Cryptic Crossword

[Suspence]

Here's my first ever attempt at writing a complete cryptic crossword puzzle. Just for kicks, it will also boil down to a one-word solution at the end.

Feedback on the quality of the clues/overall puzzle is welcomed and appreciated. My gut feeling is that it is far too easy, probably "beginner" level for a cryptic solver.



ACROSS
1) Chained raging animal. (7)
7) Found in heaven: useless god. (5)
8) Walks all over Peter Brady, perhaps. (7)
9) Nazis violate enemy relic. (6)
11) Final frolic in desert is sour. (5)
13) Ogre takes on a sea creature. (4)
14) Mimic bird at night. (7)
15) Exploited unscrupulous editorial section. (4)
16) Emily corrupted by Englishman. (5)
17) Tipsy cheerleader partially reveals self. (6)
21) Real melee follows delight at final ceremony. (7)
22) Disagreement about fifty dollars. (5)
23) A bee, for example, resting after work. (7)

DOWN
2) Sects I chat about with religious leaders. (10)
3) Devil revealed while drunk. (8)
4) Gas disoriented no one, except for Oscar. (4)
5) Bronze robot holds absolutely nothing. (4)
6) Excuses for returning ticket. (4)
9) Wild time in Florida. (5)
10) Within two inches, Charlie escaped first degree burn. (10)
12) Material influenced broadcast. (5)
13) Like a tragic figure, I peed on a complex. (8)
18) Youngster's first beer at university. (4)
19) Hotel has bizarre mix-up. (4)
20) Odd couple to form secretive group. (4)
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[Vagrant]

Is the grid missing a pink square at the end of 16 across? I could think of an answer (NARY) if that square was pink.

[Thok]

[Vagrant]

[Suspence]

I've fixed those two mistakes. 9D was mislabeled as 4 instead of 5, and the final letter of 16A should have been highlighted.

NARY is indeed the final solution.
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[DejMar]

Some of the cryptics were very clever, and I did like that the cryptics were not libertarian. But, I will agree that they were not too difficult, especially with some provided cross-checked letters from solved clues.

ACROSS 1) ECHIDNA 7) VENUS 8) STEPSON 9) FOSSIL 11) ACRID 13) ORCA
14) EMULATE 15) USED 16) LIMEY 17) PSYCHE 21) FUNERAL 22) CLASH 23) STINGER
DOWN 2) CATECHISTS 3) IMPAIRED 4) NEON 5) ZERO 6) BUTS 9) FERAL
10) INCINERATE 12) SUEDE 13) OEDIPEAN 18) YALE 19) HASH 20) CULT

NEVER IN SILLY YARN = NARY

[Zag]

A nice puzzle, S. It was pretty easy -- I solved it all with only a tiny bit of computer help, so it was probably ridiculously easy for Dej, novice, and the like. But the world needs beginner puzzles, or no one will ever get started in the activity. I thought all the clues were well-constructed, and there was a nice finish to the puzzle.

[DejMar]

Suspense inspired me to try one. I am not as clever with the clues as he, but I believe they work. A few of the words are uncommon, yet should be able to be figured out from the cross-checked clues and a decent dictionary.

[Suspence]

1D. A place of suffering for wild, arty group. (9) - PURGATORY
13D. Devil aberrantly existed. (5) - LIVED
23D. Utterly, a place for the dead sea eagle. (3) - ERN

4A. Lucifer's troubled with the knowledge of flow and pressure… (8) - FLEURICS
8A. The daemon was intoxicated with a narcotic, … (9) - METHADONE

1A. Excerise (should be Exercise, I assume?)
The grid is kinda rough looking, so I haven't been filling it in. Just working on the cryptics as stand-alone clues.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[DejMar]

[Suspence]

If you have an image, you can mail it to me and I'll upload it for you.

And if you plan on posting images in the future, Dropbox rocks and is free.
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

6D. Lamia abandoned a custard apple. (5) = ILAMA
7D. Hades' wandering spirit! (5) = SHADE
17A. Cause to lose courage as death begins with the remnant of the fire. (4) = DASH
24A. An act of an unrepentent, little devil: torturing nice teen. (11) = IMPENITENCE
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

A little cleanup helped me read the grid better, and I've filled in what I have.

