"word puzzle that normally takes the form of a square or rectangular grid of white and shaded squares.... Squares in which answers begin are usually numbered. The clues are then referred to by these numbers and a direction..."
e.g., UK cryptics. "clues are puzzles in themselves. A typical clue contains a definition at the beginning or end of the clue, and wordplay, which describes the word indicated by the definition, and which may not parse logically, but should be grammatical."
an answer that any player will get easily, e.g., 'Lincoln's nickname' in three letters
crosswordese
"words frequently found in crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation", e.g., SERE, OLIO, OMOO, ULEE, ETUI, ANOA, YSER, ERN, ERNE, NENE; fewer in 'better' puzzles; more lists under Solving: Vocabulary
lights or white cells
checked, keyed or crossed
"A white cell that is part of two entries (both Across and Down);
a white cell that is part of only one entry is called unchecked, unkeyed or uncrossed." (uncommon in US puzzles)
darks, blanks, blocks (or just simply black squares or shaded squares)
entries or answers
"horizontal and vertical lines of white cells into which answers are written"
crossword in which several (usually longer) entries share some relationship, type of pun, or other element in common, e.g., category, quotation, rebus, commemorative event; hints to theme are often found in puzzle title, and in marked clues (e.g., *, ?, CAPS) or special clues (e.g., 'the theme is...'; 'marked clues share...')
rebus
type of puzzle in which a square can be filled in with a sequence of letters, or a digit or picture/symbol
denoting a grid in which all of the letters of the alphabet appear. Sometimes "pangram" is used synonymously -- though this may be incorrect. "A holoalphabetic crossword without an ulterior purpose is like a can of Campbell’s alphabet soup ('oh, let me see if they are all there...'). What it is not is a 'pangram' -- an overused misnomer of crossword bloggers. A pangram is a sentence that uses every letter of the alphabet. A holoalphabetic crossword allows the construction of a pangram." ~NYT Crossword in Gothic
quadrupuzzle
essentially four small puzzles joined in the center by a few letters. Each quadrant needs to be solved separately. example
acronym for The New York Times, the newspaper that has, arguably more than any other, set the standards for American-style crosswords. Other respected crosswords: LAT = Los Angeles Times; WSJ = The Wall Street Journal; WP = The Washington Post
offering reprint rights and granting permissions to other parties for republishing content. "The New York Times crossword puzzle is a daily puzzle found in The New York Times and online at the paper's website. It is also syndicated to over 300 other newspapers and journals." There is usually a time lag before 'current' NYT puzzle appears in other papers (Mail Tribune: Sun =+1 week); Oregonian: daily =+5 weeks); 6 weeks for some online sites; longer for printed puzzle books and calendars.
responsible for selecting and editing crossword puzzles, e.g., moderate the clues so they match the desired degree of difficulty for that day of the week; this can involve significant changes to words or grid
to convert a crossword puzzle into the Across Lite (.puz) format, so it can be solved on a computer (after "Litsoft")
cipher crosswords / codewords
"clues for each white cell of the grid - an integer from 1 to 26 inclusive is printed in the corner of each. The objective, as any other crossword, is to determine the proper letter for each cell; in a cipher crossword, the 26 numbers serve as a cipher for those letters: cells that share matching numbers are filled with matching letters, and no two numbers stand for the same letter. All resultant entries must be valid words. Usually, at least one number's letter is given at the outset. English-language cipher crosswords are nearly always pangrammatic." example
diagramless, skeleton
"the grid offers overall dimensions, but the locations of most of the clue numbers and shaded squares are unspecified. A solver must deduce not only the answers to individual clues, but how to fit together partially built-up clumps of answers into larger clumps with properly-set shaded squares."
"a grid and the full list of words to be entered in that grid, but does not give explicit clues for where each word goes. The challenge is figuring out how to integrate the list of words together within the grid so that all intersections of words are valid."
crossnumber, cross-figure
"numerical analogy of a crossword [or fill-in], in which the solutions to the clues are numbers instead of words. Clues are usually arithmetical expressions, but can also be general knowledge clues to which the answer is a number or year."
players decode numeric clues by referencing a telephone-style number pad. For example, the number 2 could be the letters A, B or C (letters found on the number 2 key). The clue for the word "CAT" would be the number 228 but those same numbers also spell out the word "BAT" or "ACT" (seen in USA Today; texting skills handy).; online
crossword
clues: straight or quick
choose between straight or cryptic clues
an answer that any player will get easily, e.g., 'Lincoln's nickname' in three letters
lights or white cells
darks, blanks, blocks (or just simply black squares or shaded squares)
American-style (US) grid
British-style (UK) grid
France, Italy
Japan
Sweden
free-form crosswords (criss-cross or vocabulary puzzles)
barred crosswords
answers entered either radially or in concentric circles
grid sizes
"commuter" crossword: usually "quick and easy" clues all week (often < NYT Mon)
themed (vs. themeless)
rebus
holoalphabetic
NYT
cruciverbalists
editor
American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
.puz
cipher crosswords / codewords
diagramless, skeleton
fill-in, crusadex
crossnumber, cross-figure
regular expression 'crossword'
txtpert
other word games/puzzles
How Words With Friends Beat Scrabble At Its Own Game 1/24/2012
'Rise to Vote, Sir.' 'Now I Won!' World Palindrome Champion Crowned (at ACPT); 3/27/2012; The Palindromist Magazine
glossaries