The higher a word is scored in a list, the more likely the software is to use it. Every constructor I spoke to mentioned these word lists were a huge boon when they were first starting out. There are a number of free and paid word lists floating around, ranging in size from a few hundred entries to several hundred thousand.
Most construction programs come with preinstalled word lists, but they also allow the user to create their own, or to import lists downloaded from the internet. But as a result, crosswordese is stuck in the pre-Internet era. By using autofill, a constructor’s job is made easier. These programs introduced a new tool that automatically fills in an area of a crossword puzzle using a word list. Among today’s constructors, though, it’s difficult to find someone who doesn’t use software such as Crossfire or Crossword Compiler to create their puzzles. The alternating pattern of vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant makes for easy filling of tricky corners or ending stacks.įor a long time, the main tools of a crossword constructor were graph paper and a dictionary. One of the reasons they appear so often is because they are extremely useful in crossword construction. ORE and ERIE are examples of crosswordese, words that appear often in crossword puzzles but rarely in day-to-day conversation. ORE is seventh, with over 1,200 appearances. According to, ERIE is the third most popular word in the New York Times Crossword. Mining ORE would be the most lucrative business venture. If we were to go by the New York Times Crossword, Lake ERIE would be the most dazzling body of water on Earth.
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