What are crosswords, anyway?

puzzle(s) in which a pattern of chequered squares has to be filled in from numbered clues

- Oxford English Dictionary

Facts about crosswords

• Setters/compilers create puzzle clues
  • Usually work anonymously/under pseudonym
• Are often democratic and skills can be acquired by everyone
• Designed to entertain and delight, not communicate
• Part of registers in linguistic studies
  • Includes newspapers, ads, etc.
• Two different kinds: Cryptic (obscure clues) and non-cryptic

Reference: (Pham, 2016, pp. 86-88)

Crossword terminology

• Lights: white squares where letters are accepted
• Blocks: Black squares where letters are not accepted
• Crosslight/checked letters: Letters that intersect between two clues
• Unches/unchecked letters: Letters that are specific to one clue
  • Usually indicate a puzzle's difficulty

Reference: (Pham, 2016, p. 87)

How to write a crossword clue (sort of)

• Try to stay away from pronouns...
  • ...unless the intent is to obscure words like 'man' or 'girl' (or words with those letters)
• Want an extra challenge? Cross-reference clues (though rare)
• Make your clues thematically independent

Reference: (Pham, 2016, p. 87)

• Rule of Inflection: Clue and word must have same function/inflection

• Rule of Identity: Clue and word must be semantically equivalent
  • Can either by synonym (similar word), (negated) antonym (opposite), hyponym (general term)

Reference: (Pham, 2016, p. 90)

And it goes on...

(and on... and on...)

and on and on and on...

What's the big deal?

There aren't any analyses of crossword registers*!

*Until Teresa Pham decided to do something about it

Intertextuality

• Intertextuality - knowledge of some texts or groups of text (pre-texts) may influence production/reception of others (post-texts)
  • In cases of registers, usually occur from quotations

Reference: (Pham, 2016, p. 93)

The big question

... how intertextuality contributes to the characteristics and purposes of crosswords ... [and how it contributes to] establishing crosswords as a register ...

- Teresa Pham

Reference: (Pham, 2016, p. 93)

Oversimplification ahead!

And the study begins...

1. Get a corpus of crosswords of both cryptic and non-cryptic registers (The Sun, The Times) ~2009.
2. Study by categories:
   • Folkloristic and mythological texts
   • Literature
   • Visual arts (painting/sculpture vs video)
   • Music (classical vs popular)
   • Religious, philosophical, and other theoretical texts
3. Analyze the percentage of intertextual references

Reference: (Pham, 2016, pp. 94-95)

But wait! A 🛠 in our plans...

"But answer came there none / And this way was scarcely odd because They'd _____ every one (Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass)

The curious case of quotation clues

• Used up until mid-20th century in cryptic crosswords
  • Haven't been found in non-cryptic yet...
• Required knowledge of pre-texts from quotes
• Banned in 1995 due to it not being strictly cryptic (and required way too much attention on literature)
  • "Not everyone's an avid bookworm"

An average of intertextual references...

if you're interested...

Reference: (Pham, 2016, pp. 96-97)

What do we learn?

• Intertextuality helps with strategy in writing/solving clues
• There is an intertextual distinction in cryptic and non-cryptic sub-registers:
  • Cryptic - Require more thought and contextual awareness than non-cryptic
  • Non-cryptic - Only requires superficial intertextual knowledge

Reference: (Pham, 2016, pp. 100-101)