# How did I mess up on this crossword? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 11, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079 "2006-07-11T20:07:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/1 "2006-07-11T20:07:49Z")
OK, so I’ve been trying to get good at crosswords, because often times during the day I have nothing to do so I need something to fill in a few minutes here and there, so I took to photocopying the crossword from the daily paper (the place I work at puts out a few copies of the paper, so I bring the crossword page to the photocopier so I only have to carry a small folded piece of paper in my pocket.) Today’s crossword gave me some trouble, namely the kind of trouble where I know that the answer for one area HAS to be right, yet only if that one letter from it that carries over to the across clue were different, then I could fit in this word that perfectly matches the other letters there and the clue. What I have done so far can be seen [Here.](http://static.flickr.com/78/187517215_7afda08b8f_b.jpg) (if that’s too small to read, let me know.) Case in point. Look at 1-down (Mia of soccer) . Clearly, the answer is Hamm, right? And hey, it even fits for 14-across and 17-across (acts and mooshupork.) But the problem arises with 20-across. The clue is “Dispense, as justice.” If we look at the spaces for 20-across, and the last two letters, ‘dishout’ would fit perfectly…but because of ‘Hamm’, the first letter is an ‘m’, not a ‘d’. Also, 1-across would be nice if the answer was ‘Hare’ (long-eared critter.) And hey, the a fits for a good answer for 2-down (skin cream ingredient, ‘aloe,’) yet, 14-across is ‘acts’, not ‘alts’. And ‘Hare’ would also work for 3-down if I could put ‘riot’ in for 3-down (hilarious character.) But again, ‘acts’ is getting in the way, and I don’t know of a word that is ‘interali\_’, which would be the result if I used hare, aloe, and riot instead of act. The next issue I had was with 18-down. The clue is ‘accumulate for later use.’ The first letter is ‘h’, and five letters, so it must be ‘horde’, right? And hey, if ‘dishout’ was the correct answer for 20-across, then that ‘o’ is in the perfect spot…but nope, the last three letters are ‘ard’. ‘A’ from 23-across (secretive fraternal group, clearly ‘masons’,) ‘R’ from 27-across (fairy tale ending word, ‘after,’) and the ‘D’ from 32-across (small hills, ‘mounds’) 27 and 32-across also fit perfectly with the rest of their area of the grid, so they MUST be correct, so what the fuck is 18-down? Oh, and I realize now that excema (21-across) is_actually_ spelled eczema, so that clears up the one issue I thought I had with 22-down and 21-across, and I also know that 29-down is ‘tuningfork’. When I first did it, for some reason my eyes told my brain that 29-down stopped at four letters, so I was left wondering what the hell a ‘tuni’ is. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/2 "2006-07-11T20:12:19Z")
14a - Alia 20a - Meteout ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/3 "2006-07-11T20:12:57Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Case in point. Look at 1-down (Mia of soccer) . Clearly, the answer is Hamm, right? And hey, it even fits for 14-across and 17-across (acts and mooshupork.) But the problem arises with 20-across. The clue is “Dispense, as justice.” If we look at the spaces for 20-across, and the last two letters, ‘dishout’ would fit perfectly…but because of ‘Hamm’, the first letter is an ‘m’, not a ‘d’. One at a time: Try ‘meteout’ > **[mete out](https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mete+out)** > > Definition, Synonyms, Translations of mete out by The Free Dictionary ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/4 "2006-07-11T20:13:05Z")
14-across is “alia” 2-down is “aloe” 3-down is “riot” 20-across is “Mete Out” 18-down is “hoard” ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/5 "2006-07-11T20:16:55Z")
I don’t have time to study this at the moment, but 20 across ("dispense, as justice) is probably “mete out” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/6 "2006-07-11T20:17:30Z")
And ‘hoard’ is correct for 18-Down. > **[Definition of HOARD](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoard)** > > a supply or fund stored up and often hidden away… See the full definition > **[Definition of HORDE](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/horde)** > > a political subdivision of central Asian nomads; a people or tribe of nomadic life; a large unorganized group of individuals : a teeming crowd or throng… See the full definition ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/7 "2006-07-11T20:17:59Z")
Sorry about duplicating an earlier post. I type slowly. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/8 "2006-07-11T20:23:22Z")
