| |
|
Definition |
|
Afrit's Law
|
A statement formulated by A.F. Ritchie (known as Afrit), succinctly expressing the nature of square-dealing cryptic clues: While a clue may not mean what it seems to say, it must say exactly what it does mean. |
|
and lit
|
Short for and literally so, abbreviated & lit. A cryptic due which contains only the "straight" definition when read one way, and only the wordplay when read another way. Also called read it again. |
|
answer
|
The letters or words a solver writes in the white boxes of a crossword puzzle diagram to satisfy a clue. Each answer relates to a specific clue. An answer consists of a string of characters that comprise one or more words that solve a clue. Usually, an answer consists of a string of letters of the alphabet, but one or more of the letters in an answer may consist of symbols other than letters, such as asterisks, dashes, numbers, signs or icons, etc. In most puzzles, every letter occupies a single white square, one letter per square. However, in some puzzles, a constructor will compose some clues with answers that call for more than one letter or symbol to occupy one or more white squares. If the constructor chooses this type of scheme for a puzzle, he may reveal this fact in the puzzle's theme or clue; otherwise, the solver is expected to detect this departure from the norm on his own. The constructor assigns a unique number to each clue; he assigns the same number to the answer for the clue and to a single white square in the grid which marks the position of the first letter in the answer. Subsequent letters in the answer belong in the consecutive white squares that follow this numbered square. Every white square in the grid must appear in one across answer and one down answer. |
|
answer letter length
|
The number of letters in an answer. Answers may not have fewer than three letters. The number of letters could be different from the number of white squares occupied by an answer if an answer white square contains two or more letters. This could be the case if the puzzle is a multiple letters per square puzzle or an omitted letters puzzle. |
|
answer white square length
|
The number of white squares occupied by the letters of an answer. |
|
black square
|
A puzzle square that is black or otherwise differentiated to indicate that no answer letter is to be entered. A solver inserts letters that comprise answers in white squares. Letters that comprise answers run between two black squares or between a grid perimeter (puzzle border) and a black square. In other words, black squares alone or in combination with the grid perimeter mark the start or end of answers. The grid perimeter of a crossword puzzle functions like a black square in that it marks the beginning or end of an answer. A horizontal row of black squares may not run from the left side of the grid to the right side. A vertical row of black squares may not run from the top of the grid to the bottom. It is uncommon for two or more contiguous rows of black squares to abut each other. |
|
blind corner
|
A portion of a diagram connected to the remainder of the diagram by only one answer. |
|
boxquote
|
A type of crossword puzzle in which the answer is a quotation that runs clockwise in a rectangular track in the interior of the grid. Like the stepquote, the author's name and the title of the source of the quotation may be contained in white squares that are part of the answer or they may be contained in other answers. |
|
cheater
|
A black square which, if removed from a diagram, would not alter a puzzle's word count. The more black squares in a diagram, the fewer white squares. The fewer white squares, the fewer answers and the shorter the average answer white square length. Therefore, the more black squares, the easier it becomes for constructors to think up across answers and down answers that fit together in the grid. Sometimes constructors insert cheaters in diagrams to simplify the task of finding clues and answers that fit. In other words, sometimes they cheat. |
|
circle-in-the-square
|
A type of crossword puzzle in which circles appear in some of the white squares. The letters in squares that contain circles spell out words related to the theme either when read consecutively or when rearranged to form theme-related words. |
|
clue
|
A question, comment, definition, or other kind of information that a constructor provides a solver to guide or steer him to an answer. |
|
clue by class
|
A type of clue that cites the category of which the answer is an example. For example, Street lamp is a clue by class for the answer SODIUM or for the answer MERCURY. This kind of clue is the inverse of a clue by example. |
|
clue by description
|
A type of clue that consists of facts or other information of the kind you're unlikely to find in a dictionary. A clue by description might consist of an historical fact, a reference to literature or music, a travel magazine, etc. Clues by description challenge and call upon a solver's overall factual knowledge. For example, the clue Miller's salesman is a clue by description for the answer, LOMAN, the name of the salesman in Miller's play, Death of a Salesman. See extra-effort cluing, tricky clue. |
|
clue by dictionary definition
|
A type of clue similar to one you might find straight out of a dictionary. Dictionary definitions in crossword puzzles don't beat around the bush; they might present a dictionary's primary or secondary definition for the word they define. For example, the dictionary definition, Help up is a clue for the answer, BOOST. |
|
clue by example
|
A type of clue that presents examples of the class named by the answer. Sodium or Mercury vapor are clues by example for the answer STREET LAMP. This kind of clue is the inverse of a clue by class. |
|
clue by model
|
A type of clue in which a clue's meaning, linguistic properties, and/or format are keys to finding the answer. For example, if a clue is written in a foreign language or is abbreviated in whole or in part, it is a clue by model. The answer to a clue by model will possess the same language or format properties as the clue. For example, the answer to the clue a NY wagering parlor is OTB. The answer must be an abbreviation because the NY (New York) in the clue is abbreviated. |
