Don't Cross Words with Me about Crosswords

 The average solver might not know this, but crossword fans do--crossword puzzles have certain conventions, both to make the puzzle fair and to make it look better.  The primary rule is that every letter must be "checked," that is every letter in a white square must be part of both an across clue and a down clue.  This is done so that a solver has two chances to get an answer.  If they don't know the answer to one clue, they might know the answers to the intersecting clues, and thereby get the answer to the first clue.  Secondly, every answer should be at least three letters long.  This is done to not only make sure that each letter is checked, but also to allow a greater range of answers.  Even today, there are only so many two-letter combinations that make sense.  Re-using the same ones in multiple puzzles would leave a solver bored.  There is no maximum length except by the size of the puzzle, but because of other rules, there would have to be at least two more and as many as five more of the same length to remain a legal puzzle.  Lastly, crosswords have a radial symmetry.  Basically, if you turned an unsolved puzzle upside-down, the pattern of black and white squares would look the same.  Occasionally, a reflective symmetry is used instead, meaning the left and right sides match each other, except reversed, as in a mirror.  There are other conventions, but these are the major ones.  I bring this up because a major national magazine has recently made changes to its crossword puzzle.  So much so, that the puzzle should no longer be called a crossword.  This magazine is TV Guide.  Traditionally, their puzzle has never been one of the harder ones. When it went from digest to tabloid size years ago, a began doing the puzzle every issue.  I never had too many problems with it, unless the name of an unfamiliar actor or a character from a show I never saw came up.  Sure, there was an occasional offbeat answer and many clues weren't connected to television at all, but it was a nice diversion. Then, back in August, the magazine made a big change in the puzzle.  Many clues became unchecked.  Quite a few answers had only two letters.  The grid was unsymmetrical.  The puzzle broke all of these rules.  There wasn't even a theme tying many of the answers together.  Now, not every puzzle had a true theme, but the current configuration pretty much prevents that.  Also, the puzzle often has a sponsor who takes out a two-page spread including the puzzle, as well as a clue that refers back to the sponsor.  I'm sorry, but this no longer makes the puzzle a crossword.  Yes, some places and people would still call this a "crossword," but I am not one of them.  I guess it is easier to make a grid such as this, but it doesn't really work for me.  Solvers don't always like "easier."