Author Archives: AS

In the comments section to the Confusion thread, DA has said:

Deplorable. Fun. Indulgent wankery. Gold.

Just a few responses to my unorthodox themer on Friday. Going by the Trippers site, the polarising element seems the issue of non-words. Fair enough – they are a deviation from the norm, and I need to heed the majority’s misgivings.

But just to be clear where the majority stands, I’d appreciate if you can find the time to vote on a poll across the road at http://www.davidastle.com – and add any other responses to the non-word business in the Salon 19 forum. Thanks a lot, and enjoy your next grapple.

Now, I don’t necessarily have a problem with non-words. I thought, for instance, the DA’s Little Creatures crossword to be quite fun.

But last week’s was, for my abilities, too hard. I don’t see how I would have solved it without help from this site, and that’s a little deflating for me no matter how clever the theme is.

In combination, I think the unclear explanatory text, the crossword’s motto being itself themed (which is cool, but extra difficult), the non-words in the grid, and not knowing which clues are themed beforehand made for a crossword that was beyond me, and which took the savour out of the theme.

Your thoughts?