- Crosswordese
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Crosswordese is a term generally used to describe words frequently found in crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation. They are usually short words, three to five letters, with letter combinations which crossword constructors find useful in the creation of crossword puzzles. This is frequently because short words that start with a vowel are needed in every puzzle to some extent. Too much crosswordese in a crossword puzzle is considered a negative thing by cruciverbalists, or crossword enthusiasts.
Knowing the language of ‘crosswordese’ is helpful to constructors and solvers alike. According to Marc Romano,[1] “to do well solving crosswords, you absolutely need to keep a running mental list of “crosswordese,” the set of recurring words that constructors reach for whenever they are heading for trouble in a particular section of the grid.”
Frequently used crosswordese
- Portions of phrases are occasionally used as fill in the blank clues. For instance, "Et tu, Brute?" might appear in a puzzle's clue sheet as "_____, Brute?"
Architecture
- Apse - a semicircular church recess
- Ell - an extension to a building
- Classical orders -- referring to ancient architecture most readily identifiable by the style or support columns
- Doric order (Greek)
- Ionic order (Greek or Roman)
- Also Corinthian order (Greek), Tuscan order and composite order (both Roman)
- Nonce orders -- referring to Greek-style columns used in modern buildings.
- Nave - the middle section of a church
Biblical references
Brand and trade names
- Afta and Atra - Gillette brand aftershave and safety razor, respectively
- Esso - petroleum company, known as Exxon in the United States
- STP - a brand of motor oil additives; slogan "The Racer's Edge"
Computers and the Internet
- SCSI - pronounced "scuzzy," a set of standards to physically connect computers and peripherals for the purpose of transferring data.
- TLDs - Top-level domain abbreviations that appear at the end of website addresses
- .com - the most common TLD used in the United States, refers to websites with commercial interests
- .edu - reserved for accredited post-secondary educational institutions, i.e. two-year community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, and post-graduate institutions
- .gov - reserved for all non-military branches of the United States Government
- .mil - reserved for exclusive use of the United States Department of Defense
- .net - originally intended for networks such as internet service providers, now also used by websites that have few if any commercial activities outside the internet, such as blogs
- .org - generally used by non-profit organizations
- USB - abbreviation of Universal Serial Bus, a method of establishing communications between a host controller and a variety of devices
Directions between cities
A 16-point compass rose showing the 16 standard compass directions.Many puzzles ask for the direction from one city to another. These directions always fall between the standard octaval compass points—i.e., North (N - 0° or 360°), Northeast (NE - 45°), East (E - 90°), etc.
The directions asked for on clue sheets are usually approximations. Starting at north and going clockwise, the directions are:
- NNE = North-northeast (22.5°)
- ENE = East-northeast (67.5°)
- ESE = East-southeast (112.5°)
- SSE = South-southeast (157.5°)
- SSW = South-southwest (202.5°)
- WSW = West-southwest (247.5°)
- WNW = West-northwest (292.5°)
- NNW = North-northwest (337.5°)
Fictional characters
- Asta - film dog of the 1930s
- Esmé - title character of the short story "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor" by J. D. Salinger and included in the collection of his story titled Nine Stories.
- Ilsa - as in Ilsa Lund, the character played by Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
- Smee - Captain Hook's chief assistant in Peter Pan
Food and drink
- Ade - a beverage generally made of fruit juice, water and sugar; as in lemonade.
- Aioli - A condiment similar to mayonnaise, usually with garlic.
- Grog - an alcoholic beverage made of heated low-alcohol beer, rum and a variety of flavorings such as lemon or lime juice, cinnamon and sugar.
- Maha or Mahi - Sanskrit for fish. "Mahi" may refer to mahi-mahi.
- Mead - honey wine
- Nehi - a line of fruit-flavored soft drinks from the Royal Crown Company. Grape Nehi was the favorite drink of Radar O'Reilly on the TV series M*A*S*H
- MSG - monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer that may cause asthmatic reactions in some people.
- Oleo - Used as a synonym for *Margarine.
- Penne and Ziti - hollow, cylindrical pastas. Penne is usually about 1 cm (about 3/8 inch) in diameter with ridges on the outside and angle-cut at the ends. Ziti is larger in diameter, usually smooth on the outside and square-cut at the ends.
- Phở - a Vietnamese soup made with beef and rice noodles, usually served with basil, lime, bean sprouts and peppers.
Foreign words
- Apres - from the French word meaning "after"; commonly used in English in the term "après skiing"
- Erse - Scottish Gaelic
- Ete - summer in French
- Frau - German for "woman", "wife" or "Mrs."
