3 ms·
In the UK, terrible puns are de rigeur, but the answer has to be a recognisable standalone word or phrase. So 'poisoned pen' could be an answer, and the clue co
by boffinism 5y ago
In the UK, terrible puns are de rigeur, but the answer has to be a recognisable standalone word or phrase. So 'poisoned pen' could be an answer, and the clue could conceivably contain a pasta-based pun on that, but 'poisoned penne' could not.
- mcphage 5y agoSo the puns need to be in the clue, and not the answer?
- oneeyedpigeon 5y agoYou could have a pun in the answer - although I think that's pretty rare - but the answer itself would still need to be a recognized word/phrase.
- mcphage 5y agoThat's really interesting—I'm not much of a crosswords fan, but I had never even considered the idea that there are "dialects" in what crosswords clues & answers could be.
- joshuamorton 5y agoSort of. Cryptics, which are the international style, might have a clue like "insect in pants" -> "ant", which is pants without the first and last letters. And more complicated variants, like anagrams, mashing words together, etc.
- bl0b 5y agoIn the US, at least (TIL there's a different style across the pond, so fun), a 'pun-based' clue like that would need a question mark at the end of the clue. Additionally, I would say that that, because the answer isn't a coherent standalone word/phrase, that particular clue/answer combo would only be found in a puzzle as part of a hidden theme shared by a number of 'special clues' throughout the crossword, with some kind of rule uniting the answers (add 'ne' to the end of a common phrase, for example).