Crossword

The crossword is the most common variety of word puzzle in the world. Modern crosswords take the form of a square grid of black and white squares; the aim is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words (or word phrases) reading across and down, by solving clues which yield the words. The black squares (commonly called "blanks") have no letters, and are used to separate words (all contiguous blocks of white squares spell words or phrases). Squares in which answers begin are numbered, left to right, top to bottom. The clues are then referred to by these numbers (ambiguities are resolved by the common practice of referring to clues by both number and direction – for example, "1-Across" or "17-Down"); at the end of the clue the total number of letters is sometimes given for the convenience of the solver, although in many widely distributed American crosswords such as the New York Times and Dell Magazines this is often omitted.

Types of clues

In some crosswords, often called straight or quick, the clues are usually simple definitions for the answers. Some clues may feature anagrams, but these are usually explicitly described as such. Often, a straight clue is not in itself sufficient to distinguish among several possible answers (often synonyms), and the solver must make use of checks to establish the correct answer with certainty. A key point to remember when solving crosswords is that crossword answers and their clues always agree in tense and number. If a clue is in the past tense, then so is the answer: "Traveled on horseback" = RODE, but never RIDE. Similarly, "Family members" would be a valid clue for AUNTS but not UNCLE (since the latter is singular while the clue is plural).

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Some clue examples:

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• The clue "PC key" for a three-letter answer could be ESC, ALT, TAB, or even DEL, but until a check is filled in, giving at least one of the letters, the correct answer cannot be determined.
• A common clue is "Compass point", where the desired answer is one of eight possible abbreviations for a position on a compass, i.e. NNW (for north-northwest) or ESE (for east-southeast). The desired answer is determined by a combination of logic - since the third letter can be only E or W, and the second letter can be only N or S - and a process of elimination using checks. Alternatively, compass point answers are often clued as "XXX to YYY direction", where XXX and YYY are two placenames. For example, SSE might be clued as "New York to Washington direction".
• Abbreviations, use of foreign language, variant spellings, or other unusual word tricks are indicated in the clue. A crossword creator might choose to clue the answer SEN (as in the abbreviation for "Senator") as "Washington bigwig: Abbr." or "Member of Cong.", with the abbreviation in the clue indicating that the answer is to be similarly abbreviated. The use of "Var." indicates the answer is a variant spelling (e.g., EMEER instead of EMIR), while the use of foreign language or a foreign place name within the clue indicates that the answer is also in a foreign language. For example, ETE (French for "summer") might be clued as "Summer, in the Sorbonne" while ROMA could be clued as "Italia's capital."
• Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the easiest in a given puzzle, and a good place to start solving. Ex.: "__ Boleyn" = ANNE
• A question mark at the end of clue usually signals that the clue/answer combination involves some sort of pun. Ex.: "Grateful?" = ASHES (since a grate might be full of them).
• Most widely distributed American crosswords today (e.g., The New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USA Today, etc.) also contain "speech"-like answers, i.e., entries in the puzzle grid that try to replicate our everyday colloquial language. In such a puzzle, one might see phrases such as WHAT'S UP, AS IF, or WHADDYA WANT.

Crossword themes

Many crossword puzzles contain a "theme," consisting of a number of long entries (generally 3-5 in a standard 15x15-square "weekday"-size puzzle) that share some relationship, type of pun, or other element in common. As an example, the New York Times crossword of April 26, 2005 written by Sarah Keller and edited by Will Shortz, featured five theme entries ending in the different parts of a tree:

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SQUAREROOT

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TABLELEAF

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WARDROBETRUNK

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BRAINSTEM

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BANKBRANCH

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The above is an example of a category theme, where the theme elements are all members of the same set. Other types of themes include quote themes, featuring a famous quote broken up into parts to fit in the grid (and usually clued as "Quote, part 1", "Quote, part 2", etc.); rebus themes, where multiple letters or even symbols occupy a single square in the puzzle (e.g., BERMUDAΔ); pun-based themes (perhaps the most common), where all the answers are similar puns; commemorative themes, based on a particular event or person (often published on an appropriate anniversary); and other less common types.

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Quiz crosswords

In quiz crosswords, the clues take the form of questions. These may

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be on general knowledge or on a single topic.

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The first entries

In the Daily Telegraph newspaper (Sunday and Daily, UK), it has become a convention also to make the first few words (Usually 2 or 3 but can be up to 5) into a phrase. Examples of this could be Dimmer, Allies would make Demoralise or You, ill, never, whore, Cologne would become You will never walk alone. This generally aids the solver in that if they have one of the words then they can attempt to guess the phrase. This has also become popular among other British newspapers.

Related Topics:
Daily Telegraph - UK - British

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Indirect clues

In many puzzles, some clues are to be taken metaphorically or in some sense other than their literal meaning. Depending on the puzzle creator or the editor, this might be represented either with a question mark at the end of the clue or with a modifier such as "maybe" or "perhaps". Examples:

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• The clue "Half a dance?" for a 3-letter answer might be CAN (half of CANCAN) or CHA (half of CHACHA).
• The clue "Pay addition, perhaps", without the modifier might be something akin to "BONUS". However, with the modifier, the answer could be "OLA" (the addition of OLA to PAY is the word PAYOLA).

Cryptic crosswords

In cryptic crosswords, often called cryptics for short, the clues are puzzles in themselves. A typical clue contains a definition, located 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 at least grammatical. Cryptics usually give the length of their answers in parentheses after the clue. In cryptics, answers are given in all capitals, with certain signs indicating different wordplay. Cryptics have a steeper "learning curve" than standard crosswords as learning to interpret the different types of cryptic clues can take some practice. In Great Britain, cryptics are the most common variety of crossword puzzle.

