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Harry Potter and the Chamber of Cryptics

10/9/2014

2 Comments

 
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Whenever I visit my parents' house, I spend a few private moments in front of one particular watercolour painting.

It is a scene of laundry drying in the backyards of a Montreal suburb in very early spring, sometimes in the 1960s. The artist who painted it was my grandmother and like much of her work, the medium is unassuming and the scene is quietly domestic. And yet, I am transfixed at every viewing. When I stand before that painting, I feel as if, for just a moment, I have stepped back in time and into her life.


A few weeks ago, the cryptic crossword setter Anax commented on this blog, sharing an old clue from a Times crossword:
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        Every second of every minute, someone plants a flower (5)

Anax has probably written thousands of clues and read thousands more, yet this one stayed with him, he said, because "it was one of those extremely rare ‘ideal’ clues where everything fitted perfectly."

In her Harry Potter series, J. K. Rowlings describes horcruxes: objects in which a wizard can hide a piece of his or her soul in the hopes of achieving immortality. In the books, it's considered an evil practice, but if you take it out of the relm of good and evil, the idea of a piece of us living on long after we've gone is beautiful.
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I knew exactly what he meant. Don't we all? Those rare creations that cause something to resonate inside us. The hum of something being perfect. The feeling, as Carol Shield wrote of a character falling in love, that is "how a Chinese gong must feel when it is struck by a hammer in its absolute center."

When I put the question to the Cryptic Crossword Society — what clue has stayed with you over the years? — answers came back fast and furious.
Some were classics (Senselessness, 1), others were whole narratives (Auracaria's disclosure of his cancer diagnosis), some I didn't get (Uncommonly tight, 2, 5, 2, 1, 4). One in particular was so clever, it's become a new favourite: Eggs on toast (6).

Every writer wants to leave a horcrux: a brilliant novel, an essay that the reader turns over again and again in her mind (the way I do with Joan Didion's "Goodbye to All That"), a perfect metaphor—perhaps one about a Chinese gong—that is remembered ten years after it is first absorbed.
I may be over-reaching but really great cryptic crossword clues don't just seem like wordplay to me; they seem like poetry. And doesn't a really great poem carries a piece of the poet's soul?

If you are a writer of clues, tell me: what is your "horcrux"? If you are a poet, dancer, photographer, artist, what is yours?

2 Comments
anax
10/9/2014 05:21:52 am

Hmm – interesting! Even with the good/evil thing put aside, I find it difficult to imagine that a particular clue could live on.
There are a number of reasons, and from the solving point of view I guess the main one is that solvers don’t remember things for as long as we hope (or, in some cases, fear). It’s a relief to know that dodgy clues get forgotten very quickly, but we have to accept that the same will be true of good ones.
On the setting side, we tend to view clues in a different way. Sometimes a rather plain clue is actually very good when its position in the grid serves to open that area for more solutions – where clues might be trickier – or, of course, it may be the other way round. For me the quality of a clue depends on its context in the puzzle.
Another factor is how well the clue has come together in relation to the sort of letters offered by its answer. Where we can, we pick answers which offer at least some wordplay potential before we commit them to the grid, so when we come to clue them we already have a rough idea of our approach. As the grid fills, though, some answers get forced into place and have unfriendly letters, so we’re delighted to find any clue that reads coherently without being prolix. Some of the best clues are those that have involved a real struggle but have rewarded you with a convincing, neat story.

Reply
Pictor Cruciverbich
10/9/2014 07:06:13 pm

Hi Sarah.

Somewhat ironically, as a creator of standalone clues, I agree with Anax that grid context plays a big part when picking the all time greats. I've just emailed an old solving friend to see what they'll choose. I'd not seen eggs on toast before and i'm not sure you could improve on that surface.

Thanks for the article, i really enjoyed it (despite having succesfully avoided all things Potter in life!)

Pictor,
@Mr_Cruciverbich

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    About Sarah

    I'm a writer, adventurer, amateur setter of cryptic crosswords, lover of "ah-ha!" moments, and exhausted mom.

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