Reposted by M.A.G.N.U.S.
My father in law is a graphic designer. We were at a game shop together years ago and I asked him what it would cost to do D&D 3E layout and trade-dress today. I will never forget his answer…
“We can’t, we don’t know how to do it.”
![For instance "Type of tree (3)" in a regular crossword could be any of "ASH", "BAY", "ELM", "FIG", "FIR" "OAK", "YEW", etc. "Type of tree has changed (3)" in a cryptic crossword can only be "ASH".
Here is an example (taken from the Guardian crossword of 6 August 2002, set by "Shed").
15D Very sad unfinished story about rising smoke (8)
is a clue for TRAGICAL. This breaks down as follows.
15D indicates the location and direction (down) of the solution in the grid
"Very sad" is the definition
"unfinished story" gives TAL (tale with one letter missing; i.e., unfinished)
"rising smoke" gives RAGIC (a cigar is a "smoke", and this is a down clue so "rising" indicates that cigar should be written up the page; i.e., backwards)
"about" means that the letters of TAL should be put either side of RAGIC, giving TRAGICAL
"(8)" says that the answer is a single word of eight letters.
There are many codewords or indicators that have a special meaning in the cryptic crossword context. (In the example above, "about", "unfinished" and "rising" all fall into this category). Learning these, or being able to spot them, is a useful and necessary part of becoming a skilled cryptic crossword solver.
Compilers or setters often use slang terms and abbreviations, generally without indication, so familiarity with these is important for the solver. Abbreviations may be as simple as west = W, New York = NY, but may also be more difficult.[19] Words that can mean more than one thing are commonly exploited; often the meaning the solver must use is completely different from the one it appears to have in the clue. Some examples are:](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:blo3bvqyphvulft6v5bgoifr/bafkreida6uggit7sgdqhdqusihintmbznoi3cxjpazjslky7kucrwfbmmm)
