guitargoddess, I naively thought it was, but luckily I am wrong. It seems it used all over the world, which bodes well for my crossword.

We always called it a "tap," where I grew up stateside (in New Jersey), though "faucet" is understandable too.

Sue

Here in Ottawa it is called a tap. Taps is the 'last post' in Girl Guides, Scouts, etc. "Day is Done".

Here I am with another crossword question. My crossword was placed online earlier today, but is not showing on the crossword page. However it is showing on my profile page. Does it usually take a while to show up on the crossword page?

Ahh! The glitch is back. I seem to remember many of my crosswords having this problem - sometimes it took up to 2 days to go on the crossword page.

Ah I see. I though it might be a glitch, especially after the bug that kept telling everyone who wanted to create a television crossword that there were already 98 waiting. Maybe that has something to do with it. Hopefully it will pop up in the next couple of days. Thanks jonnowales.

If I have a crossword clue that reads, for example: Bill's eponymous "___ ___ Show", and the answer is (TheCosby), do I have to indicate "2 wds" in my hint or do the two blank lines make it clear that I'm looking for an answer that has two words?

I hope this makes sense. :-)

It needs to be just one blank and a hint that says (2 words). It's explained on the first page of this thread.

Oh, thanks, GG! I thought I had read this entire thread, but of course missed the part that was relevant to me!

You're welcome. Always the way it is, isn't it

You might also consider using a different definition of 'taps' relating to the act of tapping, to the fittings on tapshoes, to the bugle call of that name, etc.

Me again with a quick question relating to the number of 2 letter words in a crossword. I'm just curious as to whether anyone else (like me), when looking to cross as many words as possible (as the guidlelines encourages), end up crossing quite a few 2 letter words? I just received a correction note saying I had too many (I had 19). Around 17 of those were crossed with other words, and I was just wondering if this is the same across all categories (this was in Movies)? Over half of these two letter words were related to the subject of the crossword, so I was wondering if there was a limit on 2 letter words, that I was unaware of? The guidelines don't say anything about it. It's not a big deal, but I would prefer not to make the same mistake again.

I just received a lovely note from Spanishliz, outlining the 2 letter words question I posted above. Here's the response (for anyone else who may be wondering what the answer was):

"The reasoning behind not wanting too many is that "real" crosswords seldom allow any at all, and we've been striving to reach similar goals. Many quiz authors will use the short words simply to reach the proper per centage of used squares, or to cross at least half the letters in a word. When this happens we often end up with what looks like a row of dragon's teeth!"

Luckily this wasn't the case with my crossword, but Spanishliz's explanation really makes it clear why 2 letter words should be used sparsely.

Thanks again Spanishliz

Yes, often a little more thought would give you, instead of a two letter word, a four letter word that crosses two words at once - a much better situation. Sometimes there is nothing for it, and it's the two letter word or nothing, but if you keep the restriction in mind during construction, you can come up with a better puzzle.

I really admire all the crossword puzzle authors and editors. They really are harder to write and edit than anyone realizes.

Are linked clues acceptable? Like, "With X-Down, such-and-such" and have X-Down provide the other half of the answer? Or, say you have a movie title as the answer to X-Across, and then want to ask about the star of said movie in another clue. Is it acceptable to ask, "Star of X-Across"? I've seen this done on crosswords in the newspaper, but I wanted to check. Thank you!

Yes, those clues are acceptable.

Great, thanks!

I was just wondering if there was a list of category waiting times for crosswords anywhere on the site? The only reason I ask is that my Literature crossword has been submitted for roughly a week and a half and it doesn't usually take this long for crosswords to be looked at. Please don't think this is a complaint, as it's not. I was just wondering. I know that there are only a few crossword editors and they all do a fantastic job. I am happy to wait, I was simply wondering whether there was a general guide as to how long I might expect to wait.

Poshprice we have just come through a period where, between family commitments and health issues, the crossword editors have been very busy. It seemed that we all posted a 'I'm going to be busy for the next little while, can someone help me out' message at nearly the same time! Thank you for your patience.

Yes, linked questions are permitted, provided they are not overdone. It is also important to make sure that the link remains throughout changes made to the puzzle. What sometimes happens is that when someone edits a puzzle, by adding or deleting words, the links don't make sense anymore. I can't tell you how many times I've edited a puzzle that says 'With 8D' (for example), only to find there is no 8D!

Thanks for the reply Skunkee. I appreciate it. I hope that you and the other crossword editors are all ok. As for the wait....no problem whatsoever. I am loving creating more puzzles. Take care.

Having just clicked on my newest crossword to be placed online, I spotted an error in one of my clues. However, when I went back to the edit screen, there was no error. Basically, the error is only appearing on the final version of the crossword, which I find bizarre.

I was just wondering if anybody else could see the error? The crossword in question is on "Hairspray", and the clue is 22across. It currently reads "Leaving the house gives Tracys mama the ___ jeebies". But the missing apostrophe is present on my edit screen.

The apostrophe was there for me, but showing up as a square instead. I have just changed/reinserted the apostrophe on the edit screen, saved the change using the "click here so new changes will show online" (abridged version...) and it looks ok now.

(Spanishliz, crossword editor)