> The crossword has a similar sort of unwritten rule, maybe not as strict, but really hard technical words seldom appear.
Not my experience at all.
Ask me how I know what an EPEE is
> The crossword has a similar sort of unwritten rule, maybe not as strict, but really hard technical words seldom appear.
Not my experience at all.
Ask me how I know what an EPEE is
EPEE is a common fill word from a lexicon informally known as crosswordese.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crosswordese
Really no harder than memorizing all the 2 and 3 letter words in Scrabble and many players will pick most up in a few months.
I didn’t know it was called crosswordese! I wonder what the most common term used is. As a very occasional player, for some reason ARIA, IBIS, and VENI/VIDI/VICI stick out, but I’m sure it’s actually one with an E.
VENI/VIDI/VICI are easy for anyone who studied Latin (as indeed used to be common), and ARIA is similarly easy for anyone who knows about opera. Basically, the crossword is for snobs.
I agree that crosswords often include cultural references that lean towards certain demographics / assuming particular education, and that can feel exclusionary if you don’t share that background - and there's even an argument to suggest snobbery might be behind those choices.
But I disagree that that makes it for snobs. Snobbery is more about an attitude of looking down on others or their tastes, whereas knowing Latin or being a fan of opera is really just about exposure.
Sure, there exist some (too many) opera fans who would say something like "it's real art compared to pop or hip hop being low class trash", but that's not a defining part of liking opera and plenty of people who like opera aren't snobs. Ironically it's a different form of snobbery (sometimes called reverse snobbery though personally I hate that term), to dismiss anyone who learned Latin or who likes opera as being a snob!
Major crossword offenders:
ERR, ORCA, OBOE, ALOE, ORE, ODE
The middle 4 are all fairly common words. "Ode" isn't super common, but I hear it in "An ode to..." phrases. And "err" I've only ever heard in 1 phrase: "To err is human."
> The middle 4 are all fairly common words.
That's not really the concept. People know what an orca is.
But if you see a crossword clue that says "black and white animal", you know that the answer is ORCA without even needing to look at the number of letters in the answer. (Could it be "skunk"? Could it be "panda"? No, those are stupid questions.) Same thing if the clue is "marine predator". (Could that be "shark"? No.) The words I listed are incredibly likely to appear in crossword puzzles. That's what's weird about them.
See also: "Err on the side of caution."
certain crossword authors like certain words, there is one that almost always uses OREO in their puzzles.
An épée is one of three types of sword used in the three styles of Western fencing. As such, it's about as technical as, say, the words "touchdown" or "mitt".
It's also just the regular French word that means "sword". But although crossword puzzles frequently ask you to know common French words, I've never seen one clue the answer EPEE that way.
Epee is not an obscure word. It's an olympic event for goodness sake.
> Ask me how I know what an EPEE is
That’s when you’re like, only tangentially involved with the making of a movie or tv show, but too famous to go without a credit?
> EPEE
They love that one.
If you took fencing at an Ivy League school for you PR requirement you would know all about foil, saber, and epee fencing. Not everyone gets to row crew.
Wholly offtopic but just posting because I thought it was awesome...
During Covid I saw an ad for a fencing school how it was the best sport during Covid.
You wear a mask
You keep your distance
And if someone doesn't, you stick em with the pointy end
:)
It's actually a terrible sport for covid, involving heavy breathing in close proximity to other people indoors.
Any outdoor sport would be better.
I'm not sure if this is a humble-brag and/or if it's a subtle dig at the out-of-touch lives of NYT crossword players.
Don't forget sailing and equestrian.
And any 4 letter instrument is usually OBOE and a fish related clue is EELS
Ah yes, good old ARA Parseghian. That guy.