WORD LISTS

Crossword words

February 22, 2009 (updated July 17, 2009)
By Ben Zimmer (New York, NY)Visual Thesaurus ContributorVisual Thesaurus Moderator
Words that are high-frequency in crosswords but low-frequency in everyday use.

Read about "crosswordese" here: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1731/

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Friday July 17th, 1:15 PM
Comment by: Cody (Eugene, OR)
I have been enjoying crossword puzzless for over 40 years (I can still remember encountering Jai Alai for the first time, and thinking it was a person, not a sport). Nevertheless, 40 years beyond that first dim memory, I often encounter jai alai as a reliable entry in many crosswords. I cannot imagine the demise of crosswords. Royalty; movie stars; blue-, white-, and pink-collar workers; students; children; stay-at-home husbands or wives; detectives; characters in books...the list of crossword aficionados (and their ilk) is endless. The only people I know who don't do them tell me they are too intimated to even try. Too bad; they have no idea what they're missing (adit, awn, olio, among others)

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