G'day Kat,

Yeah, I've created a fair few x-words, by hand, and on computer. Don't bother looking for 'World Criteria' for word usage. You'll be damned lucky to find 'Publication Criteria' - no, that's being harsh. Most publications keep a fairly good 'local' standard - mainly because most of their x-words come from the same contributor.

There's a basic distinction between the layout of 'American' and 'English' puzzles (with untold other variants). As to word usage, there's 'normal' and 'cryptic' clues - both depend on your 'National Heritage' - there'll never be a 'World Standard'....

I'm knackered and off to bed. Just remember....

Neversayacrosswordkat...

Cheers - Sam