- Herr - German for "Mister (Mr.)"
- Mme - abbreviation of the French honorific "Madame"
- Mann - German for "man" or "husband"
- Sra. - abbreviation for señora (Spanish)
- Tio and Tia - Spanish for "uncle" and "aunt", respectively
General adjectives and adverbs
- Eoan - an adjective meaning "of the dawn"
Geography
- Agra - an ancient city in India best known as the location of the Taj Mahal.
- Asti - a city of Italy known for its sparkling wines
- Mesa - a Spanish word commonly used in English—especially in the American Southwest—to designate a plateau that sits higher in elevation than its immediate surroundings.
- Ouse - river in Yorkshire
- Tor - a rock outcrop formed by weathering
Jargon and slang
Latin words and phrases
- Ad hoc - pertaining to a specific problem
- Dies Irae - Day of Wrath - a medieval hymn used in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass
- Et tu, Brute? - alleged last words spoken by Julius Caesar after being stabbed by his friend Brutus
- Veni, vidi, vici - a phrase spoken by Julius Caesar meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered"
Manmade items
- Etui - a small purse often used to hold sewing supplies
- Ewer - a decorative pitcher
- Olio - a miscellaneous mixture of elements, especially artistic works, musical pieces, writing, or food
Multiple meanings
- Abba
- ATL
- Atlantic
- IATA "baggage code" for Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport
- scoreboard abbreviation for Atlanta sports teams
- CBS
- formerly the Columbia Broadcasting System
- scoreboard abbreviation for Columbus Blue Jackets
- DSM
- IATA "baggage code" for Des Moines International Airport (rarely used)
- The Distinguished Service Medal, a decoration awarded to members of the military in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America
- The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- a puzzle may also include a Roman numeral to indicate a specific edition (the current edition, DSM-V, is slated to be replaced by DSM-VI in 2013)
- Mahi
- as in mahi-mahi.
- the Sanskrit word for fish.
- as in the Mahi River in India.
- Miss
- Title for an unmarried woman
- Old-style abbreviation for Mississippi
- MSG
- NEA
- National Education Association - an American labor union for school teachers
- National Endowment for the Arts
- Obs
- observatory (abbr.)
- obsolete (abbr.)
- Rev
- as in "to rev an engine"
- The Book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament (abbr.)
- revenue (abbr.)
- Reverend (abbr.)
- reverse (abbr.)
- review (abbr.)
- revise (abbr.)
- revolution (abbr.)
- Zooey
- as in Zooey Glass, title character of the book Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
- as in American actress Zooey Deschanel
- also a pet version of the names "Zachary" and "Zechariah"
Names of contemporary people (20th and 21st centuries)
(Note: The popularity of certain names used in crosswordese may wane with the passing of time. For instance, "Ito" -- as in Robert Ito, a Canadian-born actor of Japanese descent who was a regular on Quincy, M.E. from 1976 to 1983—continued to be a popular crosswordese reference throughout most of the 1980s. Yet, although he has remained active professionally, the appearance of his name in today's crosswords is a rare occurrence.)
- Arlo - as in Arlo Guthrie, American folk singer
- Elia – as in Elia Kazan, Greek-born American film and theater director
- Erle – as in Erle Stanley Gardner, an American lawyer, author of detective stories, creator of Perry Mason
- Erté - Russian-born French graphics and costume designer.
- Esai - as in Esai Morales, an American actor of Puerto Rican descent
- Uta - as in Uta Hagen, an American actress born in Germany
Names of historical people
- El Cid - title given to Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, an 11th century Castilian soldier most famous for conquering Valencia, Spain; also a 1961 film of the same name staring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren
Nature, references to
- Aerie - the high nest of a bird of prey
- Erne - a sea eagle.
- Tse - as in the tsetse fly (often referred to as "half an African fly").
Poetic phrases and terms
- E'en - contraction of "even"
- Erin - poetic name for Ireland
- O'er - contraction of "over"
- 'Twas - contraction of "it was," as in "'Twas the night before Christmas" or "'Twas Brillig"
Prefixes and suffixes
- Prefixes
- Aero- - relating to air, aircraft or aeronautics
- Suffixes
Religious holidays, festivals, celebrations and observances
- Eid - Arabic for "festival"; part of the names of several Islamic festivals
- Hajj - the pilgrimage every faithful Muslim is obliged to perform; one of the five pillars of Islam
- Purim - the festival celebrating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to annihilate them, as told in the Book of Esther
Roman numerals
Many puzzles ask for Roman numerals either as answers or as portions of answers. For instance:
- a puzzle might ask for the solution of 1916 - 1662 as "MCMXVI minus MDCLXII." The answer (254) would be written as CCLIV.
