tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Tue Aug 22 11:31:31 2000
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Re: your "crosswords"
>So, 1 Across isn't {mIm}, it's {X m X I m X}: first, third and last square
>occupied, and {m} and {Im} belonging to definitions one and two: "The end
>of the greater part" and "Milk without head".
You listed them both under definition one, and now I'm even more confused.
It looks like there are multiple answers for some of the rows, and I still
can't figure out how you're picking the parts of the words to put in the
squares.
>Across
>1.The end of the greater part (m > HochHom). Milk without head (Im > mIm).
I don't get it. I thought I was starting to with the first clue, where
the phrase "end of" hints that you only want the last part of the word
and "greater part" tells which word you're talking about. But then the
(Im > mIm) totally loses it. You said that 1 Across *isn't* {mIm}, so
I'm completely baffled at this point.
If it's a typo for (Im > nIm), then I can try to interpret the "without
head" as a clue to remove the first letter, but that doesn't seem to be
how the other ones work -- {toDuj}, for example.
>3.Unlimited courage (oDu > toDuj). Just a bit more and it would be
>special (le > le').
Do these have anything to do with each other, or are they two separate
clues? In the original puzzle, they sound like a single statement, but
the answers don't bear that out. And I still don't see a pattern at all
in the letters you're dropping. They don't all fall on black squares or
off the edge of the puzzle, they're not in an obvious sequence of first-
last-both, sometimes it's only one letter missing and sometimes more...
My thought about "headless {nIm} -> {Im}" fails here, since "unlimited"
implies that there is *nothing* removed, but you have dropped both first
*and* last letters, so I'm obviously still missing the pattern.
>5.Your rubble is jumbled (IjaDr > DIraj).
Is there any pattern to the scrambling, or must one try things at random
to find a fit to the puzzle?
>6.These three consonants go in sequence and in this order (jlm).
This one is just stupid. Do the Catalan crosswords often use "cheat" clues
like this in order to fit specific words in the other direction?
>Down
>4.You have just heard someone hiccup because he has drank too much beer
>(Iq > HIq). Prey without vowels (ghD > gheD).
This is *definitely* two clues tossed together in one, and there's nothing
in it that says which part of {HIq} you're looking for. I suppose with the
intersecting words it shouldn't be difficult, but then again I haven't any
idea how you got the {I} in that particular spot in the top row. (I was on
the right track with the "without vowels" hint, but I applied it to the word
"prey" and tried to figure out how you got {IqghD} out of "beer pry".)
>6.Klingon musicians squeeze and strech out their windbag instruments
>(rey). We start (m > maH).
Again with the clues just mashed together without apparent reason, and I'm
even more confused than usual about how "we start" turns into {maH} and how
anyone is supposed to know to throw away the {aH} from it.
I have a feeling I'm being enormously thick about this, and there's probably
some teeny bit of information I'm just not grasping that would make it all
completely clear. You mentioned puns, but looking back over the puzzle I
think the only one that seems punnish is {Iq} for a hiccup. I can probably
guess most if not all of the complete words, but I'm absolutely not seeing
any way to figure out what letters get thrown away before stuffing what is
left into the grid.
-- ghunchu'wI' 'utlh