While doing the online USA Today crossword puzzle, it occured to me that some of the partially filled solutions could be “suggestive.” For instance, coming across the clue “Explosives” and the solution has been filled in partially to read B-O- -B-S where the missing letter is M, one could have a momentary thought of filling in the missing letter with an O.
Just idle curiousity on my part…I don’t think there’s that many “naughty” words that one could fill up an entire grid. Has there ever been such a thing as a dirty crossword puzzle?
Jethro Tull’s 1972 LP Thick as a Brick was packaged in a cover that folded out into a newspaper. It included a crossword puzzle devised by the band’s bassist, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond. The clues were so obscure that few people attempted to solve it, but it was solvable, and almost all of the answers were sexual and/or scatological.
We occasionally play Obscene Scrabble. You’re not allowed to place a word unless it’s obscene, or you can argue convincingly that a supposedly innocuous word is actually obscene. “Vegetable” and “nub” being recent revelations of rudeness. :eek:
Years ago,. I used to take part in crossword competitions and even wrote puzzles semi-professionally. I used to frequent an AOL chat room with a number of puzzle aficionados.
Those of us who constructed puzzles would pick each others braisn, ask each other for help in coming up with clever clues and themes, or look for confirmation/rebuttal of factoids.
A couple of the constructors were gay, and among the many publications they wrote puzzles for was The Advocate. I know almost nothing about the gay scene or gay pop culture, but I joined in several online sessions with them in which we tried to come up with naughty definitions or gay-themed clues for all kinds of ordinary words and entries.
So, as straight, Republican and Catholic as I am, I must confess… I’ve helped come up with naughty clues for a gay crossword!