Re: KEY to PUZZLE_3
Nasy Sankagiri (narayans@dunx1.ocs.drexel.edu)
Tue, 3 Sep 1996 09:22:32 -0400 (EDT)
Hello Vasu gaaroo,
Thanks for your kind words. Crosswords used to be my passion, and I,
myself, had constructed some technical (in English) and Telugu crosswords
in good old days.
Re. suggestions for improving the clues, I confess that I am partial to
cryptic clues. I divide them into two categories; 1) knowledge based & 2)
hidden clue. I mean the latter when I say cryptic. I am sure you are
familiar with Indian Express Sunday puzzle- they use the same grid with two
different sets of clues - I always went in for the cryptic ones. Hindu
crosswords also typically feature cryptic clues.
Though it is more difficult to do this sort of thing in Telugu, I should
say you are doing an excellent job. Some excellent examples from the recent
puzzle are Across:6, 8, Down: 4, 5, 17. Though 12 across is knowledge
based, it has that 'wit' (camatkaaram) in it. Beautiful. In this puzzle, I
did not know that 'sineevaali' means amavaasya candruDu. I pondered over
'misimi', but thought that meant some thing to do with gold.
Anyway, I feel cryptic clues come in especially handy for words with a lot
of blind letters, or for short words (like the two letter words in the
recent puzzle). I also suggest that the words be telugu words as far as
possible & minimise usage of Sanskrit. If I had a little more time, I would
have offered help with preparation of the clues, but at this stage, I am
afraid to commit any time.
BTW, don't be disheartened by the lack of response: mana vaaLLaki
'challenge' anTE anta ishTam vunnaTTu kanabaDadu. Unless one is extremely
fond of crosswords, it is difficult for others to awaken an interest in
them. I say you are doing a great job, and as long as you post them, I
assure you, I'll have a crack at them.
Regards
Nasy
PS: 'saar, saar' anakanDi. nEnoo, mee vayasu vaaDinE ani naa ooha. BTW, Did
you say in one of your recent posts that you are from Vijayawada?