Monday, February 27, 2012

Monday, February 20, 2012

how do you feel about clechos?

A "clecho" is a "clue echo" - where two or more crossword puzzle clues are similar or the same. For example, in the L.A. Times crossword of Feb 19, 2012, 45A and 105A are clechos; both clues are "Hm...". The corresponding answers are, of course, different. 61A ("Design deg.") and 62A ("Designer Saarinen") are also considered clechos, even though they are not quite the same.

So far as I can tell, the term clecho was first used to describe the repeated use of "Eagle" as the theme clue in the October 6, 2010 L.A. Times puzzle. The word "clecho" was reportedly coined by one "Dennis," who writes at the L.A.Times Crossword Corner blog.

I'm happy with clechos when they occur as theme clues. In that case, it's perfectly clear what's going on, and it highlights the theme. However, when they appear scattered about throughout the puzzle, I get a little annoyed. Is it supposed to be clever? Is it just lazy? If the two clues are not close together, I might actually miss the fact that they are clechos; then it's kind of pointless.

There's a little discussion going about clechos over at the cruciverb puzzle forum. If you've got an opinion, post there, or here in the comment section.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Sunday, February 12, 2012

if it's good enough for the NYTimes...

There's a fun article by Eric Konigsberg at the New Yorker regarding a recent "scandalous" theme entry in a NY Times crossword puzzle:
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/culture/2012/02/crossword-scandal-the-timess-mid-ass-touch.html (from Feb 10 2012).

Yes, you saw it right, they used "MIDASSTOUCH". Konigsberg reports that the entry SCUMBAG has been used during Will Shortz's reign, as well. I assure you that we will never use the latter word at World of Crosswords. I won't make any promises about ASS; that is a perfectly good word!

new puzzle! the weather report

The weekly puzzle is up at World of Crosswords:
http://worldofcrosswords.com/?p=21
The theme is "the weather report"; hope you like it!