Ubercross Abecedaria C...Launched!
This announcement is the only straightforward thing about it.
New crossword at the Ubercross homepage!
For this section, I had choices. I could’ve done something with code or cryptograms. I could’ve paid homage to the words that have their roots in comics, my other grand obsession, or just dedicated the grid to comics characters. I could’ve had fun with circumlocutions or connotations or contradictions.
I had choices, and yet, in another sense, I had no choice at all. This project is a giant love letter to crosswords, and there was no way I could get through it all without honoring the cryptic crossword.
I’m not giving any spoilers here, because as soon as you look at the clues, it will be obvious. Every clue in this puzzle is a cryptic crossword clue, even though only the largest “C” is structured like cryptic crosswords normally are.
With 3,860 clues to compose (not counting the “stitches”), I went through every type of cryptic clue there was, then invented some more. It was a new frontier for me! The teenage me would never have imagined writing even a regular-sized cryptic. They’re the default kind of crossword in the U.K.—but it took me years to warm up to them and their strange, un-American ways.
In the weeks to come, I’ll pick apart the different kinds of cryptic clues—first the regular ones, then my own little oddities—and what I learned by crafting them all. First up: anagrams.