[36chambers]

any that were too basic or too contrived?

my favourites were
5. rear circumnavigation after digital broadcast (4,6)
18. friend before cat without feet (6)
19. curtailed house warming gives result of stacked pads ( (this one took ages, but was satisfying to get)

I still don't get why 10. Lethargic lifter (7,2,3,4) = calling of the grit, despite it being obvious from the linking words. 

4. Squeal piggy squeal! (11). Never would have got it without a lot of googling. Haven't seen the film. Originally thought it was "fingercrack".

15. This arete is a real Beech! (5,9). Never heard of the climb fagus sylvatica, so this one took me a long time to get.

Definitely wouldn't have got 21. singular velcro temps (5,6) if I didn't know it was climb.

Overall it was good, but pretty hard. My only criticism would be to only use well known climbs rather than something like fagus sylvatica or obscene toilet (unless the whole point was to use niche ones).

[tlr]

“I still don't get why 10. Lethargic lifter (7,2,3,4) = calling of the grit, despite it being obvious from the linking words.”


Anagram innit. (Although I didn’t realise that until I read the answer).

Too hard for me after my initial flurry of answers. Some answers I hadn’t heard of, and pretty tough not knowing if it was as anagram, cryptic or more straightforward. Difficult  with so few confirming letters too.

Good effort getting them all 36, and thanks for setting it  TTT.

[teestub]

Anagram missing the ‘n’!

[tomtom]

We tried to have a range of clues - but I know there are some crossword experts on UKB so wanted to make this accessible but still an challenge to all. Maybe some of the answers were a bit too UKB ‘in joke’ (eg fuckall) which can be tweaked.

Also when making the crossword you get lots of choices of layout - and I deliberately avoided Those that intersected the two longest answers (north wales guidebook / beastmaker...) too many times as this would have made getting those two a quick step to doing the whole thing.

Maybe another 10-15 clues of easier answers on top of the 25 already there would have helped. One for next year

[nik at work]

Anagram missing the ‘n’!

And a g and too many t's...

But anyway, nice one. Didn't really try and do the whole thing but gave me a pleasant 5 minutes of idle contemplation amongst the endless chaos that is Christmas chez moi. Thanks to all involved.

[lagerstarfish]

any that were too basic or too contrived?

my favourites were
5. rear circumnavigation after digital broadcast (4,6)
18. friend before cat without feet (6)
19. curtailed house warming gives result of stacked pads ( (this one took ages, but was satisfying to get)

all mine

get in!

I worried about the single "s" instead of "puss" for 18

[tomtom]

I thought they were 3T’s :D

[Duma]

First, great work to all the setters, enjoyed the diversion.

I think more crossings would have been better, esp when many clues could have several valid answers.
Don't really get 11D (I had louder for this).
12D was harsh I think, backwards is misleading as an anagram indicator, and you had to solve the anagram to get the clue, so had no idea of length.
10A was OK as it had a few crossings, but missing letters from an anagram is a bit harsh!
14D was a pretty vague clue for an obscure answer, and with only one letter to confirm (I had buckled for this).
I didn't get 21A but reckon it was fair.

[lagerstarfish]

I think that next time we should check each other's clues for faults/quality - add our initials after we have checked somebody else's clue

[Will Hunt]

I enjoyed my poor attempt at it - thanks to everyone who contributed. That's not to say I didn't grouse about a number of the clues. If you're used to cryptic crosswords I think it was quite hard because the clues didn't follow the same sort of format, where the clue will lead you to the answer in two different ways. I was struggling to tell which were the genuinely cryptic clues and which were the obscure hints at some climbing related term. The advantage of having cryptic clues is that there can normally only be one acceptable answer to each question (e.g. I had put "Leader" for Not a sheep!; I had "Elder Statesman" at first for the Beech of an arete; Louder for escalating beta).

Best clue, even though I didn't get it was curtailed house warming gives result of stacked pads.

[tomtom]

Ukb crossword. Beta testing complete

[36chambers]

If you're used to cryptic crosswords I think it was quite hard...

easier for the short right?

[tomtom]

If you're used to cryptic crosswords I think it was quite hard...

easier for the short right?

:D

[tlr]

If you're used to cryptic crosswords I think it was quite hard...

easier for the short right?

:D

Agreed! Just done the Telegraph cryptic in a couple of hours - I could only do 12 of the UKB crossword in total!

And I’m not short.

[Will Hunt]

If you're used to cryptic crosswords I think it was quite hard...

easier for the short right?

Isn't everything?!

[spidermonkey09]

4. Squeal piggy squeal! (11). Never would have got it without a lot of googling. Haven't seen the film. Originally thought it was "fingercrack".

Absolutely quality film, cult classic!

[Steve R]

As a crossworder of average height, I found it tough but enjoyed some satisfying moments.  Got a few wrong and gave up on a couple.  Many thanks again to the setters.  I liked the problem/route name clues and 'ukb speak' clues - without these, anyone could do it? My 'best fails' were:
14D Waddage
22D Power Club
12D Helsby
 

[Duma]

14D Waddage

Nice! my original answer for this was Eurowad, which delayed me getting 16A for a while

[tommytwotone]

All, just a heads-up / marketing message on behalf of twotone industries inc.

So I've started work on the UKB Christmas Crossword, building on the excellent start from tomtom last year.

I've got as far as a "proper" grid (I just ripped off a recent Guardian cryptic that had roughly the right word lengths in it) and have finally, after a lot of faffing completed it. Turns out making a cryptic is a lot harder than solving one, especially if you're attempting some vague form of theme / link in the answers!

I now need to start the process of clueing, but hopefully I've given myself plenty of time. To be released at some point in mid-December.

Think I may also do a themed quick crossword as well, for those who don't do cryptics!

[Duma]

psyched for this!

[Will Hunt]

I'm psyched.

[dunnyg]

I'd appreciate the quick crossword, i'm too thick for cryptics

[SA Chris]

I'd appreciate the quick crossword, i'm too thick for cryptics

Me two.

[tommytwotone]

Edit: progress is good, I'm also getting a bit addicted to coming up with clues.

Thinking that as it's a more appropriate UKB event / festival, I may make it a Calling Of The Grit celebration crossword!

[dunnyg]

That isn't very inclusive for those (monsters) who boulder year round on the lime...