Crosswordese is the group of words frequently found in US
crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation. The words are usually short, three to five letters, with letter combinations which crossword constructors find useful in the creation of crossword puzzles, such as words that start and/or end with
vowels, abbreviations consisting entirely of
consonants, unusual combinations of letters, and words consisting almost entirely of
frequently used letters. Such words are needed in almost every puzzle to some extent. Too much crosswordese in a crossword puzzle is frowned upon by crossword-makers and crossword enthusiasts.
Knowing the language of "crosswordese" is helpful to constructors and solvers alike. According to Marc Romano, "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".[1]
The popularity of individual words and names of crosswordese, and the way they are clued, changes over time. For instance, ITO was occasionally clued in the 1980s and 1990s in reference to dancer
Michio Itō and actor
Robert Ito, then boomed in the late 1990s and 2000s when judge
Lance Ito was a household name, and has since fallen somewhat, and when it appears today, the clue typically references figure skater
Midori Ito or uses the partial phrase "I to" (as in ["How was ___ know?"]).[2]
List of crosswordese
When applicable, example clues will be denoted in square brackets and answers will be denoted in all caps, e.g. [Example clue] for ANSWER.
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?"
OREO – snack item known as "Milk's favorite cookie". In the
Maleska era, to avoid brand names in the puzzle, it was invariably clued as [Mountain: Comb. form].[12][13]
LIRA (plural LIRE) – official currency of Turkey; former currency of Italy[14]
OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries[15]
PESO – official currency of many countries, including Mexico[16]
Directions
Many puzzles ask for the direction from one place 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:
Often these letters are clued as puns, e.g. the clue [Puzzle center?] for ZEES, referring to the two Zs in the center of the word "puzzle".
The "zed" spelling of Z is often indicated by a reference to a
Commonwealth country, where that is the standard pronunciation (e.g. [British puzzle center?] for ZEDS).
Greek letters often appear as well, such as ETA.[28]
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 "QC" 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.)
Crosswordese is the group of words frequently found in US
crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation. The words are usually short, three to five letters, with letter combinations which crossword constructors find useful in the creation of crossword puzzles, such as words that start and/or end with
vowels, abbreviations consisting entirely of
consonants, unusual combinations of letters, and words consisting almost entirely of
frequently used letters. Such words are needed in almost every puzzle to some extent. Too much crosswordese in a crossword puzzle is frowned upon by crossword-makers and crossword enthusiasts.
Knowing the language of "crosswordese" is helpful to constructors and solvers alike. According to Marc Romano, "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".[1]
The popularity of individual words and names of crosswordese, and the way they are clued, changes over time. For instance, ITO was occasionally clued in the 1980s and 1990s in reference to dancer
Michio Itō and actor
Robert Ito, then boomed in the late 1990s and 2000s when judge
Lance Ito was a household name, and has since fallen somewhat, and when it appears today, the clue typically references figure skater
Midori Ito or uses the partial phrase "I to" (as in ["How was ___ know?"]).[2]
List of crosswordese
When applicable, example clues will be denoted in square brackets and answers will be denoted in all caps, e.g. [Example clue] for ANSWER.
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?"
OREO – snack item known as "Milk's favorite cookie". In the
Maleska era, to avoid brand names in the puzzle, it was invariably clued as [Mountain: Comb. form].[12][13]
LIRA (plural LIRE) – official currency of Turkey; former currency of Italy[14]
OPEC – Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries[15]
PESO – official currency of many countries, including Mexico[16]
Directions
Many puzzles ask for the direction from one place 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:
Often these letters are clued as puns, e.g. the clue [Puzzle center?] for ZEES, referring to the two Zs in the center of the word "puzzle".
The "zed" spelling of Z is often indicated by a reference to a
Commonwealth country, where that is the standard pronunciation (e.g. [British puzzle center?] for ZEDS).
Greek letters often appear as well, such as ETA.[28]
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 "QC" 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.)