Summary | Quotes | References: General, Other Lang.
Summary
- Word puzzles can exercise your vocabulary -- in multiple languages.
- Textbooks and course websites often include crosswords
to test vocabulary and subject knowledge,
e.g., Be Safer on the Internet: Web Browsing - Well-designed crosswords are more than a collection of words
(esp. weird 'crosswordese'), and obvious clues
-- they force us to think outside (and inside) the box.
Quotes
- "Thoughtful working of cross word puzzles can not fail to...
- The influence on the American vocabulary was audible.
"Anybody you met on the street... - The main interest among fans in the 1920s was in the puzzle as an aid to language development...
- "In their own way, crossword puzzles are an important language art...
- "Crossword puzzles, like dictionaries, often feel like linguistic authorities. [But]...
- "crosswordese:...
- "Crosswords appear in every language in the world. Chinese crosswords...
- "To be able to solve a crossword puzzle in a second language...
- "In North America, crossword puzzle editors use what has come to be known as
'The Breakfast Test'... - "I can't remember a single thing I learned. Except for...
- "Words are, of course,...
- "We try to do a Shakespeare play every year, because...
- "I love words. If I get a puppy...
- "My being a writer and playing Scrabble are connected...
References
- topics: crosswordese, dictionaries, languages, vocabulary
- Electricka (Exploring the Arts Foundation) for / about crossword constructors, editors, publishers
- ESL Games
- Rearrangements: Can Crosswords Be More Inclusive?
The puzzles spread from the United States across the globe, but the American crossword
today doesn’t always reflect the linguistic changes that immigration bring;
Mangesh Ghogre; history; NYkr; 12/18/2023 - The Latest Western Oppressor? Your Sunday Morning Crossword Puzzle
about 'Can Crosswords Be More Inclusive?'; NatRev; 12/18/2023 - Planet Word Survived the Pandemic to Inspire a Love of Language
Lexicon Lane exhibition at Planet Word (DC museum) offers word-sleuthing adventures to puzzle-loving visitors; NYT; 3/29/2022 - The latest word on Planet Word: Downtown D.C.'s language museum is set to open in May
WaPo; 11/7/2019 - Crossword Puzzles Behind Bars lang skills for the incarcerated; 5/23/2018
- A Journey Into the Merriam-Webster Word Factory
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper; NYT; 3/22/2017 - Dictionary Fans Might Squee: OED Adds New Words, Because YOLO NPR; 9/12/2016
- What 74 Years of Crossword History Says About the Language We Use
the world may have become more globalized, but the venerable puzzle now relies
less on international words and place names; interactive charts; UBER; LIPO; NADA; ITO; MOI; NYT; 2/6/2016 - And Your 2015 Word of the Year Is -- the Face With Tears of Joy Emoji? Giz; 11/16/2015
- Puzzling Through My Fiction
writing analogy: The Blank Beginning; The Walk-Away; The Dam Breakage; The Slow Clap; NYT; 8/15/2015 - The Use of Crossword Puzzles as a Vocabulary Learning Strategy
A Case of English as a Second Language in Kenyan Secondary Schools; 2/2013 - Study reveals words' Darwinian struggle for survival 3/21/2012
- Coming soon to a crossword puzzle near you -- 100 new words MT; 7/12/2009
- Partying with all the gnus that fit Varble; [.pdf]; MT
Other Languages
- LexisRex crosswords in many languages
- Crucigramas (Spanish crosswords)
- Hebdomada Aenigmatum, a new book of crossword puzzles in Latin and ancient Greek
Reut; 6/7/2019 - Crosswords in other languages examples; 5/29/2013
- The World's Geekiest Crossword Puzzle you'll need to know a bit of Klingon, Elvish, Furbish,
Esperanto and a handful of other constructed languages; MF; 2/20/2007 - From Crosswords to High-Level Language Competency
Cryptologic Quarterly, NSA DOCID: 3860656; .pdf; Spring/Summer 2005;
The main thesis of this article is that the ability to solve an appropriately difficult crossword puzzle
requires a high degree of competency in the language and culture of the puzzle. The main purpose
here is to set out a framework for using English language crosswords to help English-speaking
students achieve a high level of competence in some other language