|
column
|
All the grid squares that run vertically from the top grid perimeter to the bottom grid perimeter. |
|
comer
|
A rectangular region in a diagram composed of white squares. Usually, a comer is bounded by the puzzle's perimeter on one or two sides, and fingers on two additional sides. |
|
composer
|
The one who devises a puzzle; also compiler, constructor, puzzlemaker, or, in England, setter. |
|
composition
|
A puzzle's diagram with answers inserted. |
|
constructor
|
The person who lays out a puzzle's rows and columns, creates or selects the grid or pattern, conceives the theme (if any), and composes clues and answers. The constructor works with or without the guidance or directives of an editor. A constructor may also be called a composer, a compiler, or a cruciverbalist. In England, a constructor is known as a setter. Professional Constructor
A person who constructs crossword puzzles as a means of livelihood or for gain. A professional constructor is usually an editor or full-time or part-time salaried employee working in the crossword editor's department of a newspaper, magazine, or book publisher; they are few and far between. Full-time, independent professional constructors who make a living by constructing are an even rarer breed. When circumstances warrant, sometimes the constructor is the editor. Amateur Constructor
A person who constructs crossword puzzles primarily for pleasure or emotional gratification rather than for personal financial gain. An amateur constructor may create puzzles as a hobby, to earn pocket money, or, in rare instances, to obtain a second, supplementary source of income. Amateurs typically have full-time or part-time employment in another field of endeavor, are unemployed, or are retired. If they receive remuneration for their puzzles, they are normally paid on a per piece basis, one puzzle at a time.Despite their status, many amateurs are accomplished and skilled constructors. They may be polishing their skills while trying eventually to break into full-time construction. |
|
cross word
|
An answer in a grid that intersects another answer in the same grid. The white squares (letters) in one of the words meet or cross the white squares (letters) in another word; the two words share a common white square and letter. Since answers are not allowed to have fewer than three letters, each cross word (answer) in a grid will be met or crossed by at least three other cross words. The letter in a white square where two words cross is shared by the two words. Words that cross each other are the inspiration for the name of the game called crosswords. |
|
crossing
|
The intersection between an across and a down entry. A difficult or obscure word ideally is always crossed by easier entries so that the solver doesn't get stuck on one impossible square. |
|
cross-reference
|
Sometimes two clues are linked to each other so that the answer to one provides an additional clue to the other. |
|
crossword
|
Another name for a crossword puzzle. |
|
crossword puzzle; crossword
|
A diagram with its associated title, subject, and clues. What the solver sees before he begins work. NOTE: Only puzzles with themes have titles and subjects. Since most crossword puzzles do not have themes, most crosswords do not have titles or subjects. |
|
crosswordese
|
Exotic and arcane words most solvers encounter only in puzzles. Did you know that an ESNE is an Anglo-Saxon slave or that an NEF is a ship's clock? If not, as you explore the vocabulary of crosswords, you have something to look forward to. Crossworders slip into Crosswordese without giving it a second thought; it's part of the jargon crossworders speak when they talk to each other about what they do. Clues and answers that contain Crosswordese tend to occur less frequently in theme puzzles than in other kinds of puzzles. NOTE: Often arcane words like these cannot be found in a standard dictionary. Look for them in an unabridged dictionary, a crossword puzzle dictionary, or a crossword puzzle lexicon. |
|
difficulty
|
Something is difficult if it is not easily or readily done or requires much labor, skill, or planning to be performed successfully. A puzzle's difficulty is the degree to which it is hard to solve. Not all puzzles have a difficulty assigned to them. If a puzzle has a difficulty, it has been assigned by an editor or constructor. Difficulty may be expressed as a number, such as 1, 2, or 3, or as a word, such as easy, moderate, or hard. Assigning a difficulty level to a puzzle is a judgment call because: 1) the concept of difficulty is an intangible and subjective metric, 2) the names an assigner gives to the level of difficulty he assigns to any specific puzzle are seldom explicitly defined by the assigner, and 3) the degree of a specific puzzle's difficulty is virtually impossible to estimate objectively. Despite its intangible nature, the notion of difficulty has real force. A solver usually knows when one puzzle is more difficult than another because he has more trouble solving it. A puzzle's difficulty usually reveals itself in sweat, anguish, and time spent before the solver either arrives at a solution or throws up his hands in frustration and disgust. Depending on circumstances, disgust, if any, may be directed at the constructor or may be self-directed. Difficulty is here to stay. Puzzles such as those published by the New York Times increase in difficulty day-by-day throughout the week; they're designed and constructed with that aim in mind. Times puzzle solvers (an expression some people reckon to be synonymous with the word fanatics) expect puzzles to be easier to solve on Monday, when solvers are recovering from the weekend, and more difficult on Sunday, when solvers have more time to spend exhausting themselves on finding a solution. Times puzzle admirers would be disappointed if their puzzles weren't so pitched. |
|
double entendre
|
A crossword puzzle having a single clue or multiple clues with two equally valid solutions. Also, a single clue that exhibits this property. |
|
down
|
Any vertical column in a crossword grid. |
