The diagram is not a crossword, even though it might look like one. The whole thing is an excerpt from a piece of writing, in this case a novel. No hints as to which novel, of course, but if you have read any of Hsin-Yi's doggy mysteries, you might...oops, I wasn't supposed to give any hints.
Each word in the text ends at a shaded square, which is not necessarily at the end of a line. There's no punctuation.
You answer the clues as best you can, and transfer the letters to the diagram. The tiny letter in the top right of each square tells you which clue to transfer from.
Often you can guess incomplete words on the diagram, especially if you've read about Honey and her adventures - oops, forgot I'm not going to give away which author features in the puzzle.
As an extra help, the first letters of each answer, on the clue page, reading down, spell the name of the author and the title of the book.
In case I haven't explained clearly, here are some links to sites that describe the way to solve a crostic:
how stuff works
netcrostics
I'm including it as a jpg, so you would have to print out these two following sections, if you want to do it. I don't know how to make it bigger on the blog page, but if you click on each page of the puzzle, it opens in a new window where it's easier to read.
In a couple of weeks I'll post the answer, just in case someone wants to see it.
Have fun!
BTW, I've just had a thought. Seeing I'm a primary school teacher (elementary school), I'll mention that this puzzle is copyright free. Any teachers using H A Hanna's award-winning books in class are welcome to print off these puzzles.
