A few years ago there was Times Quick Cryptic clue that read (so far as I can recall): ‘Blue vehicle reversing onto back of driveway (4)’, with the answer fitting into _A_Y. Anyone who wrote RACY soon discovered that NAVY was actually what the setter had in mind, and although the ambiguity there wasn’t deliberate, it was a lovely example of two equally legitimate answers resulting from the same clue. That’s something I’ve been fascinated by ever since reading about the famous CLINTON / BOB DOLE crossword from 1996, and some solvers may remember a Listener crossword I wrote a couple of years ago that included a series of I/O ambiguities with the same definition (e.g. ‘cast light’ = SHINE / SHONE; ‘clothing’ = SHIRTS / SHORTS).

Off the back of those, I’d wondered if it were possible to create a crossword where every clue gave two possible answers, thereby filling two completely different grids with one set of clues. Probably doable if the words were chosen carefully, I thought, but I’d need a theme to back up the idea, and the old saying about the definition of insanity (‘doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’) seemed to fit the bill. My initial idea was to use INSANITY as the diagonal of both grids, but after googling to make sure I’d remembered the quote correctly, I discovered that it was often misattributed to EINSTEIN, so he worked as an alternative diagonal.

An 8×8 grid – or, I guess, two 8×8 grids – kept a helpful cap on the number of clues I’d have to write, but I hadn’t really appreciated how limiting those diagonals would be in terms of which words would fit into each grid (with adequate unching). Gone were my hopes of carefully chosen pairs of words, and instead I had to fill the grids with more or less whatever would work. The only nod to making life a bit easier for myself was that I tried to include words with definitions that could also be cryptic wordplay – e.g. definitions for RABIDLY & ANGSTY could also work as anagram indicators – but even that proved harder than I thought it would be.

So, with both grids complete, I found myself with 20 pairs of words, and the challenge to write 20 clues that clued both of each pair (without accidentally giving any other legitimate answers, and ideally making a nice clue set that didn’t re-use the same ideas too often). One or two people have asked if I had any particular clues or ideas set up in advance, and the answer to that one is no: just 20 pairs of completely unrelated words, and an exciting challenge ahead.

If I’m honest, when I started trying to write the clues, I wasn’t at all sure it would be possible, and the early indications weren’t good: I bounced between answers and jotted a few possible ideas, but didn’t manage to get any completed clues (or even semi-completed clues) written until ABLINS / ANGSTY. The discovery of BLAIN – a definition for STY and most of an anagram for ABLINS – was a great feeling, and the rest of the clue flowed from there. Perhaps this would be possible after all?

Progress was slow but steady after that. For each new pair of words, my general way in was to work out how the definition of one word could form part of the wordplay for the other word, and vice versa (the only exceptions being the likes of LOMA / GLIB, where the definitions for both overlapped, or POST / LENT, where a double-double definition turned out to be possible). Sometimes that part came relatively quickly (e.g. GUERNSEY / ALDERMAN), and sometimes it very much didn’t (e.g. most of the rest). There were some beautiful moments of luck along the way, such as when I discovered the alternative definition for YELL, and plenty of lengthy periods banging my head against the wall (metaphorically).

I once spent an entire morning trying to think how a definition for SONATA could also be wordplay for the letter O – trying to persuade myself that ‘centrepiece for Prokofiev’ was acceptable, even though my musical friends told me it wasn’t – before settling on ‘regular choice for solo’. Odd as it may sound, getting to that kind of stage was actually a relief: all I had to do was find a string of words that precisely meant two things. Much harder, and much more common, were the clues where a slight tweak to make it work for one answer meant that it no longer worked for the other. MOUNTED / SHINNED was the last one I cracked, the final form of the clue coming to me in a flash, after much previous struggling, just as I was arriving at a social gathering – I immediately (and rather rudely) sent myself an email, just in case I forgot later.

For what it’s worth, I think my favourite clue was for IDOL / NEST, and whenever I was explaining to friends what I was trying to achieve, that was the example I gave. Most of them didn’t seem any the wiser, but that just goes to show I need to make more crossword-solving friends. I was also pleased to manage a few clues that weren’t charades, such as the homophones for NITS / TEEM, which hopefully gave a bit of variety to the set.

It’s fair to say that not all the clue surfaces in the finished puzzle are wonderful, though I did try to make them as passable as possible under the restrictions (and you should see some of the ones I rejected!). There were also a few leaps that I wouldn’t normally make in my clueing, but in the end I do think everything is fair. What was probably the weakest individual aspect in my submission was ‘highly regarded woman’ as an indication for both STE (a French abbreviation for a female saint) and DELIA; the Magpie editors helped out there by suggesting ‘cook mostly’, which I then tweaked slightly to ‘cook (predominantly)’. A puzzle like this must be nigh-on impossible to edit, so I appreciate their work.

I also appreciate my test solvers, Paul & John, whose suggestions were helpful as always. It was their feedback that made me rethink the title (‘Different’ at that point): scratching around for an idea, I translated EIN STEIN and then wondered why I hadn’t thought of that in the first place.

Finally, I appreciate all the kind feedback that has been sent through, and I’m glad that people enjoyed this one. I had a lot of fun putting it together, and my head has just about stopped aching now.

Posted on Thursday, August 18th, 2022 at 9:11 pm under Setting the scene.
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