Having got all the Apex puzzles up on to the site, I think it’s time to declare things are go. Please let me know of any dud links. Thank you.
phionline.net.nz
By Phixwd 4 Comments
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Paul,
Good to see a site from you. On the solving tips page, you say that after finding a likely def, “the solver looks at the rest of the clue and tries to determine the wordplay”.
Here’s an alternative view: “the solver guesses some answers to fit the likely definition, answer length and any checking letters; then tries to determine whether the wordplay can be interpreted in a way that supports one of them.
If not, he guesses some more answers for this def or tries another possible def, until he thinks he’s more likely to get a quick answer by trying the next clue.”
Another alternative, going back further in the process, is “the solver notices whether the clue includes words or phrasing that are often associated with a particular form of wordplay, and checks whether the rest of the clue can be read interpreted with that/those components playing their usual role(s)”.
Both are fancy descriptions of guesswork, and I think most explanations of solving present a false impression of first-time clear thinking leading inevitably to the right answer. The plain truth is that every good solver I’ve talked to happily admits to a lot of guesswork on the way to finding the right answer, and it’s pretty much the only method available to a beginner who doesn’t understand enough about wordplay to do much with it.
Cheers,
Peter
Well, I don’t know that there’s much to disagree with there. All ‘solving’ is essentially guesswork, followed by retrospective justification. What I was thinking of was the regular comment ‘But I don’t know where to start’ – if your first reading of the clue merely throws up a lot of words, then some guidance that suggests one or other end is the definition, and the other the wordplay narrows that down a little. I have certainly noticed myself doing it whenever I’m stuck on a clue.
Against that is the sort of on-sight solving – and you and I have both been fast solvers in our time – when you look at a clue and you know the answer without any apparent conscious thought. Not sure you can get that from anything other than practice.
This is beginning to skirt a topic I had planned for a section many weeks off: the inability of seasoned solvers to read clues as anything other than crosswordese. This would seem to be the inverse of the neophyte, who cannot see it as anything other than ordinary text.
Thanks Paul,
Fair point about the, er, starting point. The “no conscious thought” answers are almost embarrassing if someone else sees them happen – to their “How did you do that”, the only answer is “lots of practice”, possibly with a note that they understand the English you’re speaking to them right now just as quickly and just as mysteriously. It’s just that your second language is “crosswordese”.
I’m always pleased to see puzzles with some clues that may be harder for the experts than the neophytes.
Paul, what a great new site you have! Well done. I can tell there is allot I need to learn in the world of crossword puzzles as most of this is over my head, but I sure enjoy our online scrabble games! (Even tho you kick my butt every game! )
Dana