Hello, all! Here is Monday’s puzzle! Still best viewed on desktop for now and thank you everyone who mentions all the bugs. Everything reported has been added to the dev board!
Instructions:
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Solve the grid using the clues provided. The direction of the word is indicated by the number around the grid (so some words are backwards).
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After you complete the grid, click the pencil icon tab at the bottom to switch over to solve the anagram. The title is a hint to the anagram!
I failed at this. I had END in, although I knew the politicians which should have tipped me off to my error.
I think this one stumped a good chunk of people! I think I can see why though and will try to avoid for future puzzles!
the problem is that they are known as
spoiler
Ed Balls and Ed Milliband
The answer I was going for there is that >!since there are two of them, they are both “Eds” and so it’s a plural on the name “Ed”.< I do that for a few >!two- or three-letter names!< - do you think that’s too unfair an answer though?
For me, it was only the second I’d attempted and I was still learning what kind of questions and answers to expect. The first I did had cryptic crossword questions, which I was comfortable with, but the trivia and single word questions in this made me unsure what kind of thinking was needed.
When I saw the answers, none of them seemed unfair (e.g. I didn’t know what to do with X, but would have been entirely happy with it as part of a cryptic clue).
That’s completely fair! Because there are so few clues, I tend to try and combine some easier clues with more obfuscated ones. With games like Wordle, I feel like when I solve it in 20-30 seconds it feels underwhelming, so I try to include a few clues that give pause for thought and a bit more of a sense of accomplishment when solved. I think this one was a touch heavy on the trickier clues though.
The hardest thing about making these puzzles is being so restricted by the letters I can use for each puzzle. I used to include three-letter country codes in my grids, but eventually deemed them a bit unfair for the average solver. That said, I eventually want to be able to let people opt in to obscure knowledge that they know, so I can provide puzzles I’ve only been able to create that have those obscure acronyms and terms in them!
After 5:30 I only had one clue. Had to give up on this one!
Oh no! I do try to make the clues a little harder on Monday because it’s an easier anagram, but perhaps I went a little too obscure today!
2:47, but I wasn’t very confident in my anagram answer.
Nicely done! And that’s fair, was it because >!it was a plural!<? I did debate whether that would make solving it a little harder.
got the crossword in under a minute, gave up on the anagram, no idea.
I’ll post the solution today! What do you think would have been most useful to you when attempting to solve? Things like a different title clue hint, more letters locked in, ability to check individual letter placements in the anagram?
Not sure, it might just be a concept or word i’ve not heard of. I tried googling and I found an anagram solver and still could not come up with it so I’m keen to see what it is.
The trouble with some anagram solvers is that they don’t take into account >!plurals!<, which is what I suspect you’re coming up against here. The final phrase is >!anecdotes!< and I did worry that it being >!plural!< might cause some issues 😅
Ahhhh, not a word I see very much so just it’s just me.
