Mathcross
Extra Credit Puzzles
(and More Mathcross Extra Credit Puzzles)
Puzzles marked with a star (*) are worth
5 points each. Limit is 10 points per student per quarter.
If you work with another student, you may split the points.
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Puzzle |
Choose |
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22a |
Calculus crossword, 6 themed answers |
11/7/06 |
6/24/07 |
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27 |
Old Town Alexandria |
12/9/06 |
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31 |
Calculus crossword, 5 themed answers |
2/20/07 |
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32 |
IntroCal |
2/20/07 |
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34a |
HappyCal |
5/29/07 |
7/16/07 |
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35a |
Space theme, suitable for everyone |
6/10/07 |
7/2/07 |
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37a |
“Couch Potatoes” |
6/30/07 |
7/16/07 |
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38 |
“Math Fun” (Algebra II and above) |
7/22/07 |
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39 |
“This Theme Is Self-Referential” (suitable
for everyone) |
8/1/07 |
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41 |
Introductory statistics, 6 themed answers |
8/27/07 |
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42 |
Geometry |
9/15/07 |
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43 |
Chaos and fractals |
11/1/07 |
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44 |
Mystery theme |
3/22/08 |
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45 |
Chaos and fractals II |
6/8/08 |
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46 |
Instruments |
4/5/08 |
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47 |
Precalculus |
4/6/08 |
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48 |
Geometry II |
6/15/08 |
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49 |
Tribute to Tim Russert, 1950-2008 |
6/19/08 |
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50 |
Political Symmetries |
10/4/09 |
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51 |
Big Problems Everywhere |
12/23/09 |
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52 |
HappyCal II |
4/17/010 |
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53 |
Almost Impossible (suitable for everyone) |
6/20/010 |
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54 |
Vaguely mathematical theme |
10/5/011 |
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55 |
More MODD |
11/4/011 |
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59 |
Geometry IV |
12/22/011 |
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64* |
FunStat (Functions & Statistics) |
9/22/2020 |
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More Mathcross Puzzles (lower quality, older) |
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* Eligible for up to 5 points of extra credit (see rules at
top of page).
** Double extra
credit, up to 10 points. Rationale for the extra value for these puzzles:
-- Puzzle #38 is “daily
crossword size” (15 by 15 squares) but is super-difficult. Only 3 students have
solved this puzzle so far.
-- Puzzle #51 is
extra-large, 27 by 27 squares. However, it has virtually no math and is easy
except in one region, where not all of the squares are filled by letters. Only
one student has solved this puzzle so far.
-- Puzzle #53 is “Sunday
crossword size” (21 by 21). The theme refers not to the puzzle, which is only
medium-hard, but to activities that are almost impossible.
Notes concerning crossword standards
All puzzles listed above conform to the design standards for American crossword
puzzles. Although I have not found an authoritative, canonical list, the
following seem to be fairly well established as rules for publication-quality
crosswords:
·
Grid pattern must
be symmetric. Rotational symmetry (180°) is typical, though bilateral symmetry
is also allowed.
·
Solid blocks, not
bars, must separate answers.
·
No more than
about 1/6 of the grid may be blocked.
·
Answers must
interlock throughout the puzzle, leaving no isolated regions.
·
Each answer must
be at least 3 letters long. Multiple words are allowed, and the clues nowadays
seldom indicate when an answer has more than one word.
·
Each letter must
be clued twice, once in an “across” clue and once in a “down” clue.
·
Tense, number, degree
of formality, and abbreviation status should agree between clue and answer. For
example, a colloquial answer should have a colloquial clue, and an abbreviated
answer should have an abbreviated clue or the “(abbr.)” indication.
·
No inside jokes.
·
No repeated
answers or stems. For example, if SPILL is an answer somewhere in the puzzle,
then SPILL, SPILLS, or SPILLED cannot be answers elsewhere in the same puzzle,
even if used as part of a phrase (e.g., SPILLTHEBEANS). Even short words (OF,
AND, TO) should not be used in more than one answer unless required by the
puzzle’s theme.
·
“Across” answers
should read from left to right, and “down” answers should read from top to
bottom, although rare exceptions are permitted. See, for example, the excellent
puzzles in the pamphlet accompanying the DVD of the 2006 movie Wordplay.
·
No excessively
tortured answers. Although clues can be tortured, especially if marked by “?”
to indicate a pun or wordplay, answers should not be. All answers should be
words, phrases, or portions of phrases from general knowledge, unless the
answers are altered in some clever way to satisfy the puzzle’s theme.
Consequently, nonsense words are usually not permitted, nor are foreign words
unless they have been assimilated into English (e.g., PROTEGE) or are common
knowledge (e.g., CASA). Random mash-ups (e.g., “Western bovine” as a clue for
UTAHCOW) are not permitted, since they are an obvious attempt to sidestep the
rule prohibiting bars as separators.
·
To the extent
possible, a clue should not duplicate any portion of the answer. For example,
“Animal that enjoys ants” would be a poor clue for ANTEATER.
·
Answers
consisting of abbreviations, commercial trademarks, prefixes, suffixes, Roman
numerals, or obscure “crosswordese” such as ADIT and
DELE should be kept to a minimum.
·
If the puzzle has
a theme, then the longest answers in the puzzle must conform to the theme. This
rule is sometimes stated as “no non-themed answers can be longer than any
themed answers,” but I find that rule overly restrictive and do not always
follow it.
Since Mathcross
puzzles are written for high school math and science students, I permit some
entries that would be unacceptable for a general audience (for example, I would
accept “5.436 . . .” as a valid clue for an answer of TWOE since 2e is approximately equal to 5.436).
However, if the puzzle contains anything more cryptic or tortured than that, I
would treat it as a failed puzzle. You can see some of my older, less
successful puzzles on the More Mathcross
Puzzles page. Many of those still qualify for extra credit!
Other
requirements
There can be other requirements, such as limits on the number of clues,
aesthetic standards for avoiding large clusters of black squares, and so on,
but the ones listed above are the main ones. Puzzle construction is
challenging, even with software to help, and many of my puzzles are not good
enough to list here on the main page (see More Mathcross Puzzles for the rest).
Surprisingly, one of the most difficult requirements is the one about avoiding
repeated answers. Often I will get to the end of building a puzzle, only to
realize that I have to go back and rework a large portion because an answer has
been used twice. The pool of 3- and 4-letter words that work well in crosswords
is simply too small. For a number of years, before the budget cuts of 2008, The Washington Post would run two
puzzles on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and there was almost always a
word in common, even though the two puzzles came from different syndicates and
different authors. Answers such as AAR, ALOE, AVOW, ERIE, ERNE, ERSE, OHIO, and
TSAR are definitely overused in crossword puzzles, but if you try constructing
a puzzle yourself, you will see why.
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Last updated: 22 Sep 2020