Hi everyone,

I thought I'd try my hand at something a little different -- a Lois and Clark themed crossword puzzle. To get to it, click here .

The puzzle was created using the Eclipse Crossword program. you need to permit a Java Script to run in order to complete the puzzle. Click in any blank in a word to see its clue. Type the full answer and then hit "OK," or simply click elsewhere in the puzzle. If you can not figure out the answer to a clue, you can click on "Solve" to see that clue's answer.

Some of the puzzle's hints are straightforward; others are cryptic. The latter are indicated with question marks. I figured that since everyone completing the puzzle would probably be well-versed in the subject matter, have only straight-forward hints would make the puzzle too easy. I was having a tough time coming up with an appropriate difficulty level; I suspect that some of the hints may be a bit too subtle. I will explain the cryptic answers in a separate post.

I very much welcome feedback, and will use it to shape any future puzzles I may develop. Do you like the concept of LnC crossword puzzles? Which hints were good, and which ones were too easy or too difficult? Would you like more or fewer cryptic hints in the future? More or fewer intersections of words? I did have a few clues that I feared might have been unintelligible to non-US citizens; I tried to restrict my US allusions to things that I thought would be general knowledge to anyone who has seen some US TV programmes (which, obviously, should include everyone on this MB), but I am not sure how well I succeeded. Also, would you prefer the clues not to refer to other languages? I tried to keep the references to other languages restricted to words that would be more likely to be known even to people who don't know much of the language.

Also, I was thinking of sub-themes for future crossword puzzles (assuming, of course, that the feedback to the concept of the puzzles is positive enough to warrant the creation of future ones). The ideas I have so far are:

- Fill in the blank to complete the quote
- Who said the given quote?
- Puzzles based on specific episodes
- Puzzles based on trivia centered around a specific character

Do any of the above appeal to you? Have you other ideas for themes?

cheers,
Lynn