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Along Life’s Way
I’m a What?
By Lois E. Wilson
I found out a few years ago that I am a “cruciverbalist.” The word does
not appear in any of my older dictionaries. But it is in editions of
many published lately. It also has references on the internet. It comes
from the Latin roots: cruci meaning “cross,” verbal meaning “words,”
and ist meaning “person.” The definition is a person who constructs
crossword puzzles or is an aficionado of them. So if you work them, you
are into cruciverbalism. Crosswords are reported to be the most popular
word game in the world. And in almost every puzzle, you learn something
new about topics such as science, geography, history, famous people,
and our language.
Crossword publishers have strict guidelines for their puzzles. Back in
the 1980’s when I was doing a lot of crossword puzzle construction,
“Random House Dictionary of the English Language” was the source for
Penny Press puzzles. Two-letter words were not permitted and too many
three-letter words would cause a rejection. No unkeyed letters were
allowed; that is, each letter in the puzzle had to be a part of two
words which crossed.
Grids are of preferred sizes—many daily newspaper puzzles are 15x15
grids. The Sunday puzzles are usually larger such as 21x21. The Dayton
Daily News puzzles during the week are also in the L.A. Times. Grids
must be symmetrical side-to-side or diagonally. Payment for puzzles is
dependent on size—the larger the puzzle, the more per puzzle.
I constructed my grids by hand and found the words to put in them
myself. Today there are software programs to speed up the process and
databases of words to fit each situation. However, using only those
words can create a dull, sterile puzzle. Humans are better at choosing
themes for puzzles (which editors prefer) and having word play in clues
and answers. It takes a person to keep up with topical events, new
slang words, etc. which enliven the process for the worker.
To keep the puzzle symmetrical, one needs two answers of the same size
(sans spaces) to be theme words. What topical theme might I use today?
My theme words and clues could be:
THEME
WORDS
CLUES
Fake news
(8)
Chicken Little’s report
Protests
(8)
Likes exams, perhaps
Missing emails
(13)
Lost cyber input
Private server
(13)
G.I. mess hall
My word to add to the dictionary is “cruciverbalitis.” Definition: an
infectious disease caused by cross words. Symptoms are excess groaning
and scratching of head, and bouts of wild spells while searching
through books or surfing the internet. Vaccinations are ineffective.
There is often a temporary remission after a completed grid; however,
there is no known cure.
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