As a followup from last week, here’s an explanation of the CppCon crossword. I’m going to explain the construction process a bit, as well, so the solutions will be given in order of clue-writing, with some commentary on my thought process. Maybe a few people may find this interesting, I don’t know. Apologies for length. If you just want the answers, you can search by clue number, or you can just skip to the end for my final thoughts in summary.
Now follows several thousand words of unnecessary detail… definitions are bold.
5A ODR violation on reversing sort = ORDER [Anagram of ODR (“violation”) + RE (“on”) backwards (“reversing”)]
This was the first clue that woke me in the middle of the night and planted the idea of a C++ cryptic. I woke up thinking, “ODR violation sounds like an anagram.” It’s only three letters, so it didn’t take long to run through possibilities, and after I thought of ORDER, the rest of the clue suggested itself. (For those who don’t know C++, an ODR violation is a scary kind of error in your program. A common term at C++ conferences.)
Then I scribbled down another clue that didn’t actually make it into the crossword, but it’s a gimme: Herb’s wise (4). Of course this is suggesting a reference to Herb Sutter. And the answer would be SAGE, a simple double meaning. Not a particularly difficult or interesting clue, and it didn’t make it into the final grid anyway.
The next clue came to me while driving to the local meetup on Thursday night.
22A Supply computer with day for Tesla crash report = CORE DUMP [Anagram (“supply”) of COMPUTER with D (day) swapped (“for”) T (Tesla)]
I got thinking about using supply (aka “in a supple way”) as an anagram indicator. And I was first thinking of constructions like “Supply linker with… …for unknown symbols”. But LINKER wasn’t good anagram fodder and didn’t contain any “unknown” (X, Y or Z). So I thought of COMPILER, but that wasn’t quite right either. Then I realised that CORE DUMP was almost an anagram of COMPUTER, with just the D/T change. So the clue became:
“Supply computer with (something meaning D) for (something meaning T) (something meaning CORE DUMP)”
For a while I was stuck, then I thought of Tesla for T and crash report for CORE DUMP. Tesla crash report? That’s good. Just something plausible to think of for the D. And day was the best fit I could find. Unfortunately abbreviating data to D is not supported by the dictionary.
28A Surprise! RAM found = BOOT UP [BOO (“surprise!”) + TUP (“RAM”)]
A reasonable surface that might suggest successfully powering on for the first time? Fairly straightforward decomposition. Using RAM in that clue suggested the next one…
1D Memory of frozen butter? = STATIC RAM [STATIC (“frozen”) + RAM (“butter”)]
I wouldn’t want to use the same word in two clues, or two answers, but I think it’s OK to do one of each. “Butter” meaning ram (thing that butts) is a classic cryptic definition. And the surface perhaps brings to mind spreading butter straight from the fridge, which all Brits have struggled with at some point.
At this point I wrote a clue for another word that didn’t make it into the grid. I would really have liked to include IOTA for lots of reasons – the algorithm/APL reference of course, and because I had a well-loved guinea pig by that name (named after the algorithm). But you have to kill your darlings, as they say.
Anyway it was a bit tricky, but I wrote an acrostic clue because I thought I should have one — Incremental output tests: APL leads a little bit (4). Not quite smooth, but good enough given I hadn’t made the grid yet.
So I made the grid. I wanted a couple of 15-letter answers, so they went in first. I was lucky that METAPROGRAMMING is a 15-letter word, but I didn’t clue it yet! The rest of the answers went in fairly easily with software, but I didn’t do a great job of the down words, I’d have liked more 7- and 8-letter entries. But them’s the breaks. The tradeoff was plenty of C++ references.
After the grid was filled, I started cluing at 1A of course. Now began the real work.
1A Small conference perhaps in America can lead the way = SPEARHEAD [S (“small”) + PEAR (“conference perhaps”) + HEAD (“in
America can”, US slang for toilet)]
I’ll admit this was a lazy fill — I’d seen the same in two crosswords recently — and a bit of a lazy clue with “conference perhaps” meaning PEAR, but after the passage of time, crosswords appearing coincidentally close doesn’t really matter, and the surface was really good for the C++ crowd, especially here in Colorado where the other conference is C++Now. The “in America can” part was my own and I thought it made a smooth clue.
8A Try to get excited for power play = APPLY FOR [Anagram (“excited”) of FOR + P (“power”) + PLAY]
I had APPLY FOR in the grid because it fit and it was two nice C++-suggesting words. The definition was tricky on this one. I spotted that APPLY was almost PLAY and then saw “power play” and that was it. Another smooth surface IMHO, even though I’m not an ice hockey fan.
