Double Unches

[olichant]

Sorry if this is a slightly esoteric question, but I'd be really interested in people's views.

I'm working on a barred-grid puzzle at the moment, and try as I might, for various reasons I can't eliminate a couple of double unches in seven-letter words.

They do look a bit unsightly, but are they really a major problem? Assuming I manage to get rid of them, I'll simply be distributing the unches elsewhere in the clue. Currently the unches are in the middle of the answers - not at the beginning or the end - and so I don't really get why it's considered such bad form for them to be adjacent.

Thoughts greatly appreciated...

[TheFrogman]

In terms of a Ximenean puzzle, it is a 'no-no'. In 'Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword', he writes, 'two consecuive unches...this is not allowed'. Looking at the broader context, in the Chambers Crossword Dictionary, Jonathan Crowther (Azed) says, 'In [blocked and barred puzzles] the inclusion of consecutive unchecked letters in answers is considered bad practice and generally frowned on.'

One could perhaps argue that an eight-letter entry with only two consecutive unches (the other six letters being checked) was 'more' acceptable since the increased difficulty of solving would be balanced out by the fact that as many as three separate unches would have been permitted. But given that in a six or seven letter answer a maximum of two unches are allowed, that argument fails. If you are planning to submit the puzzle for publication, I would definitely advise steering clear of consecutive unches...

[olichant]

Thanks, TheFrogman.