Three

 


Ada - I hear you, we're in this together :) 

For day Three, I share my first *real* cryptic. Surprised? Me too.

I've spent months trying to understand the world of cryptics - and there's so much to learn. But one super broad generalization I can make is that cryptics as a whole could use some ... let's say, freshening up? This is my first little attempt at making that happen. I've begun to develop my own set of guidelines about things I'd like to see - and things I promise not to do. Some of what you find here may feel a little experimental. More on that later.

Acknowledgements here run far and wide - but in particular, shoutouts to cryptic constructors and solvers Steve, Nate, Liari, Chris, Joe - for the encouragement, exemplars, practice, critiques, testing, advice - all of it. The best. Please go solve all of their puzzles. 

Because Steve's helper mode has been so valuable to me, I'm totally stealing the concept. The "with helpers" version linked below includes an extra hint in each clue that will help unlock the mystery of just what to do. 

And... it's a pangram because with a blocked cryptic and some decent wordlists, why not? 

If you solve it, blog it, stream it, like it, love it, find a typo -- or want to talk about puzzles! -- let me know! twitter | email | or comment below. Thanks for solving! 

Regular version: Fullscreen solve | .puz 

With helpers: Fullscreen solve | .puz


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