9A Online university perhaps provided different conditions = ELSE IF [E (“online”) + LSE (“university”) + IF (provided)]
Another couple of C++ keywords, another difficult definition. “Provided” was easy enough, but I felt that E-LSE as “online university” needed the “perhaps”. Decided I’m not going to do better here, so moved on.
13A Pronoun taken back to contradict Jason Turner? = YOUTUBER [YOU (“pronoun”) + TUBER — REBUT (“to contradict”)
reversed (“taken back”)]
I had Jason in mind as the definition here when I made the fill. Does the surface suggest a code of conduct row? I don’t know, but all’s fair in love and cryptic allusions.
4D Partnership on fine wicket? = EWOK [EW (partnership — East/West in Bridge) + OK (fine)]
I bent the rules on capitalization here — as I did again in other places — but I felt OK with that given the short answer and the nice misdirection. The first iteration of this clue had “partners”; I revised it to “partnership” which I think works better. Got to have at least one cricket reference in the puzzle!
21D Short Bond movie featuring Resistance units = OHMS [OHMSS (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) made “short” by lopping off the last S]
This time I capitalized Resistance to suggest the French Resistance. It just about works? I was in two minds over whether to include “units” in the clue.
15A Fractions of balanced painkillers = RATIONAL NUMBERS [RATIONAL (“balanced”) + NUMBERS (“painkillers” — things that numb)]
Another difficult definition. And “numbers” as painkillers is a chestnut. But hey, I didn’t want to make this thing too hard. Not the best clue, but some surface here.
25A Line on map is old obstruction = ISOBAR [IS + O (“old”) + BAR (“obstruction”)]
I struggled over the final word of this clue. “Barrier” would have been OK except that it was too close to BAR. At first I had “limitation”. But I went with “obstruction”.
My US friend who tested the puzzle for me liked this clue: “an obscure word that is very soluble with wordplay.” I think perhaps ISOBAR is a more familiar word to Brits who are used to seeing weather reports? Not sure. Anyway, it’s all good.
2D Old sound system front of theatre for Matt Godbolt? = EXPAT [EX (“old”) + PA (“sound system”) + T (“front of theatre”)]
With this word in the fill, I thought of Matt. Well, I couldn’t put myself in! The charade wrote itself, another fairly easy clue. But that’s fine. And the surface is OK.
11A Flawless performance begins with popular tenor = INTACT [IN (“popular”) + T (“tenor”) + ACT (“performance”)]
This was the first answer my beta-tester got, and he remarked that he might have expected some reference to “int” in the clue. But a smooth surface cannot be thrown away for an inside reference. And I didn’t want to make the cluing too C++-centric: I thought it best to have a light touch there for accessibility’s sake. I originally had “perfect” as the definition, but I think “flawless” works better. I pondered for ages over how to clue the T until I realised tenor was a valid abbreviation. A tea tray moment for the setter!
19A “Artful” German import mag shows advanced technique = METAPROGRAMMING [Anagram (“artful”) of GERMAN IMPORT MAG]
Make or break time. This was a biggie. I’d done quite a few clues already, and I’d been putting this off. With such an anchor in the puzzle, I knew I wanted a decent anagram as a help to the solver. I was lucky to find a really nice option. And “artful” as the anagram indicator was a good suggestive word. The definition is much too loose for a general crossword, but with the theme and the audience it works for me.
What does the surface suggest? That’s down to you. Moving on…
32A Reconstruct toy without hesitation = TRANSFORM [TRANSFORMER (“toy”) without ER (“hesitation”)]
A tricky collection of letters, but a straightforward clue. Didn’t spend too long on this one.
7D Assign to take free shot = REFER [R (“take”) + anagram (“shot”) of FREE]
Originally I had a different clue: “Assign either way around”. I thought that a very weak effort. 5-letter palindromes are fairly common in crosswords and almost always clued with some reference to their palindromic nature. But given that the crossers help so much, I thought a nice surface here was worth a little difficulty (R for “take” is not common, but in the dictionary — from Latin “recipe”). The “to” doesn’t quite know what it’s doing in this clue, but I think it’s OK.
“Assign” is actually the first definition given in my copy of Chambers (9th ed), but my beta-tester expressed surprise. Think of a GP referring a patient to a specialist, perhaps. I toyed with other clue ideas (something something about REEFER “dropping an E”?) but gave them up.
