Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A puzzle in which an arrangement of numbered squares is to be filled with words running both across and down in answer to correspondingly numbered clues.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun games, puzzles A word
puzzle in which interlocking words are entered usually horizontally and vertically into agrid based on clues given for each word.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues are to be found and written in to squares in the puzzle
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
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Examples
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A good crossword is easy to understand, much harder to create.
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We must think of a continuum, rather than a dichotomy; if a crossword is 100% puzzle, Zork is 90% puzzle and 10% game.
Boing Boing: January 5, 2003 - January 11, 2003 Archives 2003
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The Observer crossword is the best puzzle available in a local paper.
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For what it’s worth, Evan Bayh turns up in crossword puzzles a lot, as does his dad Birch.
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Sorry, so spending 30 minutes on a crossword is OK but eight minutes on Twitter isn’t?!
Going to the toilet puts UK economy down the toilet « pwcom 2.0 2009
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She really hated how I’d take the crossword from the morning paper into the john and then drop it in the trash when I finished it.
365 tomorrows » 2009 » January : A New Free Flash Fiction SciFi Story Every Day 2009
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Was it A, an enormous book of a new fad from Britain called crossword puzzles; B, an exhaustive biography of Pope Leo XII; or C, a catalog of the insects of the American South?
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My fave fact is that the hardest position in a crossword is the lower righthand corner.
No more words Tripp 2006
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Some puzzles are obviously so; no one would call a crossword a "game."
Boing Boing: January 5, 2003 - January 11, 2003 Archives 2003
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"The crossword was a nice distraction for a few minutes every few hours as we wait for meetings to start, need a break from the computer, etc.," said one reader who asked not to be named.
Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis Patrick B. Pexton 2011
yaybob commented on the word crossword
I have URLs for two great crossword puzzles. Would it be inappropriate for me to post those here on Wordie? It's not our mission or purpose, but it is word related, and there may be a few crossword puzzle fans like me among us.
January 22, 2009
bilby commented on the word crossword
I don't think friends should exchange cross words.
January 22, 2009
yarb commented on the word crossword
If they're cryptic, please do! I'm not interested in the other kind, though.
January 22, 2009
seanahan commented on the word crossword
As long as you don't make a habit of posting a ton of links, I think it's appropriate. I myself am a fan of crosswords, although I'm a bit out of practice. I got a crossword a day calendar for Christmas, so I'm hoping to hone my skills.
January 22, 2009
yaybob commented on the word crossword
No,not a ton of links. Just these two, because these are remarkable puzzles.
WIDE OPEN SPACES, both .PDF files
GRIDLOCK features three adjacent horizontal 21-letter entries spanning the entire width of the grid in the three middle rows of the puzzle (rows 10, 11 and 12) which intersect with three similar adjacent 21-letter vertical entries running up and down the three middle columns of the grid. For good measure, there are two more 21-letter horizontal entries in the puzzle. Each of these is a string of automobile model names (the clues are the corresponding makes). The puzzle was conceived as the intersection of two three-lane highways with traffic in gridlock.
WIDE OPEN SPACES is remarkable for its paucity of black squares, its many long entries, and its short word list. The limit would be a 21 x 21 grid with no black squares made of 21 across entries and 21 down entries, or only 42 words. WOS contains only 51 black squares (11%) and 112 words, about 75% of which are 8 or more letters long. Reagle does take some liberties with the language, so allow for that.
Answers are unavailable on the Internet to my knowledge, but I've finished the puzzles - they are not impossibly difficult - and can help if there are any nagging problems.
January 23, 2009
yaybob commented on the word crossword
January 23, 2009