Reference
Glossary of terms.
A short, plain-language glossary of the words that turn up around the grid. Learn a few and any clue reads a little clearer.
- Grid
- The ruled square framework most puzzles are built on — the field where clues, letters, or numbers are placed.
- Clue
- The hint that points to an answer. In crosswords it's a phrase; in logic puzzles it's a statement to reason from.
- Across / Down
- The two directions a crossword answer can run — read left to right, or top to bottom.
- Candidate
- A number or letter that might belong in a cell, noted lightly until it's confirmed or ruled out.
- Given
- A value printed in the puzzle at the start, fixed and true, from which all the reasoning begins.
- Deduction
- Reaching a certain conclusion by ruling out every other possibility — the engine of every logic puzzle.
- Anagram
- A word or phrase made by rearranging the letters of another — a staple trick of the cryptic crossword.
- Enumeration
- The numbers after a cryptic clue that tell you how many letters each word of the answer has.
- Symmetry
- The balanced pattern of black squares in a well-made crossword grid, usually rotationally even.
- Solve
- To complete a puzzle correctly by logic alone — the whole and only point of the exercise.
- Nonogram
- A grid puzzle solved from number clues along its edges, revealing a hidden picture.
- Brain-teaser
- A short, self-contained puzzle or riddle meant to be cracked in a single clever flash.