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The Chronicle CrosswordWelcome to The Chronicle of Higher Education's weekly crossword puzzle. To view the puzzles, you may either click "solve online" to solve it on our Web site, or you may download the puzzle by clicking "download file." (You may download puzzles by right-clicking [PC] or control-clicking [Macintosh] on your mouse. Then view the files using Across Lite software.) Puzzle constructors may view the puzzle's style sheet. If you would like to submit a puzzle, please send it to Patrick Berry at xwords@chronicle.com. Comments? Write to crosswords@chronicle.com.
CROSSWORD STYLE SHEET The Chronicle of Higher Education, published weekly, is the academic world's major source of news and information. The crossword will appear in The Chronicle's Review section except on rare occasions when the entire Review is devoted to a given topic, for a total of roughly 40 published puzzles per year. Author bylines will be included. Puzzles submitted to The Chronicle should be themed 15x15 crosswords of the highest quality. The standard grid rules apply: Normal crossword symmetry, no unchecked letters or two-letter words, and a maximum of 78 entries and 38 black squares. Exceptions to these totals may be made if the theme is ambitious enough to warrant them. Avoid grids that can be divided in two by blackening either two symmetrical squares or the center square. Payment of $125 will be made on publication, and a complimentary copy of the issue will be sent to the constructor. Constructors must sign and return a contract stating that the work is original and has never been published elsewhere, either in print or electronically. The Chronicle has all rights, including first rights. Themes The theme should have a minimum of three answers, which should be the longest entries in the puzzle. (If the theme entries are all Across entries, longer unthemed Down entries are allowable.) Themes should be original, interesting, and internally consistent. Constructors are encouraged to run themes by Patrick Berry before beginning construction. Because The Chronicle's readership is centered in academe, themes that relate to topics such as literature, the arts, science, history, philosophy, and (of course) education are strongly encouraged. (Wordplay themes are acceptable as long as they relate to academic subjects -- puns on classic book titles, for instance.) Quotation puzzles will be published sparingly, so send them sparingly, and stick to genuinely amusing or profound quotes that relate to the above-mentioned topics. Gimmick themes such as rebuses may occasionally be accepted, but it's safest to ask ahead. The following themes are always unwelcome: themes based on celebrity names, movie and TV shows, brand names, and other pop-culture topics; themes involving repeated words; and themes that have been used too many times before. Your puzzle should include a title. Try to pick one that cleverly hints at the theme without completely giving it away. Avoid reusing words from the theme entries in your title. Grid entries Desirable fill entries include lively words and phrases with unusual letters and letter patterns (KARAOKE, BANZAI, ON THE QT), and entries that relate to the scholarly topics mentioned above. Entries that reference pop culture (JAY-Z, SPIDER-MAN, BIG MAC) should be minimized, though it's okay to have a few. The following types of entries should be avoided:
Avoid repeating forms of words in your grid. If you use SNOWMAN in your puzzle, other entries containing forms of SNOW and MAN are off-limits. Short common words such as OF, AND, or THE can be repeated if both are parts of larger entries (for example, PIECE OF CAKE and UNHEARD-OF). Clues The difficulty of the clues should roughly match that of a Wednesday or Thursday New York Times puzzle. Use a good mix of clue styles: straight definitions, humorous definitions, deceptive phrasings, and interesting trivia. Single-word definitions should be used sparingly. When possible, bend clues toward intellectual subjects; so, for instance, clue MONROE as the president or the college, not Marilyn. The layout of the puzzle is designed to accommodate slightly longer clues than the average venue. That's not to say you're required to write longer clues, and it's certainly not an invitation to make every clue paragraph-length. Rather, the extra room is meant to help you bend certain clues toward desired subjects, and to let you include interesting facts that might normally get sacrificed for lack of space. In short, you should clue most entries as you ordinarily would; but when you have an intriguing entry like ROUSSEAU, don't feel you have to limit yourself to "French philosopher" due to space constraints. Dig a little deeper into Rousseau's life and see what you can come up with. Remember to cite your source if the information you find may be difficult to verify. Avoid writing clues that refer to other clues, like "1-Down, for one" to link the entry COLOR to BLUE. There's no compelling reason to link these entries, and piecing clue fragments together is more tiresome than fun for solvers. You may, however, use linked clues when cluing theme entries, or when two entries form a two-word phrase such as RUN AMOK. (You should only combine two entries this way when one of them is difficult to clue individually, like AMOK. With a pair like FLY and BALL, clue them separately.) Try to avoid reusing entry words in your clues, unless the words in question are very common. Enclose names of books, films, plays, operas, and the like in double quotes. Use three underscores for a blank. In general, if the answer is an abbreviation, there should be an abbreviation in the clue to signal that. If a word's abbreviation is more commonly used than its full name (like VIP, UFO, and ASAP), no abbreviation is necessary in the clue. Submission Puzzles should be submitted by e-mail to Patrick Berry at xwords@chronicle.com. He will get back to you as quickly as he can; if you haven't heard from him in two weeks, give him a nudge via e-mail. Patrick strongly encourages running the puzzle's theme by him before beginning construction. Supply only the title, the theme entries, and their clues, without additional explanation. (If a theme can't be understood without additional explanation, that's a problem!) If a puzzle is meant to appear on a specific date, however, you should mention it; and be sure to give Patrick at least three months' lead time. The preferred submission format is Crossword Compiler for Windows. If you don't have it, type or cut and paste the puzzle into the body of your e-mail: First the title, then your name, then the grid (using periods to signify black squares), and finally the clues. Use the format number[tab]clue[return] for clues; don't include the answers after the clues. (If you cite a source in a clue, use the format number[tab]clue[tab]source[return].) |
Copyright © 2008 by The Chronicle of Higher Education