig number two first, and then number one (6)
            Down
            1. 1D
              Even empty rocket has a video channel (4)
            2. 2D
              Reportedly won for leading off with a high-scoring shot from outside of the circle over the middle line, roughly (1, 5, 1, 1)
            3. 3D
              Insolent child holds two cubes and a number of Tetris blocks, does not attempt to do it alone (5, 3, 4)
            4. 6D
              Behind the rightmost column lies sleeveless baby clothing (6)
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