Farrago?

I know most of this blog's readers—and most of my other blog's readers, for that matter—don't get Games magazine or solve cryptic crosswords. Allow me a chance to rant anyway.

The point of a cryptic crossword is to decipher the clues. The answers themselves should be common words. Compare this to a "normal" crossword, in which oleo,ewer, and other unusual words find their way into the grid.

So I'm pissed about the second cryptic in the May 2007 Games. *SPOILER ALERT* One of the answers is farrago. That's a synonym for jumble or hodgepodge, but I couldn't have told you that until last night. I had to rummage through a crossword puzzle dictionary to find a word that matched the wordplay part of the clue. Other examples from this poorly constructed puzzle: unbandanged, rehearing, chancel, and pawn as a synonym for mortgage. There were others, but those were the worst.

I feel like Bob Stigger, the author, broke the cryptic contract with these clues.I say, boo on that.