Kaidoku #63 & Themeless Puzzles
Kaidoku #63 (PDF) | Java applet | JPZ (get Crossword Solver)Man, I don’t know how people write themeless puzzles. I remember reading that some people (I think it was Manny Nosowsky) actually prefer writing themeless puzzles to themed ones. Some people think it’s easier! Really? I feel like every bit of fill in a themeless has to be great, and there’s hardly any room to work with, given the constraint on word count. I’ve tried to write a few, but I barely get anywhere before realizing I have no idea what I’m doing. I had some time recently so I tried writing one again and it came out … well, okay. Not great. If it ends up getting published, I suspect the editor will have to work some magic with it.
Okay, why am I bringing this up? Because today’s Kaidoku uses a word that’s never been in a crossword puzzle (as far as I can tell) and so I wanted to use it as a seed for a themeless. Several aborted attempts later, here it is in a Kaidoku. Oh well, maybe some day.
See you Monday!
January 7th, 2010 by
Alex | tags: Kaidoku
it’s definitely easier to write themelesses, because you don’t need to think of a theme first. one good idea for a single entry can be the seed for a themeless puzzle, but if you have one good idea for a themed puzzle, then you need to come up with some other things like it, and they have to be the right lengths, and then on top of all that you have to check to see that it hasn’t been done before.
having said that, yes, the fill constraints are somewhat stricter, but i’m pretty much a perfectionist even when it comes to filling themed puzzles, so it’s not that much worse.
I’m a perfectionist too when it comes to filling themed puzzles, but that really means “no bad fill” as opposed to “sparkling fill.” I don’t know, maybe I should try writing some more.
was it BUZZKILL? i once had a theme accepted by peter gordon with BUZZKILLS as a theme answer, but it never ran because the sun disappeared before the puzzle’s intended run date. (it was an anniversary puzzle, and i bet if you think hard enough you can figure out which day it would have run and what the theme was.)
It was in fact BUZZKILL. I haven’t figured out what your theme is but I’ll work on it …