Which is worse: Crosswordese, or too many abbrev.?

[ebirnholz]

I just wanted to guage the opinion of other constructors here on the situation for one of my puzzles.

I've made a 15x15 grid, with 78 words.  Currently, there are 3 prefixes/suffixes, 6 abbreviations, and 2 words that the website www.crosswordese.com considers to be "crosswordese."  I've figured out a way to take out 1 of the crosswordese terms, which is the word NIB (which I can change to NEB, as in the abbreviation for Nebraska).....but that would leave me with 7 abbreviations.

I don't know what to make of this.  Considering that at least 9 of the 78 entries are either prefixes, suffixes, or abbreviations, I'm wondering if it's a bad thing if I add one more abbreviation to the puzzle in order to delete a crosswordese term.

So what do you think?  Should I go for one less crosswordese term, or one less abbreviation?

[Doorbell]

I wouldn't consider NIB to be crosswordese -- it's the point of a pen.  It's been used a number of times in NYT puzzles, even on a Monday.  I personally would pick NIB over NEB.

[Todd G]

I'll second what Doorbell said, and I voted that crosswordese was worse.  NIB is fine, and better than NEB.  But if it makes you feel better, you might try NAB or NUB instead.

[Delaine]

Agreed - Nib is much better than another abbreviation - and I also wouldn't consider nib to be crosswordese