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Finally took my crack at cryptic clue stuff, and I like crosswords so a merge it is. Feedback on cryptic clues would be super appreciated.
I know it fits the normal 15x15 but it's not super filled. I'll try another eventually that is a bit more flushed out and less restricted then I made myself this time.

Well here's the puzzle:

Clues:
Across:
3. The cow started to speak Wednesday morning (4)
4. Solo Gig (4)
7. Random character attributes (8)
9. Vietnam joined Congo (7)
11. Between the crop lane (5)
12. Shred those who smile for photos (5)
13. Are we without an e (5)

Down:
1. Exclaiming joy for the end of weekend (5)
2. Mutate Genesis (5)
3. Lowest partial mistake (5)
5. Don't Overcook Eggs (5)
6. Begin strengthening electric fish (5)
8. Singular boisterous noise (7)
10. Vegetable pilot all-star (5)

enter image description here

Beastly Gerbil
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n_plum
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1 Answers1

3

Partial answer:

These aren't cryptic clues by any stretch. That is to say, they don't have cryptic structure (fairly indicated wordplay + a definition of the answer).

Rather,

they are clues which obliquely point to words which have homophones. This is evinced by the puzzle's title "Similarly Said Crossword." There are no homophone indicators in the clues themselves.

Here is what I have so far, with confirmed answers in bold:

Across:

  1. The cow started to speak Wednesday morning (4)

  2. Solo Gig (4)

  3. Random character attributes (8)

  4. Vietnam joined Congo (7)

GORILLA (There are many gorillas in the Congo; and Vietnamese soldiers were GUERILLAS)

(NOTE: joined is usually a concatenation indicator, but here you're using it to indicate a very loose associative connection.)

  1. Between the crop lane (5)

PLAIN (_PLANE; homophone with PLAIN)

(NOTE: between usually indicates proper containment, i.e. extra letters on both sides of the contained word.)

  1. Shred those who smile for photos (5)

  2. Are we without an e (5)

Down:

  1. Exclaiming joy for the end of weekend (5)

  2. Mutate Genesis (5)

GENES (GENES(is); homophone with JEANS)

(NOTE: mutate is usually an anagram indicator, not a removal indicator.)

  1. Lowest partial mistake (5)

  2. Don't Overcook Eggs (5)

DOUGH (capitals clue taking initials to get DOE; homophone with DOUGH)

(NOTE: Capitals never clue acrostics in cryptics; usually you would use an indicator like at first, initially, etc.)

  1. Begin strengthening electric fish (5)

STEEL (ST(rengthening) + EEL; homophone with STEAL)

  1. Singular boisterous noise (7)

  2. Vegetable pilot all-star (5)

Constructive Criticism:

Cryptic clues have a well-defined structure and there are many conventions for indicating wordplay surrounding them. You should familiarize yourself with this structure and these conventions.

The closest thing you have to a cryptic as far as I can tell is 6, but even that lacks a definition. Further, "begin" is only rarely used to indicate taking the first two letters—usually it would only indicate taking the first. You can turn it into a proper cryptic in the following way.

Strengthening the first two electric fish and metal (5)

whose structure is

Strengthening the first two electric fish | and       | metal  
wordplay                                  | connector | definition
DyingIsFun
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    +1 for persistence. Even with the homophone link established, this seems more like a loose association game where most clues don't even have a definition. It doesn't look like a lot of fun. (At least I've learned that gorilla and guerrilla are homophones in English.) – M Oehm Mar 09 '17 at 08:35
  • Sorry I have to rework it but my power is out right now... You got a few though.. gorilla, dough, plain, steel, genes – n_plum Mar 09 '17 at 16:50
  • I think, Solo Gig -> Role – Techidiot Mar 09 '17 at 17:05
  • I'm probably going to scrap this and redo it.. and @Techidiot it was meant to be solo as in individual and gig as in gigabyte to mean byte/bite – n_plum Mar 09 '17 at 18:57
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    Comment on the constructive criticism: I know that was an attempt to fix up the existing clue, but one should also note that using "begin" to take the first two letters from strengthening is not particularly neat nor fair. – Sp3000 Mar 09 '17 at 21:09
  • Yeah, I definitely wouldn't be able to get this far. These are neither cryptic clues nor fair. – Deusovi Mar 10 '17 at 14:51