Cryptic Interpretation 1
A cryptic puzzle on Grid Therapy? Why yes! Are my regular Grid Therapy crosswords going away? Of course not! This is my first foray into the world of cryptic setting and it has not been easy, dear reader. I think the image above is a fair rendering of me staring into space while doing battle with our amazing language to make this puzzle.
If you’ve never solved cryptics, I encourage you to give it a go. There are plenty of resources introducing beginners to the world of cryptics like the ones from the American Values Crossword Club and the Wall Street Journal. Google will give you many more.
Steve Mossberg was extremely generous with his time and expertise in helping me get this puzzle across the finish line. I was overwhelmed by his kindness. You absolutely must visit his puzzle site, Square Pursuit. There are terrific American crosswords there, but if you’re looking to get into cryptics, it’s just the best. With every puzzle, he offers detailed explanations which is great if you’re just starting out. He also has a very reasonably-priced subscription service, Square Chase, for even more cryptic goodness. I can’t thank you enough, Steve!
I hope you enjoy this one, and I’d love to hear any feedback you may have. Have a great week my friends!
About The Author
Trent Evans
I'm a husband, father, psychologist, musician, and crossword constructor living in Catonsville, MD. My puzzles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and its syndicates, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Andrews McMeel Universal Syndicate, the American Values Club Crossword, Spyscape Crossword, The Crosswords Club, and crossword apps such as the Redstone Crossword Puzzle App on iOS and Google Play. All of that means I've been published in every newspaper in the United States and many others around the world. Here at Grid Therapy, I can show a bit more of myself than the major publishers can allow. I hope you enjoy your time here on the crossword couch! I'd love to hear from you if you have comments or suggestions. If you're interested in having a custom crossword puzzle created for your event or organization, email me at drtrent (at) gmail.com.
Wow! Congrats!! I love seeing more americans getting into cryptic making <3
This was delightful, Trent! I’m relatively new to cryptics, although I do anagram puzzles frequently, so this was no walk in the park, but so worth it! I especially loved 2D and 9A. The only answer I’m still not understanding is 27A. Could someone explain, please? I hope you do lots more of these!
Thank you so much! Glad you liked it. 27A is a double definition.
What a delightful puzzle! I particularly loved 12a, 2d, 3d, 20d.
While solving it _felt_ as if there were a lot of anagrams, but perhaps that’s only because I managed to knock out all of the anagrams consecutively? And if I had to pick a quibble, I was confused by how some clues ended in exclamation points but were not &lits, nor were the definitions particularly punny — but I know there’s a variety of attitudes towards punctuation in cryptic clues.
Overall an incredible first cryptic to construct! Looking forward to solving another one from you soon 🙂
Thank you so much! I am definitely still learning, so all feedback is welcome. Maybe I can talk you into test solving the next one? 😁
Would be delighted to test solve! You have my email, and I’ve just followed you on Twitter
Great cryptic debut! Got a good chuckle out of 2D and 10A. Looking forward to more!
This was terrific, thanks!
Thanks Tom!