Trick and Treat?
◆ · By Aaron Riccio · Published over 1 year ago
I didn't want my home to get TP'd by a bunch of out-of-control solvers, so I made them this puzzle! Thanks to PA, Brad, and Tui for testing, and Happy Halloween to you all; perhaps I'll see some of you on my Tuesday night cryptic-solving stream at twitch.tv/thatcrypticguy.
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- rickybillingsgate 🤓5:01 · over 1 year ago
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoSHOCKTOBER - what kind of word is that; another American young-culture word, I suppose. Sorry, I abhorred this cryptic - it wasn't my style.
- Aaron Riccio constructor · over 1 year agoI'm not sure why you're complaining about a word that (1) exists and (2) is 100% checked, but to each their own. I get the feeling you won't particularly like the puzzles I stream, either, but you're always welcome to drop by live or with VOD to get a better sense of where my cryptic sensibilities are coming from.
- lila 2s · over 1 year agohey man, it’s free to not post a comment! if you don’t like a puzzle, you can just stop solving it, and you definitely don’t need to say how much you didn’t like it. very rude :/
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoThank you for your reply; you have a very odd understanding of "rude".
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoSorry, missed out a ? HIC and OHO - horrid, horrid, horrid.
- Megatart 🤓13:02 · over 1 year agoYou know, there can be a fine line between offering constructive criticism and being genuinely mean. A lot of your comments that I've seen have been on the wrong side of that line.
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoThank you for your reply; in this case I believe that the words HIC and OHO were unfair. I think that they are provided by the Crosshare suggestions; I would not use them when compiling.
- Megatart 🤓13:02 · over 1 year agoYes, we gathered that.
- frostyjhammer 5:38 · over 1 year agousername checks out https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/pedagogue
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoExactly why serious solvers use Chambers, rather than inferior dictionaries! Chambers definition is: pedagogue /ped'ə-gog/ noun A teacher
- Aaron Riccio constructor · over 1 year agoUm . . . the Chambers definition is "old derog use: a teacher, especially a strict or pedantic one."https://chambers.co.uk/search/?query=pedagogue&title=21st
- Pedagogue 13:17 · over 1 year agoThank you for your reply. I was using Chambers Dictionary (12th Edition), not the shorter 21st Century Dictionary. However, as I seem to have become Public Enemy No. 1 I think I'll "bounce".
- merlinnimue 🤓5:02 · over 1 year agoLoved 1a and 4d, was unfamiliar with hock for prison, and 1d was tough without knowing what's in its heartAnyway, thanks for the treat, now for the trick its time for me to turn back into a pumpkin... lord knows I have the body shape for it
- Aaron Riccio constructor · over 1 year agoThanks as always for the solve, Merlin. The original clue had "change of heart" between the two definitions; was hoping moving it to the end would help resolve the ambiguity. Oh well! Will have to do better with my next one :)
- lila 2s · over 1 year agosolved on paper (á la you, i suppose)! had a great time. lovely puzzle, great long entries (even if spent a LONG time trying to fit CHOCOTOBER in haha)
- Aaron Riccio constructor · over 1 year agoI love that solving on paper is my thing now, but I love even more that you had fun with this one. CHOCOTOBER sounds delicious, and I'd definitely add that to the wordbank (if I knew how to do that here). Discovering fun new words or turns of phrases is really such a delight.
- brknfixie 🤓10:36 · over 1 year agonice!
- ssta 🤓1:04 · over 1 year agoNice puzzle. SHOCKTOBER is fine (although hock=prison was new to me, had to look it up...nice). Not fond of the use of White for "EB" in 4d; US crosswords have different guidelines than UK about such things though, so it's fine. Good puzzle! A nice "waiting for compile to finish" size :)
- Aaron Riccio constructor · over 1 year agoI don't know if the UK has different labels for them, but in the US we'd call a candy bar of a puzzle like this "fun-sized." I'm glad you enjoyed it, despite the proper name charade. It's definitely a balancing act to try and write clues that will satisfy both sides of the pond!