CROSSWORDS: Acquire Vocabulary, Knowledge

Summary | Quotes | Muses, Patron Saints and Superheroes |
References: General | Animals | Characters / Names | Dictionaries | Geography |
What/Who the Heck.../Stumper | Languages | OREO | Crosswordese


dicts
"32.365 Help For Cryptic Crosswords"
by Benn Photo

is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Summary

  • There are many meanings and contexts of words, e.g.,
    Why 'Run' Is The Most Complex Word in the English Language MF; 5/17/2019
  • More than one word (of same length) might satisfy the definition,
    especially if ambiguous -- use crossing entries to eliminate possibilities.
  • The pattern/features of a clue usually mirror the answer entry,
    e.g., noun: singular/plural; verb tense: present, past, infinitive, gerund
  • If the answer entry is a phrase, rather than a single word,
    the mirroring can occur before the last word
  • Language of the clue, e.g., French, Latin, Spanish, almost always indicates language of answer.
  • We'll see many examples of 'clue-answer mirroring' later in Decode Clues.
  • Letter sequences are common: abbrev., acronyms, 'alphabetic trio', compass dir.,
    initials of author/president, phone keypad, prefix, Roman numerals, suffix,
    tictactoe (O,X), time zones, TV/cable networks, etc.
  • "[var.]" usually indicates a variant spelling; theme phrases may be misspelled for the sake of puns.
  • The language of clues and answers will often reflect the decade of the puzzle,
    and style/preferences of the author & editor.
  • Answer words should not appear in clues, in the title (if any) or in other answers.
  • portmanteau: A word formed by merging the sounds and meanings of two different words,
    e.g., affluenza, alphanumeric, Bollywood, brainiac, Brexit, bromance, brunch
  • eponym: one for whom or which something is or is believed to be named
    e.g., America, Caesar salad, zipper, cardigan, kleenex, xerox, bandaid
  • Also know what you (usually) will not find: profanity, sad or disturbing topics,
    or overly explicit answers -- the so-called "breakfast test".
  • Read a lot; learn vocabulary, (vowel-heavy) 'repeaters' (e.g., area, aria, oreo),
    and 'crosswordese' ("words frequently found in crossword puzzles but seldom found
    in everyday conversation" but usually rarer in 'better' puzzles)
    -- by osmosis from puzzles or from lists.
  • Try quizzes / flashcards, e.g., XWord Info Bar Game: Try to guess the answer as quickly as possible.
    Clues and answers are selected at random (from NYT). Some are easy, some are hard, some are fair, some are not.
  • Being good at Scrabble helps for 'official' words, but crosswords can includes phrases,
    made-up words/spellings (often puns), words from other languages, and letter sequences.
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Quotes

Muses, Patron Saints and Superheroes

  • You may encounter entries or clues in crosswords that mention Greek muses (Wikipedia) (goddesses)
    for arts or sciences, e.g., Erato (love poetry), Clio (history), Urania (astronomy); Greek Mythology
  • You may also find entries/clues that involve patron saints (Wikipedia) for traditional/academic
    occupations and activities; also: Catholic Saints A-Z
  • You may also see entries/clues involving Superheroes (Wikipedia) and their powers,
    which seem mostly physical/sensory rather than mental; also: powers; powers and abilities
  • Inquiring minds might wonder who might be the muse, patron saint and/or superhero (if any)
    for crossword solvers and/or constructors -- or perhaps puzzles, games, words or problem solving in general?
    (there are no official ones that I'm aware of)
  • Some possible Muses for crosswords:
  • Erato: "poetry" -- crosswords might be considered an unusual form of poetry (word patterns)
  • Melete: "practice" -- crosswords require a lot of practice
  • Thalia: "comedy and pastoral poetry" -- wordplay and words
  • Mnemosyne: "memory"; also parent w/ Zeus of all the muses? -- crosswords certainly require memory
  • My choices: Mnemosyne or Thalia
  • Some possible Patron Saints for crosswords:
  • Teresa of Avila: "lace workers, chess" -- patterns, games?
  • Thomas Aquinas: "students, teachers, academics"
  • Lawrence: "librarians, archivists, students, comedians" -- organizing; word play?
  • Albertus Magnus: "philosophers, scientists, students"
  • Catherine of Alexandria: "librarians, students, philosophers"
  • Isidore of Seville: "computer scientists/programmers/users, students" -- and proposed for "Internet"
  • My choices: Teresa, Lawrence or Isidore
  • Some possible Superheroes/villains for crosswords:
  • The Riddler
  • (lesser known) superheroes with enhanced intelligence / intuition?
  • My choice: Riddler
  • Your nominations?

References

Animals

Characters / Names

Dictionaries

welshGeography

NYT: What/Who the Heck Is That? The Crossword Stumper

Languages

OREO

Crosswordese