[3iff]

Suspence.

As I rarely do crosswords...or cryptic ones, I struggled a bit with yours but got there in the end. It probably is too easy for the experts here but it's easy enough for the casual solver and that's important. I did manage to understand most of the clues.

Just a few questions.
8A) Who's Peter Brady?
12A) I did have the answer as one of my possible answers but I still don't understand why it's the answer.
10D) I got this but again don't understand how it breaks down.

Now to have a go at the effort from DejMar.
(Got two answers on the first pass and then it all went to hell...)

THANKS to (nearly) everyone for the spoilers.

[novice]

[3iff]

15D) could be BEL - B from Baal and EL is a measure...
So 20A) is RILE

[DejMar]

3iff -

Answers regarding the questions concerning Suspence's clues:
8A - {Peter Brady is, as are each Greg and Bobby, a stepson of Carol Brady, the "mother" of 'The Brady Bunch' by virtue of her marriage to Mike Brady. Her biological children are the three girls - Marcia, Jan and Cindy.}

As there is no 12A, I assume you meant 12D:
12D - SUEDE {material} // "SWAYED" {influenced broadcast}
In case you meant 13A: Ogre takes on a sea creature. (4)
13A - ORC {from ork, J.R.R. Tolkien's adaptation of the French word 'ogre' to mean 'monster; ogre; or demon' }+A // ORCA {= orc, from Latin orca, killer whale }

There is a loose connection with RATE = DEGREE, but otherwise:
10D - IN = (IN+C+IN)+E+RATE // INCINERATE {burn}
inches (abbreviation); C = Charlie (ICAO phonetic alphabet); E = escaped first = first letter of ESCAPE

A comment regarding the solution for my 15D: Baal's measure for registering screams, maybe? (3)
Baal is an alternate name for Bel, as is Marduk. (Baal and Bel are etymologically connected, both from the semitic root word for 'lord').
bel is a unit measure of sound (named in honor of Alexander Graham Bell).

[3iff]

DejMar: Thanks.

12D...I understand now.
10D...I didn't understand the "two inches" but now it makes sense.

Your 15D: Bel did ring a bell (no pun intended) but it was only something I was able to get thanks to the efforts of others. Glad I'm right though.

As crosswords go, I'm better when assisting someone else or finishing off the last answer. Very occasionally I can get the answer simply looking at the available letters (rather than looking at the clue first). Trying to do one by myself is usually a bridge-to-far.

[Suspence]

[novice]

[Suspence]

That's slightly better, but as you say, still an indirect anagram. I didn't realize LIER was an actual word, I've only seen it as a common misspelling of LIAR.

I kept trying to figure out how to get RAGE from that wordplay.
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[novice]

Anyway, I did like your crossword, DejMar. It does have some questionable words and clues, but I don't mind as long as I have checked letters to work with.

Maybe it would help to practice constructing (regular) crossword grids - I get the impression that the challenging grid is what led to challenging words, which in turn led to challenging clues.

(I've been there myself after adding one constraint too many to my puzzle.)

[Suspence]

3. …to coerce and set in motion a desire absent of right. (5) = GOUGE

Set in motion = GO
Desire absent of right = URGE
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I hate people who try to write interesting things in their signature.

[Suspence]

[DejMar]

Suspence, Novice,

You are right. The clue for RILE fails in that it is in an indirect anagram. I'll have to re-work the clue, I guess. Thank you for your input, and you are most welcome in having tried it.

I've made a slight word change with a letter change in the puzzle. I don't expect you to find it difficult, but here is the replacement:
A purpose for demonic lore. (4)

[3iff]

Well, that's "ROLE". If I can get it then it must be easy

[The Potter]

glpics.com was created so that puzzlemakers here would have a place to upload and host images. MNOWAX handles the technical side; I don't know if he must activate the accounts. (And this time around it is being backed up!)

And because I am who I am... here is a pretty starting graphic for DejMar's puzzle. http://www.glpics.com/matthewv/crypticcwdejmar.jpg

[novice]