29A Left to choice, old friend gets into code = OPTIONAL [O (“old”) + TION (anagram of “into” with “code” as the anagrind) inside PAL (“friend”)]
I like the surface here. “Into” is commonly anagram fodder because it’s a common group of letters and an innocuous word in a clue. I looked through a list of anagram indicators and found “code”. Great.
17D Referendum: am I somewhat tasty? = UMAMI [Hidden (“somewhat”) in referendUM AM I]
This was a difficult one to clue. Thank goodness the dictionary supports umami as an adjective. Originally I had “ultimatum”, but switched to “referendum”. I wondered if I could use “tasteful” for the definition, but decided to be fair.
10D Broken declaration order with new headers = DOWN [Acrostic (“headers”) of Declaration Order With New]
This was one that I re-clued. Originally I had “It came off: duck’s broken” but that was a bit stilted and very crossword-ese sounding. And without the earlier-mentioned IOTA, I didn’t have an acrostic clue. Then I spotted that “headers” was a C++ term and an acrostic indicator. Cool, and a better surface.
26D Try to chuck first game = BINGO [GO (“try”) with BIN (“chuck”) first]
I originally had thoughts about using “house” as the definition with something suggesting a gaming “house”, but I couldn’t make it work very well without sounding stilted. As with 10D, putting colons in clues is best used very sparingly — it reeks of crossword-ese to me. The difficulty was suggesting throwing a game while defining BIN, because “throw” doesn’t mean BIN without adding “away”. But I think “chuck” might work.
3D Artistic fish? = RAY [Double definition: fish, and also Man RAY the artist. Or…]
This was only three letters, so I didn’t feel too bad about a tricky parse. My beta-tester divined Man Ray, which was complete serendipity. I actually had in mind the much more punny “Royal-Academician-y”. Either one works!
16D Look good for the record = LOG [LO (“look”) + G (“good”)]
Quick write, quick solve I think. Standard abbreviations here. I tend to find short answers either easy or very difficult. And I don’t want this crossword to be overly difficult.
24D Put out dead flower = DOUSE [D (“dead”) + OUSE (“flower” – a river)]
I originally clued this as “Flood from dead river” which I felt didn’t really work. Rivers aren’t described as “dead”. So the change gives a better surface. Is it a double-indirection to clue “ouse” as “flower”? Maybe, but I think it’s OK.
22D Lead Carbon expert = CABLE [C (“Carbon”) + ABLE (“expert”)]
Pretty straightforward here. A nice surface for the C++ crowd. Am I once more playing a bit fast and loose with capitalization? Oh well. Maybe that’s my style.
20D Self-confidence is for instance ordinary = EGO [EG (“for instance”) + O (“ordinary”)]
Another quick one. Maybe alluding to being a public speaker? I don’t know.
23D Red river? Yes, in Germany! = RIOJA [RIO (“river”) + JA (“yes” in German)]
This one got a tick from my beta-tester. Rioja seems to come up now and then in crosswords. Pretty much a write-in here, I think. Cluing RIO as “river” rather than “Spanish river” or similar is bending the rules again — might it be easier for a US audience than a UK one, I wonder? — but given the obviousness of JA I think it’s OK.
12D Backspace stops nonsense in printed matter = TONER [Reversal (“back”) of EN (“space”) in ROT (“nonsense”)]
A tricky parse, this — the only one my tester couldn’t explain, although he got the right answer from the crossers and the definition. So doable. The fill gave me a reasonable choice between TUNER and TONER. I first had thoughts about something involving black powder (alluding to gunpowder) but ended up with a better surface. It’s reasonably common in some crosswords to have to separate words (or even separate single letters) although I don’t think it’s Ximenean?
30D The only header needed for iPhone development? = IOS [A not-very-cryptic definition, referring to the standard header and iOS]
A pretty weak clue for a pretty weak fill. I had a choice between things like IDS (meh) or IFS (nope, given 9A) and plumped for IOS. Oh well.
6D Nerd with double-E enthralled by database = DWEEB [W (“with”) + EE (“double-E”) inside (“enthralled by”) DB (“database”)]
At first I didn’t know how to clue this. There was very limited choice over the definition. Then I spotted “with double-E” — I work with folks who have Electrical Engineering degrees and use the term “double-E” all the time. DB for database isn’t actually in the dictionary (!) but DBMS is… so I thought it OK.
27D They might give u a map problem = MPAA [Anagram (“problem”) of A MAP]
This was another tricky fill. SPCA was a possibility but I went with MPAA because it’s a bit more tech-industry adjacent, or at least more familiar as the enforcer of copyrights. I was stuck on how to clue it — the crossword software I used suggests lots of uninspired quick-type clues — but “it/they might…” is a classic definition construction, even though I had to resort to “u”. It probably helps the surface that the notorious think-cell interview process was
recently in C++ news.
