Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Margaret Petherbridge Farrar (March 23, 1897 – June 11, 1984) was an American journalist and the first crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times (1942–1968). Creator of many of the rules of modern crossword design, she compiled and edited a long-running series of crossword puzzle books – including the first book of any kind that Simon & Schuster published (1924). [1]
Cryptic crossword clues consist typically of a definition and some type of word play. Cryptic crossword clues need to be viewed two ways. One is a surface reading and one a hidden meaning. [27] The surface reading is the basic reading of the clue to look for key words and how those words are constructed in the clue. The second way is the hidden ...
The number of words in the answer is not given in the clue—so a one-word clue can have a multiple-word answer. [ 28 ] The theme, if any, will be applied consistently throughout the puzzle; e.g., if one of the theme entries is a particular variety of pun, all the theme entries will be of that type. [ 9 ]
Taking this one stage further, the clue word can hint at the word or words to be abbreviated rather than giving the word itself. For example: "About" for C or CA (for "circa"), or RE. "Say" for EG, used to mean "for example". More obscure clue words of this variety include: "Model" for T, referring to the Model T.
A 15x15 lattice-style grid is common for cryptic crosswords. A cryptic crossword is a crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, [1] as well as Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth nations, including Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malta, New Zealand, and South Africa.
At age 16, Shortz began regularly contributing crossword puzzles to Dell Publishing. [6] He eventually graduated from Indiana University in 1974, [7] and is the only person known to hold a college degree in enigmatology, [8] the study of puzzles. Shortz wrote his thesis about the history of American word puzzles. [9]
Get AOL Mail for FREE! Manage your email like never before with travel, photo & document views. Personalize your inbox with themes & tabs. You've Got Mail!
As a result, war-related words including those codenames got into the crosswords; Dawe said later that at the time he did not know that these words were military codewords. On 18 August 1942, a day before the Dieppe raid , 'Dieppe' appeared as an answer in The Daily Telegraph crossword (set on 17 August 1942) (clued "French port"), causing a ...