On the compiling of crosswords

This year's Christmas crossword has been very popular, it seems, with its inclusion in the Cork Independent newspaper bringing the puzzle to a new audience.

Any road up, and as always, solutions that seemed clear enough to the compiler are causing puzzlement above and beyond what I foresaw.

In case it helps, and—to be frank—to save time, I'm reproducing here the relevant parts of my reply to a concerned crossworder whose question has been asked by more than one person already.

‘…you’re not the only person who has wondered about how to reconcile their solutions for 11 across and 9 down. Of course there’s a little nudge in 22 across.

Some quick research on the internet led me to this blog post:

https://tony-sever.livejournal.com/394825.html

In case it’s not convenient for you to click the link, here is an excerpt from it that might lead you in the right direction.:

‘Perhaps there was a time when apostrophes were indicated in enumerations in Times crosswords, but for as long as I can remember they haven't been. Even if the apostrophe replaces a letter and a space (as in Côte d'Azur), the enumeration treats it as if it simply doesn't exist, so that COTE D'AZUR is treated as COTE DAZUR (and of course appears as COTEDAZUR in the grid…’