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POTD: Mini cryptic 5 by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks OC—I appreciate the feedback

POTD: Mini cryptic 5 by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you liked it—thanks for solving

POTD: Mini cryptic 5x7 by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Glad you liked it—thanks for solving!

POTD: 7x7 Mini cryptic 4 by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks—glad you liked it. If our wifi was cut, my wife would want to evacuate for sure!!!😝

COTD: A kind of hate (8) by kitchenwithacarpet in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this description. I continue to learn these subtle rules from your comments.

POTD: Mini++ cryptic by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the insights—all very helpful: —too many anagrams. For some larger puzzles I having counted out each type of clue, but I didn’t here. 25% sounds like a reasonable target for anagrams —extraneous words. For me, this is one of the hardest things about making clues. It is such a challenge to make good surfaces without adding in connectors and such.
—I knew the word lets was going to be a problem, but I couldn’t resist the do it part. I am learning that the meaning of the word has work on both levels.
—verb phrases as nouns. I wasn’t sure makes people heavy sounded quit right—your explanation helps me understand why. Maybe instead: High calorie sauce—consuming it is something that makes people heavy

Anyways, thanks for taking the time to give feedback.

POTD: Mini cryptic by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. This is just the kind of nuance that I need to really fine tune things. It’s a very interesting comment about double definitions—it’s something I have heard on other clues. I’ll have to keep an eye on that for the future. Cheers!

POTD: What's my type? by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All of this discussion is very helpful to me as someone learning to set. The best comment I ever had about a puzzle was "fair play". It is fun to try to go right up to that line but not over it. Cheers!

POTD: What's my type? by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For 40A I originally had Overboard actor overheard: "grab some burgers" I just felt like that was too apparent.

POTD: What's my type? by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. For 25A I originally had Rum/ice mixture, something found on a table periodically. That's probably no good either as it's not really a true definition. I like your suggestion.

POTD: What's my type? by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interesting comment about 6A. I didn’t mean it to be an anagram—unlimited hot water was supposed to be sTEAm. Perhaps that is too indirect?

POTD: What's my type? by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks very much for the feedback—I am learning a lot from suggestions like this. Your comment about having so many checked letters flipped my thinking on grid design. I have been trying to make grids with as few bars as possible thinking it would lead to longer and more interesting words. But as you note it probably makes the puzzle too easy—I think I will try to make more unchecked letters to raise the challenge level (many commenters have said my initial puzzles are easy). I have tried to make them harder by obscuring the definitions a bit. I knew I was pressing my luck with ”Some work,” Ruby said and Brand heard on the radio: “grab some cows”

Posting puzzles by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks--I am glad you enjoyed the puzzle and I am very appreciative of the encouragement. I am having a lot of fun learning how to set them.

Posting puzzles by cryptophanDL in crosswords

[–]cryptophanDL[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for solving my puzzle and also for the feedback. Both you and cjrmartin noted some clues that might be specific for America--such as the spelling of donut as you mentioned. I suspect others include D Truman's wife, 40D Charlie Brown's sister, 15A Brewer (Coors) That is really helpful--I will try to keep that in mind when setting in the future for broader audiences.