- LEOIV is the answer to a clue about Pope Leo IV.
- a puzzle might ask which Super Bowl was the first to be played in Tampa, Florida. The answer is XVIII.
Standard Roman numerals run from 1 to 3999, or I to MMMLXXXIX. The first ten Roman numerals are:
For numerals representing values equal to or greater than 4000, a line is placed above the numeral. The following table shows the numerals used in crossword puzzles.
Symbol Value I 1 (one) (unus) V 5 (five) (quinque) X 10 (ten) (decem) L 50 (fifty) (quinquaginta) C 100 (one hundred) (centum) D 500 (five hundred) (quingenti) M 1,000 (one thousand) (mille) For those who are curious, the chart below shows numeral values up to 900,000.
×1 ×2 ×3 ×4 ×5 ×6 ×7 ×8 ×9 Ones I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX Tens X XX XXX XL L LX LXX LXXX XC Hundreds C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM Thousands M MM MMM IV V VI VII VIII IX Ten thousands X XX XXX XL L LX LXX LXXX XC Hundred thousands C CC CCC CD D DC DCC DCCC CM Sports and gaming
- Alai – as in jai alai, a game played in a court with a ball and a wickerwork racket
- Ante - a forced bet in poker
- Epee - a modern version of a duelling sword
- ERA - a baseball term meaning "earned run average"
- HRs - a baseball term meaning "home runs"
- KOs - a boxing term meaning "knockouts"
- Nicknames based on nicknames
- "Bosox" - the Boston Red Sox
- "Buc" (team member) or "Bucs" - this spelling usually refers to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but may also refer to the Pittsburgh Pirates
- "Buck" (team member) or "Bucks" - when not used in reference to the Milwaukee Bucks, this spelling usually refers to the Pittsburgh Pirates but may also refer to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- "The Caps" - usually refers to the Washington Capitals
- "Cards" - usually refers to the St. Louis Cardinals
- "Cav" (team member) or "Cavs" - usually refers to the Cleveland Cavaliers or the University of Virginia Cavaliers
- "Chisox" - the Chicago White Sox
- "Hog" (team member) or "The Hogs - the offensive line of the Washington Redskins, although some people assign the name to the entire team
- "Mav" (team member) or "Mavs" - usually refers to the Dallas Mavericks
- "Pat" (team member) or "Pats" - usually refers to the New England Patriots
- "The Tide" - usually refers to the University of Alabama Crimson Tide
- "The Tribe" - usually refers to the Cleveland Indians
- "Yank" (team member) or "Yanks" - usually refers to the New York Yankees
- RBI - a baseball term meaning "run batted in"; plural is RBIs
- TKO - a boxing term meaning "technical knockout"; plural is "TKOs"
- Three-letter scoreboard abbreviations of major league teams
- ATL - Atlanta Braves, Falcons, Hawks and Thrashers
- ARZ - Arizona (Phoenix) Cardinals and Diamondbacks (also ARI)
- BAL - Baltimore Orioles and Ravens (also, formerly, Colts)
- BOS - Boston Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox
- BUF - Buffalo Bills and Sabres
- CAL - Calgary Flames and Stampeders (also, formerly, the California Angels)
- CAR - Carolina Hurricanes (located in Raleigh) and Panthers (located in Charlotte)
- CBS - Columbus Blue Jackets (also CBJ, CLB and CLS)
- CHA - Charlotte Bobcats (also, formerly, Hornets)
- CHC - Chicago Cubs
- CHI - Chicago Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls
- CIN - Cincinnati Bengals and Reds
- COL - Colorado (Denver) Avalanche and Rockies
- CLE - Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers and Indians
- CWS - Chicago White Sox
- DAL - Dallas Cowboys, Mavericks (Mavs) and Stars
- DEN - Denver Broncos and Nuggets
- DET - Detroit Lions, Pistons, Red Wings and Tigers
- EDM - Edmonton Eskimos and Oilers
- FLA - Florida (Miami) Marlins and Panthers
- HOU - Houston Astros, Rockets and Texans (also, formerly, Oilers)
- IND - Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Pacers
- JAX - Jacksonville Jaguars
- LAA - Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
- LAC - Los Angeles Clippers
- LAD - Los Angeles Dodgers
- LAL - Los Angeles Lakers
- MEM - Memphis Grizzlies
- MIA - Miami Dolphins and Heat
- MIL - Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks
- MIN - Minnesota (Minnesota-St. Paul) Timberwolves, Twins, Vikings and Wild
- MTL - Montreal Alouettes and Canadiens (also, formerly, Expos)
- NAS - Nashville Predators
- NYG - New York Giants
- NYI - New York Islanders
- NYJ - New York Jets
- NYM - New York Mets
- NYR - New York Rangers
- NYY - New York Yankees
- OAK - Oakland Athletics (A's) and Raiders
- OKC - Oklahoma Thunder
- ORL - Orlando Magic
- PHO - Phoenix Coyotes
- PHL - Philadelphia Eagles, Flyers, Phillies and 76ers
- PIT - Pittsburgh Penguins, Pirates and Steelers
- POR - Portland Trail Blazers
- PHX - Phoenix Suns
- SAC - Sacramento Kings
- SEA - Seattle Mariners and Seahawks
- STL - St. Louis Blues, Cardinals and Rams
- TEX - Texas (Arlington-Dallas-Fort Worth) Rangers
- TOR - Toronto Argonauts, Blue Jays, Maple Leafs and Raptors
- UTA - Utah (Salt Lake City) Jazz
- WAS - Washington Capitals, Nationals, Redskins and Wizards
Titles of books, plays, movies, etc.
