Basic Rules for Original Kingsley Double Crostics
by Doris Nash Wortman
as reprinted in the Acrostics Network Newsletter #87,
November 2004
- Quotations forming the basis of the puzzles must be from 175 to
200 letters in length. Diagramless ones may have 234 letters.
- Author's name and title of work together should be no more
than 28 characters in length.
- Quotations should be from works of general interest, old or new,
not too familiar, as great familiarity reduces the pleasure of
working out the puzzle. A quote from Lincoln's Gettysburg Address,
for example, would too soon reveal itself.
- Each quotation must be interesting, fairly complete and able to
stand alone apart from its context.
- Each WORD (or phrase) should be listed in Webster's New International
Dictionary (Second Edition), or its authority must be named; it must be
fairly defined. No obsoletes, dialect or "Scot." forms.
- No more than one letter from any word in the quotation should appear
in any one WORD to be guessed. Spread your letters around. If your
quote has a "qu," for example, make sure that there is another "u" in it
which you can employ to follow the "q" in planning your WORDS.
- In general, follow the established Kingsley style and tone. Do not
introduce novelties of any sort, no matter how charming.
- Each puzzle submitted must include the diagram and the full answer
(quotation and list of WORDS). Please type D-Cs, if possible, on one side
of the paper only, name and address on each page. Squares of diagrams at
least 1/2 inch across; large legible letters in square.
Clearly the puzzles we are publishing do not follow these early rules,
(which are perhaps from the fifties?) but I thought it might be fun to have them for comparison.
Page first posted by Sue Gleason October 31 2004; Last modified: October 31, 2004