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March 15, 2006

Crosswordese Hall of Fame

When analyzing the language of Crosswordese after a while there are a handful of words that tend to rise to the top.  There are two criteria that the list of words below meets: they show up very often in crossword puzzles and they are words that almost no one uses in everyday conversation.  All of the words below show up at least once a month for the daily solver.  Also, none of them show up in the 50,000 most common words of the English language (see Jonathan Harris’s WordCount site.)  In fact, most of these words are so uncommon outside of crossword puzzles that they don’t show up in the WordCount list at all.

Have you noticed that all of these words begin with vowels?  Apparently, that is helpful when creating a crossword puzzle.

If I was a beginning crossword solver, I would memorize this list.  You’re going to run into at least one of these words almost every day.  Knowing these words may be the difference between finishing puzzles and almost finishing…

Alai Jai Alai (HY-lye)

Game played in a court with a ball and a wickerwork racket

Common clues: Jai ______; Half a Basque game

Crossword puzzle frequency: once a month

Frequency in English language: ‘alai’ doesn’t show up on WordCount list.  ‘Jai’, however, does show up.  It is the 78,351st word on the list.

Alee (uh-LEE)

In seaman’s language, toward the side opposite the wind

Common clues: Toward the sheltered side; On the quiet side; Out of the wind

Crossword puzzle frequency: 20 times a year

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

Asta (AS-tuh)

Film dog of the 1930s

Common clues: Film canine, "The Thin Man" dog; Film pooch; Hammett hound

Crossword puzzle frequency: once a month

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

Asti (AH-stee)

A city of Italy known for its sparkling wines.

Common clues: Wine city; Piedmont wine center; Italian wine center

Crossword puzzle frequency: 13 times a year

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

Elia (ee-LYE-uh)

Greek-born American film and theater director

Common clues: Director Kazan, Lamb's literary moniker; Lamb's pen name

Crossword puzzle frequency: 15 times a year

Frequency in English language: 69445 / 86800

Enos (EE-naws)

1.      First-born son of Seth

2.      Enos Slaughter, American baseball player

Common clues: Nephew of Abel, Slaughter of St. Louis, Seth's boy; Adam's grandson

Crossword puzzle frequency: 14 times a year

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

Epee (ay-PAY)

A modern version of a dueling sword

Common clues: Fencing rapier; Fencer's weapon; Olympic weapon; Blunt sword Crossword puzzle frequency: 32 times a year

Crossword puzzle frequency: 32 times a year

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

Erle (erl)

An American lawyer and author of detective stories

Common clues: Gardner of fiction; Author ____ Stanley Gardner; First name in mystery writing

Crossword puzzle frequency: 16 times a year

Frequency in English language: 70049 / 86800

Ewer (YOO-uhr)

A decorative pitcher

Common clues: Graceful pitcher; Pitcher that can't throw; Pretty pitcher; Decorative pitcher

Crossword puzzle frequency: 18 times a year

Frequency in English language: 55923 / 86800

Olio (OH-lee-oh)

1.      A spicy stew of meat and vegetables and usually including chickpeas.

2.      A miscellaneous mixture of elements, especially artistic works, musical pieces, writing, or food.

Common clues: Mixture; Hodgepodge; Stew; Miscellany; Pastiche

Crossword puzzle frequency: 16 times a year

Frequency in English language: doesn’t show up on the WordCount list

















Paul Stynsberg, Crosswordese.com © 2006