Crossword


A crossword is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases crossing each other horizontally and vertically according to a set of clues. Each white square is typically filled with one letter, while the black squares are used to separate entries. The first white square in each entry is typically numbered to correspond to its clue.
Crosswords commonly appear in newspapers and magazines. The earliest crosswords that resemble their modern form were popularized by the New York World in the 1910s. Many variants of crosswords are popular around the world, including cryptic crosswords and many language-specific variants.
Crossword construction in modern times usually involves the use of software. Constructors choose a theme, place the theme answers in a grid which is usually symmetric, fill in the rest of the grid, and then write clues.
A person who constructs or solves crosswords is called a "cruciverbalist". The word "cruciverbalist" appears to have been coined in the 1970s from the Latin roots crucis, meaning 'cross', and verbum, meaning 'word'.

American-style crosswords

Crossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines consist mainly of solid regions of uninterrupted white squares, separated more sparsely by shaded squares. Every letter is "checked" and usually each answer must contain at least three letters. In such puzzles shaded squares are typically limited to about one-sixth of the total. Crossword grids elsewhere, such as in Britain, South Africa, India and Australia, have a lattice-like structure, with a higher percentage of shaded squares, leaving about half the letters in an answer unchecked. For example, if the top row has an answer running all the way across, there will often be no across answers in the second row.
Another tradition in puzzle design is that the grid should have 180-degree rotational symmetry, so that its pattern appears the same if the paper is turned upside down. Most puzzle designs also require that all white cells be orthogonally contiguous.
Substantial variants from the usual forms exist. Two of the common ones are barred crosswords, which use bold lines between squares to separate answers, and circular designs, with answers entered either radially or in concentric circles. "Free form" crosswords, which have simple, asymmetric designs, are often seen on school worksheets, children's menus, and other entertainment for children. Grids forming shapes other than squares are also occasionally used.
Puzzles are often one of several standard sizes. For example, many weekday newspaper puzzles are 15×15 squares, while weekend puzzles may be 21×21, 23×23, or 25×25. The New York Times puzzles also set a common pattern for American crosswords by increasing in difficulty throughout the week: their Monday puzzles are the easiest and the puzzles get harder each day until Saturday. Their larger Sunday puzzle is about the same level of difficulty as a weekday-size Thursday puzzle. This has led U.S. solvers to use the day of the week as a shorthand when describing how hard a puzzle is: e.g. an easy puzzle may be referred to as a "Monday" or a "Tuesday", a medium-difficulty puzzle as a "Wednesday", and a truly difficult puzzle as a "Saturday".
Typically clues appear outside the grid, divided into an across list and a down list; the first cell of each entry contains a number referenced by the clue lists. For example, the answer to a clue labeled "17 Down" is entered with the first letter in the cell numbered "17", proceeding down from there. Numbers are almost never repeated; numbered cells are numbered consecutively, usually from left to right across each row, starting with the top row and proceeding downward. Some Japanese crosswords are numbered from top to bottom down each column, starting with the leftmost column and proceeding right.

Clues: conventions and types

American-style crossword clues, called straight or quick clues by those more familiar with cryptic puzzles, are often simple definitions of the answers. Often, a straight clue is not in itself sufficient to distinguish between several possible answers, either because multiple synonymous answers may fit or because the clue itself is a homonym, so the solver must make use of checks to establish the correct answer with certainty. For example, the answer to the clue "PC key" for a three-letter answer could be ESC, ALT, TAB, DEL, or INS, so until a check is filled in, giving at least one of the letters, the correct answer cannot be determined.
In most American-style crosswords, the majority of the clues in the puzzle are straight clues, with the remainder being one of the other types described below.
Crossword clues are generally consistent with the solutions. For instance, clues and their solutions should always agree in tense, number, and degree. If a clue is in the past tense, so is the answer: thus "Traveled on horseback" would be a valid clue for the solution RODE, but not for RIDE. Similarly, "Family members" would be a valid clue for AUNTS but not UNCLE, while "More joyful" could clue HAPPIER but not HAPPIEST.