- OED - the Oxford English Dictionary
- Omoo - an 1847 novel by Herman Melville
- KJV - the King James Version of the Holy Bible
- NIV - the New International Version of the Holy Bible
Titles used by royalty and the nobility
- Aga - a Turkish honorific for a high-level government official; occasionally spelled "agha."
- Emir - a title given to princes and/or sheikhs who rule certain Arab countries; may also be spelled amir, aamir or ameer
Transportation
- BART - abbreviated name of the Bay Area Rapid Transit, the subway system that serves the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Geo - line of compact cars sold by Chevrolet dealers, based on cars manufactured by Toyota and Suzuki
- GTI - an abbreviation meaning Grand Tourer Injection, used on many sporty European and Japanese cars, most notably the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
- GTO - an abbreviation of the Italian term Gran Turismo Omologato, most notably used on the Pontiac GTO muscle car which is nicknamed "The Goat."
- IRT - abbreviated name of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company which used to operate a portion of the New York City subway system.
U.S. states and Canadian provinces
- Postal abbreviations: Since the late 1970s, the post offices in the United States and Canada have used computerized letter sorting. This prompted the creation of the two-capital-letter abbreviations used today for all states and most provinces (i.e., "MN" for Minnesota and "PQ" for Quebec). Previously, when mail was sorted by hand, many states and provinces had abbreviations of three to five letters. Many of these longer abbreviations are now part of crosswordese. (NOTES: (1)Except for Texas, states with four- or five-letter names were generally spelled out. (2)Other states and provinces not shown below had the same two-letter abbreviations that are still used today.)
- Ala. - Alabama
- Alb. - Alberta
- Alas. - Alaska (unofficial)
- Ariz. - Arizona
- Ark. - Arkansas
- Calif. - California (also, unofficially, "Cal.")
- Colo. - Colorado
- Conn. - Connecticut
- Del. - Delaware
- Fla. - Florida
- Haw. - Hawaii (unofficial)
- Ida. - Idaho (unofficial)
- Ill. - Illinois
- Ind. - Indiana
- Kans. - Kansas (also, unofficially, "Kan." and "Kas.")
- Man. - Manitoba
- Mich. - Michigan
- Minn. - Minnesota
- Miss. - Mississippi
- Mont. - Montana
- Neb. - Nebraska
- Nev. - Nevada
- N. Mex. - New Mexico
- N. Car. - North Carolina (unofficial)
- N. Dak. - North Dakota
- N.W.T. - Northwest Territories
- Okla. - Oklahoma
- Oreg. - Oregon (also, unofficially, "Ore.")
- Ont. - Ontario
- P.E.I. - Prince Edward Island
- Penn. - Pennsylvania (unofficial)
- Que. - Quebec
- Sask. - Saskatchewan
- S.Car. - South Carolina (unofficial)
- S. Dak. - South Dakota
- Tenn. - Tennessee
- Tex. - Texas
- Wash. - Washington
- W. Va. - West Virginia
- Wis. - Wisconsin (also, unofficially, "Wisc.")
- Wyo. - Wyoming
World War II
- Anzio - American invasion point into mainland Italy
- D-Day - Normandy - 6 June 1944
- Code names of landing beaches
- Rivers
- Towns
- Other
- Pointe du Hoc
- Vire-et-Taute Canal
- ETO - European Theater of Operations
- Iwo Jima
References
- ^ Romano, Marc. Crossworld: One Man’s Journey into America’s Crossword Obsession.
External links
Categories:- Crosswords
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