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There are several types of wordplay used in cryptics. One is straightforward definition substitution using parts of a word. For example, in one puzzle by Mel Taub, the answer IMPORTANT is given the clue "To bring worker into the country may prove significant". The explanation is that to "import" means "to bring into the country"; the "worker" is a worker ant; and "significant" means "important." Note that in a cryptic clue, there is almost always only one answer that fits both the definition and the wordplay, so that when you see the answer, you know it is the right answer, although it can sometimes be a challenge to figure out why it is the right answer.

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A good cryptic clue should exactly explain the answer, while at the same time giving a meaningful surface reading. In our sample clue, a more exact wordplay phrasing would be "To bring into the country a worker may prove significant", since "ant" follows "import:" IMPORT + ANT. Note however, that the surface reading is then not as smooth as the original. Some cryptic clue devotees would also be upset by the extraneous words like may prove.

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Another type of wordplay used in cryptics is homophones. For example, the clue "Counts spots aloud (4)" is solved by ADDS. The definition is "Counts", meaning "adds". The solver must guess that "aloud" here indicates a homophone, and so a homophone of a synonym of "spots" is the answer. In this case "spots" means advertisements, or ads, in mainly British usage. ADS = "ADDS".

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Another wordplay commonly used is the double meaning. For example, "Cat's tongue (7)" is solved by PERSIAN, since this is a type of cat, as well as a tongue, or language.

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Cryptics very often include anagrams. The clue "Ned T.'s seal cooked is rather bland (5,4)" is solved by NEEDS SALT. The meaning is "rather bland", and the word "cooked" is a hint to the solver that this clue is an anagram (the letters have been "cooked", or jumbled up). "Nedtsseal" (ignoring all punctuation, of course) is an anagram for NEEDS SALT. Besides "cooked", other common hints that the clue contains an anagram are words such as "scrambled," "mixed up," "confused," "baked," "twisted," etc. In answer sheets, an anagram is commonly indicated by an asterisk.

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Embedded words are another common trick in cryptics. The clue "Bigotry aside, I'd take him (9)" is solved by APARTHEID. The meaning is "bigotry", and the wordplay explains itself, indicated subtly by the word "take" (since one word "takes" another): "aside" means APART and I'd is simply ID, so APART and ID "take" HE (which is, in cryptic crossword usage, a perfectly good synonym for "him"). The answer would be elucidated as: APART(HE)ID.

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And then there is the oft-used hidden clue, where the answer is literally hidden in the text of the clue itself. For example, "Made a dug-out, buried, and passed away (4)" is solved by DEAD. The answer is written in the clue: "maDE A Dug-out". The word "buried" is there to indicate to the solver that the answer is literally embedded within the clue somewhere.

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Actually, there is no end to the wordplay found in cryptic clues. Backward words can be indicated by words like "climbing", "retreating", or "coming down"; letters can be replaced or removed with indicators such as "nothing rather than excellence" (meaning replace E in a word with O); the letter I can be indicated by "me" or even "one;" the letter O can be indicated by "nought" or even "a ring" (since it visually resembles one); the letter X might be clued as "a cross", or "ten" (as in the Roman numeral), or "an illiterate's signature", or even "sounds like your old flame" (homophone for "ex"); and so forth.

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Another example is this: "senselessness" is solved by "e", because "e" is what remain after removing (less) "ness" from "sense".

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With the different types of wordplay and definition possibilities, the composer of a cryptic puzzle is often presented with many different possible ways to clue a given answer. Most desirable are clues that are clean but deceptive, with a smooth surface reading. The Usenet newsgroup rec.puzzles.crosswords has a number of clueing competitions where contestants all submit clues for the same word and a judge picks the best one.

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In principle, each cryptic clue is usually sufficient to uniquely define its answer, so it should be possible to answer each clue without use of the grid. In practice, the use of checks is an important aid to the solver.

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(Cryptic crosswords are not to be confused with cryptograms, a different form of puzzle based on a substitution cipher.)

Related Topics:
Cryptogram - Substitution cipher

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Translation crosswords

In Translation Crosswords, the clue is given in a foreign language. This makes them an entertaining vocabulary trainer. An example of Translation Crosswordscreated by David Andersen, uses headlines from newspapers as a part of the clue. This enables the user to see the word used in a context, while also being introduced to newspapers in the language he/she wants to learn. A more basic kind of Translation Crosswords can be seen on the pages of yourDictionary.

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Other puzzles

Any type of puzzle may contain cross-references, where the answer

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to one clue forms part of another clue, in which it is referred to by number.

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When an answer is composed of multiple or hyphenated words, some crosswords (especially in Britain) indicate the structure of the answer, while others do not. For example, "(3,5)" after a clue would indicate that the answer is composed of a three letter word followed by a five letter word.

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Double clue lists

Sometimes newspapers publish one grid which can be filled by solving either of two lists of clues - usually a straight and a cryptic. The solutions given by the two lists may be different, in which case the solver must decide at the outset which list they are going to follow, or the solutions may be identical, in which case the straight clues offer additional help for a solver having difficulty with the cryptic clues. For example, the solution APARTHEID might be clued as "Bigotry aside, I'd take him (9)" in the cryptic list, and "Racial separation (9)" in the straight list.

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Every issue of GAMES Magazine contains a large crossword with a double clue list, under the title The World's Most Ornery Crossword; both lists are straight and arrive at the same solution, but one list is significantly more challenging than the other. The solver is prompted to fold a page in half, showing the grid and the hard clues; the easy clues are tucked inside the fold, to be referenced if the solver gets stuck.

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A variant of the double clue list is commonly called Siamese Twins: two matching grids are provided, and the two clue lists are merged together such that the two clues for each entry are displayed together in random order. Determining which clue is to be applied to which grid is part of the puzzle.

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