See, this is why I should just walk away from all crosswords. I can’t spell (I mixed up hoard and horde, fer christsake) and have a shitty vocabulary (never heard of the word mete, or inter alia. No, seriously, I haven’t. I’m a friggin idiot.) Thanks for the help. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/9 "2006-07-11T20:34:40Z")
Just keep doing them. You will quickly learn the author’s favorite words and see them over and over. Also, use a pen. Pretty soon you’ll be doing one of those in less than ten minutes. Then you will get bored and never do one again. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/10 "2006-07-11T21:07:07Z")
Lawyers and crossword puzzle writers are the only people who use the phrase “inter alia”. ---
**Author:** ![KSO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@KSO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KSO)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/11 "2006-07-11T21:08:55Z")
By the way, 11 down is Robert Bork. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2006, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/12 "2006-07-11T21:23:10Z")
If you’re is trying to get in a lot of crossword practice, you might try [this MSNBC crossword puzzle](http://www.msnbc.com/comics/games/crossword.asp) and [this Merriam-Webster crossword puzzle](http://www.m-w.com/game/crossword_play.htm). Both of those are free. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/13 "2006-07-12T02:19:54Z")
59 Down is **EKES** ; it’s going to screw you up on 61 Across if you don’t fix it. On a quick scan, that’s the only problem I see coming up. ---
**Author:** ![Dottygumdrop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Dottygumdrop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dottygumdrop)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/14 "2006-07-12T07:34:45Z")
I used to do crosswords all the time, and found [One Across](http://www.oneacross.com/) to be THE most useful site - provided I only used it when I was _really_ stuck! Of course, SMDB is probably a lot more fun! ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/15 "2006-07-12T09:32:32Z")
Also, there are a lot of stock clues that you’ll get to recognize. “Ekes out” is a phrase that comes up **all the time** (paging twicktster: we’re tired of it. 😉 ) Inter alia is another very common answer. With those two and jai alai you should be able to do just about any puzzle… sinjin ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/16 "2006-07-12T10:15:58Z")
> [@KSO](#): > > Lawyers and crossword puzzle writers are the only people who use the phrase “inter alia”. And gynecologsts 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/17 "2006-07-12T14:20:35Z")
> [@sinjin](#): > > Also, there are a lot of stock clues that you’ll get to recognize. “Ekes out” is a phrase that comes up **all the time** (paging twicktster: we’re tired of it. 😉 ) Inter alia is another very common answer. With those two and jai alai you should be able to do just about any puzzle… Actually, I’ve done less than a dozen…and “fireworks reaction” (ooh) has already come up twice. And already two clues referencing “Clan of the Cave Bear,” (one the author, the other the main character.) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/18 "2006-07-12T16:50:33Z")
Seriously, and I mean this in the most helpful possible way, this is where you went wrong: You’re doing the quick crossword, and not the cryptic one. Cryptic crosswords are satisfying: as long as they are compiled properly, there is only one possible answer that fits each clue. You get a nice “a-ha” moment when you figure it out. Quick crosswords, on the other hand, I’ve never been able to see the point in, for exactly the reason you have discovered. It’s a case of trial and error to see what fits, which puts it somewhere below sudoku in the puzzle stakes in my book (and that’s saying something). ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/19 "2006-07-12T18:16:58Z")
Ah, I see we do the same puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079/20 "2006-07-12T20:11:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Quick crosswords, on the other hand, I’ve never been able to see the point in, for exactly the reason you have discovered. It’s a case of trial and error to see what fits, which puts it somewhere below sudoku in the puzzle stakes in my book (and that’s saying something). I don’t see the comparison, here… With sudoku, there’s also exactly one answer that can work, and if you try to do a sudoku by trial and error, you’ll never finish one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-i-mess-up-on-this-crossword/364079.md?page=2)