Word Salad | The Nation

(First off, here are links to the current puzzle and solving guidelines.)

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the clear division in nearly all cryptic clues between the two essential components of a clue, the definition and the wordplay. Those are the elements that mutually prop one another up to lead to an unambiguous solution, and in most cases they are meant to be kept well apart.

But there are rare instances in which the definition and the wordplay get to mix it up a little. The classic case is the clue type known as an &lit. (the designation, which goes back to cryptic crosswords’ British roots, is short for “and literally so”). Here, the entire clue does double duty, serving as both the definition and the wordplay. These are the triple toe loops of the cryptic world: difficult to execute, flashy and impressive when done right. By convention, they’re generally flagged with a final exclamation point.

(First off, links to the current puzzle and solving guidelines.)

In response to our post about themed cryptics, a British newspaper crossword editor who wishes to remain anonymous commented:

“In British cryptics, a barred grid indicates difficult vocabulary rather than a theme. The intention for most blocked grid puzzles is that you should be able to finish them without reference books, though you may have written in one or two answers that you would like to check afterwards. Most barred grid puzzles name a standard reference dictionary (always Chambers) and expect most solvers to use it. There are both themed blocked-grid puzzles and unthemed barred-grid ones. Themed block ones could be in any paper, but are most common in the Guardian, the Independent and the Financial Times—the Times and Telegraph, the other two in our weekday “big 5” have very few themed puzzles. Unthemed barred grid ones, all on Sundays, are Azed (Observer), Mephisto (Sunday Times) and Beelzebub (Independent on Sunday).

To find the puzzle (subscribers only) and the blog (everyone), the best approach is to click on current issue, near the top of any page. That will take you to the issue’s table of contents. When you get there, scroll to the bottom of the page, where you will find links to both the puzzle and the blog.

For the blog, you can click on blogs near the top of any page, and from there on word salad.

Another entry point: entering “Kosman” or “Picciotto” in the search box will yield a link to “Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto.” Click on that, and from there to either the current puzzle or the blog; clicking on the byline of either the puzzle or the blog will also work.

Last week’s blog post cited the precept of Ximenes (the nom de guerre of the English constructor Derrick Macnutt) that a cryptic clue should consist of three things: (1) a definition, (2) wordplay and (3) nothing else. That’s an admirably crisp and straightforward guideline, expressed with wondrous wit; but in practice, the third part of the formula is hard to observe too faithfully—at least not without sacrificing more surface sense than we’d prefer.

So, like most American constructors, we use the Ximenean principle more as a guideline than as a commandment. It’s true that a clue that juxtaposes definition and wordplay without any intervening material has a certain elegance and purity to it—especially when the border between the two parts comes in the middle of a single phrase, as in this clue:

SPRAYER Mister Softee’s primary appeal (7)