Q:
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What is the generally used
Crossword terminology / Vocabulary?
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A:
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Acrostic:
A puzzle where you fill a square grid with words reading the same down as
across. Alphabetical jigsaw:
A crossword with exactly 26 answers, each one starting with a different
letter of the alphabet.Afrit's
injunction:
An art of Cryptic Clue writing: "You need not mean what you say, but you
must say what you mean". Anagram:
A word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or
phrase. Answer:
Solution to a Clue. Bar:
A thick line separating the Lights in a barred grid. Barred
grid:
A grid in which the Lights are separated by Bars. Block:
A Cell in a Grid usually colored black or gray.Blocked
grid:
A Grid in which Lights in the same direction are separated by Blocks.Carte
blanche:
The British equivalent of a diagramless puzzle. Cell:
A single square in a Grid, that can fit only one chracter. Charade:
A game in which the answer is split into two or more parts indicated
separately. Cheater:
An extra block added to a fully checked grid to shorten answers without
increasing the word count. Clue:
A description or hint (not necessarily a definition) that the solver uses to
find the answer.Compiler:
A creator of a crossword puzzle. Container:
A type of wordplay used in Cryptic Clues in which the answer is formed from
one word contained inside another. Crossword:
A puzzle in which words corresponding to numbered clues are to be found and
written in to squares in the puzzle. Crosswordese:
Words that are typcially found only in crossword puzzle answers.Cruciverbalism:
Crossword study or general wordsmithism. Cryptic
clue:
Clue having a secret or hidden meaning. Definition:
In a conventional crossword, the definition forms the whole Clue. Diagram:
An alternative term for a crossword Grid.Diagramless:
A crossword where only the dimensions of the grid are shown and the solver
must work out where the lights occur.Enumeration:
The number(s) that you see at the end of each clue indicating the length of
the answer. Fully
checked:
A grid in which there are no unchecked cells. Gimmick:
A device used in a Thematic Cryptic Crossword involving unconventional clue
types. Grid:
A rectangular arrangement of squares into which the crossword answers are
entered. Hole:
An unused square in a grid that is left empty rather than being shown as a
block. Homophone:
Two words are homophones if they are pronounced the same way. Isogram:
A word or phrase in which each letter occurs the same number of times. Jumbo:
A puzzle with a large grid and many more clues than usual. Light:
A horizontal or vertical series of white squares in a grid, representing one
answer.Palindrome:
A word or phrase that reads the same backward as forward. Pangrammatic:
A grid containing every letter of the alphabet at least once. Preamble:
Explanatory text preceding the clues in a Thematic Cryptic Crossword. Pseudonym:
The fictitious name of the Compiler of a crossword. Rubric:
An alternative term for preamble. Setter:
An alternative term for Compiler.Square:
An alternative term for Cell. Surface
reading:
The superficial meanings of the words in a Cryptic Clue, when it is read as
a normal sentence. Symmetry:
Exact correspondence of design on opposite sides of a grid. Tautonym:
Any word or phrase whose second half repeats the first; like bye-bye. Thematic:
Crossword relating to or constituting a topic of discourse.
Theme:
The overall subject matter reflected by the clues of a crossword. Unch:
An unchecked letter. Word
square:
A square fully checked grid containing no blocks. Wordcross:
That's how the crossword used to be called originally. Wordplay:
The secondary means of getting the answer in a Cryptic Clue.
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