Capitalization

Capitalization of answer letters is conventionally ignored; crossword puzzles are typically filled in, and their answer sheets published, in all caps. This ensures a proper name can have its initial capital letter checked with a non-capitalizable letter in the intersecting clue.
Some clue examples:
  • Fill-in-the-blank clues are often the easiest in a puzzle and a good place to start solving, e.g., "_____ Boleyn" = ANNE.
  • A question mark at the end of clue usually signals that the clue/answer combination involves some sort of pun or wordplay, e.g., "Grateful?" = ASHES, since a grate might be full of them.
  • Most widely distributed American crosswords today also contain colloquial answers, i.e., entries in the puzzle grid that try to replicate everyday colloquial language. In such a puzzle, one might see phrases such as WHATS UP, AS IF, or WHADDYA WANT.

    Abbreviations

The constraints of the American-style grid often require a fair number of answers not to be dictionary words. As a result, the following ways to clue abbreviations and other non-words, although they can be found in "straight" British crosswords, are much more common in American ones:
  • Abbreviations, the use of a 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 "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, 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 might be clued as "Summer, in the Sorbonne". ROMA could be clued as "Italia's capital", whereas the clue "Italy's capital" would indicate the English spelling Rome.
  • The eight possible abbreviations for a position on a compass, e.g., NNW or ESE, occur with some frequency. They can be clued as simply "Compass point", where 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 more frequently clued as "XXX to YYY direction", where XXX and YYY are two place names. For example, SSW might be clued as "New York to Washington DC dir.". Similarly, a clue such as "Right on the map" means EAST. A clue could also consist of objects that point a direction, e.g., "vane dir." or "windsock dir.".
  • Roman numerals, and arithmetic involving them, frequently appear as well; the clue "IV times III" would yield XII.
  • In addition, partial answers are allowed in American-style crosswords, where the answer represents part of a longer phrase. For example, the clue "Mind your _____ Qs" gives the answer PSAND.
  • Non-dictionary phrases are also allowed in answers. Thus, the clue "Mocked" could result in the grid entry LAUGHED AT.

    Themes

Many American crossword puzzles feature a "theme" consisting of a number of long entries that share some relationship, type of pun, or other element in common. As an example, the New York Times crossword of April 26, 2005 by Sarah Keller, edited by Will Shortz, featured five themed entries ending in the different parts of a tree: SQUARE ROOT, TABLE LEAF, WARDROBE TRUNK, BRAIN STEM, and BANK BRANCH.
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
  • Rebus themes, where multiple letters or even symbols occupy a single square in the puzzle
  • Addition themes, where theme entries are created by adding a letter, letters, or word to an existing word or phrase. For example, "Crucial pool shot?" = CRITICAL MASSE. An example of a multiple-letter addition might be "Crazy about kitchen storage?" = CABINET FEVER.
  • Subtraction themes, the reverse of the above, where letters are removed to make a new word or phrase.
  • Compound themes, where the starts or ends of the theme entries can all precede or follow another word, which is given elsewhere in the puzzle. For example, a puzzle with theme entries that begin with PAPER, BALL, and WATER and elsewhere in the puzzle, the word BOY clued as "Word that can follow the start of ".
  • Anniversary or tribute themes, commemorating a specific person, place, or event. For example, on October 7, 2011 The New York Times crossword commemorated the life of Apple CEO Steve Jobs who had died on October 5. Theme entries related to Jobs' life included MACINTOSH, PIXAR, THINK DIFFERENT, CREATIVE GENIUS, STEVE JOBS, and APPLE.
  • Synonym themes, where the theme entries all contain synonyms, e.g., a Los Angeles Times puzzle featuring a set of theme entries that contain the words RAVEN, JET, EBONY, and SABLE, all synonyms for "black".
  • Numerous other types have been identified, including spoonerisms, poems, shifted letters, rhyming phrases, puns, homophones, and combinations of two or more of other types of themes.
The themed crossword puzzle was invented in 1958 by Harold T. Bers, an advertising executive and frequent contributor to The New York Times crossword.
The Simon & Schuster Crossword Puzzle Series has published many unusually themed crosswords. "Rosetta Stone", by Sam Bellotto Jr., incorporates a Caesar cipher cryptogram as the theme; the key to breaking the cipher is the answer to 1Across. Another unusual theme requires the solver to use the answer to a clue as another clue. The answer to that clue is the real solution.