In The New York Times, this is determined by the puzzle makers themselves.įor a puzzle constructor, deciding on a shared vocabulary requires careful balancing. Whenever we play a word-based game like the crossword puzzle or Spelling Bee, there’s always an assumption underlying our participation in each game - that we all agree on a lexicon of words that are acceptable in the universe of these games. This raises the question: When does an internet word enter the realm of puzzles? “The internet kind of gives us an opportunity to listen in on those conversations,” he said. He faces the question of what words to include on his site on a regular basis. Social media has allowed people to “capture a group language” and share it widely, causing words to spread like never before, said John Kelly, managing editor of, one of the most visited online dictionaries in the world. And the internet has forced more people to integrate what may have once been considered"improper English” into their day-to-day conversations. Whether it’s the introduction of a word to the Oxford English Dictionary - often referred to as “OED” in crossword puzzles - or deciding on the use of certain verbiage in books, magazines and newspapers, there are a few folks who get to make decisions about what is and isn’t part of “proper English.”īut the English captured in pre-internet written texts never represented the language’s full complexity, leaving out things like slang used by cultural and ethnic groups, as well as regional and international variations of words. Along the same lines, “proper English” is a standard applied by a few powerful entities - mostly those who have controlled the means of publication and distribution and come to agree on what met their criteria. In some ways, “internet speak” has brought about an interesting question: What constitutes “proper English?”įor many years, we have associated “proper English” with the written word - the language we read in books, articles and other formally published texts. The internet has made widespread popularization much easier. This means we may also hear it used by our grandparents or by corporate marketing executives: people who are not part of the community that originated the term. Phrases like “throwing shade” may first spring up through documentaries like “ Paris Is Burning” or shows like “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” but the popularization of a term happens when speakers use it repeatedly and among many people, not just with inner circles. The internet and social media have increased the ways in which slang particular to specific groups - like “throwing shade” has been to the Black and Latinx queer communities for decades - are popularized among other people, and thus among crossword puzzlers. An example would be "Advance in either direction" = PUT UP, because "to put up" can be another way of saying "to advance," and is also a palindrome (a word that is spelled the same forwards and backwards.For Collins, it was entries like “throwing shade” and music references that were familiar to him, like “Ghostface Killah,” that felt like an encouragement to enter the field and bring more of himself to his craft. Palindromes are often indicated by phrases like "either way" or "up and down." They involve finding an anagram that works as a solution to a cryptic clue.This is solved by translating "crockery" to "pots," and then inverting "pots" to get "stop." Note that the solution is also hinted at by the phrase, "go no further." For example, "Go no further putting the crockery up" = STOP. Reversals require solving a cryptic clue and then reversing the solution.Thus "Hair style with a comb in it" = BEEHIVE, as "comb" can refer to a hair comb or a honeycomb. Purely cryptic clues are, essentially, puns.There is a huge number of sub-types within the cryptic clue category. They rely on various kinds of word play, and usually involve multiple levels of puzzling out. You will often find cryptic clues in puzzles specifically designated, "cryptic crosswords," but if they are found in more general puzzles they will often be indicated by a question mark at the end. This type of crossword clue is far more popular in the UK than in the US.
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