Shark on SHArK by Shark
I understand that several setters create their crosswords, leave them and solve them again some time later. They then can rewrite those clues that they feel are below the mark and only then send off the puzzle for publication. I have never been one for that, but here we have the second puzzle in a row where it has been shelved, as I was not fully happy with the outcome.
In SHArK’s case the “man’s” legs were illustrated in a kind of semi-splits position and there were a few double lettered elements over 50 placed scattered around the grid outside of the illustration. I felt the latter could be accepted, although I desperately wanted to change them, but the legs just didn’t look right.
So, I picked it up again earlier this year, scrubbed out the lower half, as well as the over-50 elements and started setting it again. Luckily the face, body and arms did not need to be reworked. I managed the fill a few days later, even more content that the legs had feet. Another aspect that made no difference to the puzzle was the appearance of MR (or Mr) as the eyes. It also spanned the shoulders, but now also spanned the body vertically from the mouth. I suppose one could argue rightly that the shape is disproportionate, with a big head and short arms and looking back I could have tried to extend the arms vertically by a cell each side.
HJ Muller gained a Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine in 1946, and I had aimed to keep NOBEL unclued. However, the quotation did not allow that scope.
I wanted to do something different when writing the clues and wondered how easy it would be to have letters inserted (or removed) but ensuring that no other occurrence of that letter appeared in the rest of the clue. I could even use several of the same letters to spice it up, but I was finding it too tough to keep them the same and found some ideal clues using the other gimmick. I therefore used both types, which may have created a less than obvious change from merely spotting words that required a letter to be removed (or added). I was a little surprised when it came back as a D grade, as I thought it might have been a C…I will await the feedback regarding this point.
I was also surprised to see it as the POTM again, so perhaps I should shelve puzzles away for a rehash more often.
Shark (or SHArK)