I thought this clue easy, given the constrained fill, but my beta-tester got tunnel vision and had a hard time, rating it as a favourite when he got it. Was it fair to leave the enumeration as (4) rather than (1,1,1,1)? Maybe not, but I just didn’t notice.
14D Appreciation of present delivered in bow = EAR [Sounds like ‘ERE, which is “present” (HERE) as spoken (“delivered”) in Bow (East London)]
This is my favourite of the late clues, even though I bent the capitalization rules again. A non-obvious definition, a nice surface and the classic element of the cockney homophone.
18D LAMP gurus engineered sweet kudos = SUGARPLUM [Technically a triple: sweet (candy), kudos (compliment) and an anagram (“engineered”) of LAMP gurus]
Almost there! And another hard one to clue. And actually the solver (including my tester) might first go for SUGAR LUMP. But that would be (5-4) rather than (9). At least according to my physical copy of Chambers, 9th ed. And according to Merriam-Webster online.
Is the LAMP stack still a known thing? I’m not sure. This clue might have worked better 15 years ago. As is, it’s a bit of a filler.
5D Chick takes some hotel work on the counter = OWLET [Hidden in (“some”) hoTEL WOrk backwards (“on the counter”)]
Is it me, or does “on the counter” sound like something Fed would use (probably alluding to football)? This was getting late in the process and I was wanting to get to the finish line. “Small hooter” was a possible definition for a while but I couldn’t really make it work — I tried an acrostic clue but it wasn’t happening. Not to mention the fact that it was a corny definition. Then I thought of being at CppCon in the hotel and realised the reverse hidden of “hotel work”. The rest of the clue followed. “At the counter” might have been a better surface, but didn’t work otherwise. “On the counter” works just well enough, I think.
I had Conor Hoekstra and his fiancée in mind with this fill. They love owls, and we’ve been swapping bird pictures lately. Not that it affected the clue, mind.
Also, “chick” isn’t a word I use for a woman in real life, but again, all’s fair in crossword allusions.
31A Facility has run-in with censor = ERASE [EASE (“facility”) containing R (“run”)]
The final clue! The construction demanded that I find a definition that worked as a noun and a verb, and censor fits the bill. An anagram wasn’t really going to happen given the letters, so “run-in” was a good thought to fit with the metonymy (if that’s the term I want) of “facility”.
Final thoughts
Overall, I’m happy. Some nice surfaces and I don’t mind some being easy; in fact that’s much preferable to the alternative, given the target audience. I really wanted a good mix of easy ways in with a few more devious clues. My job as a setter is to put up a good fight but lose gracefully.
I’m sure I’ll get better at setting as I practice more. And although I am an avid solver, I suspect I don’t have the breadth of experience necessary to know if I’m being unwittingly hackneyed in some areas. I was quite conscious of what I think is a common trap for new setters: making everything anagrams. So only 3 clues are “pure” anagrams with another 4 or so being partials. That’ll do.
The down clue lengths in the grid aren’t great; that’s a tradeoff of getting the theme words in I suppose. Maybe I could have done a better fill. I didn’t spend that long on it. I did actually remove two words: at first I had ANIMA and BIMBO in the grid (as down clues, to the right of TONER and left of UMAMI respectively). I decided the grid had a lot of clues already; it probably still has more than average. I didn’t much like the words, and in my estimation they
weren’t needed for checking 15A and 19A, so I just removed them. I would perhaps have kept ANIMATE or something in that position, but there was no fill for U.B.M.O to match up. “UB BY MDO” is nonsense even if you manage to somehow accept an assertion that MDO may mean “most derived object”. Anyway, I’m aware some publications use a set of standard grids; maybe I’ll do that in future.
What I really went for was good surfaces as much as I could. Sorry to say, but I think there have been some shockingly bad surfaces in recent Guardian crosswords. RIP Nutmeg, truly missed. I think I did pretty well overall — even on some of the theme clues like 5A, 10D and 29A. Smoothest surface? Maybe 8A.
My favourite clue might be 14D, which I really like despite the capitalization of “bow”.
3D was my most groanworthy clue, although not so much with the alternative interpretation found by my beta-tester! I don’t suppose it’s that original though.
Best all-rounder probably has to go to 19A: a nice “feature” fill, a good anagram, a nice surface and a good difficulty help-out.
Many thanks to Scott and Tristan for their help, and thanks to everyone who tried the puzzle! I hope you found something to like.