# I don't get this crossword word **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514 "2004-10-10T20:57:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/1 "2004-10-10T20:57:47Z")
The clue was “switch attachment.” The answer, apparently, was “EROO.” So, WTF is an Eroo? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/2 "2004-10-10T21:02:01Z")
Who knows. Maybe somebody pulled the old switcheroo on you. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/3 "2004-10-10T21:02:22Z")
As in, “pulling the old switch **eroo**.” ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/4 "2004-10-10T21:03:01Z")
‘eroo’ is an attachment, as in a suffix. When connected to switch, the word becomes switcheroo- to swap one for another without knowledge of the observer. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/5 "2004-10-10T21:04:34Z")
> **[Penguin Random House](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com?date=20001003)** > > Committed to publishing great books, connecting readers and authors globally, and spreading the love of reading. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/6 "2004-10-10T21:07:01Z")
I keep reading that doing crossword puzzles will help keep ones mind nimble as one grows older. So my mind will be nimble right up to the point where I have my fatal coronary as a result of clues like that. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/7 "2004-10-10T21:15:12Z")
Try this clue from yesterday’s NYT puzzle: Big top parts (5 letters) DCUPS ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/8 "2004-10-10T21:17:31Z")
Clearly, in putting together the puzzle, they came up with the sequence EROO and had to come up with a good, or at least cute, definition for it. “Switch attachment” – i.e., something attached to the end of “switch” – worked – and has that “not what you were expecting” flavor that good crossword clues sometimes do. Besides, “Internet-capable analog of hopping marsupial” wouldn’t work! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/9 "2004-10-10T21:27:29Z")
:smack: This is why I don’t do crosswords very often. :mad: (Although, oddly, I had no trouble with “Buck attachment” == “aroo” elsewhere in the puzzle. (A better clue what have been “Nixon utterrance.”) Man, I’m dumb.) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/10 "2004-10-10T21:31:53Z")
If you do crossword puzzles regularly, you will find “eroo” in the puzzle about 300 times too many a year. It’s a really useful connector. “attachment” “ending” “follower” etc. are all “contemporary” puzzle clues that mean add a suffix. “Traditional” puzzles don’t do this, but all the major newspaper puzzlers that I’m familiar with have switched over to the “contemporary” clues, which are puns, popular cultural references, and stuff that the old-fashioned puzzlers scorned. It’s all Will Shortz’s fault. 🙂 And yes, he might use “Internet-capable analog of hopping marsupial” as a clue. Damn him. ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/11 "2004-10-10T21:44:26Z")
The clue usually reads: “switch follower.” In fact, this is the only way I’ve seen it, not “attachment” or the other synonyms, but then again I only do the easy ones on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and maybe Thursday if I have the time but never on Fridays or Saturdays. The Sunday’s is easier than Saturday’s, at least in my local newspaper, and I think most papers have the same puzzles as they are syndicated by Will Shortz. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/12 "2004-10-10T22:07:29Z")
The type of clues we’ve been discussing are often ended with a ? to indicate something punny is going on. From my local paper’s puzzle today (Sunday), see: **Major ending?** (4) ETTE \*\* Start of an era?\*\* (3) CAM Will Shorts didn’t start this stuff. (Although I maintain he’s the best thing to happen to crossword puzzles.) His predecessor, Will Weng was renowned for his love of puns and served them up shamelessly. In the Intro to a puzzle book edited by Weng, we are treated to two Weng gems: **City of great recall?** (7) DETROIT and **Lament of the landlocked mariner?** (14) LONGTIMENOSEA ---
**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/13 "2004-10-10T22:57:40Z")
I don’t have today’s paper any more, and didn’t try the puzzle. But, granted that pun clues have a “?” at the end, clues with “follower” or “leader” are not puns and do not have the question marks. Now, “major ending” and “start of an era” are puns. If the clues were “major follower” and “era leader” no question marks would’ve been used, as those are not puns. ---
**Author:** ![tygerbryght](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@tygerbryght](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygerbryght)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/14 "2004-10-10T23:40:51Z")
If you think those are hard, _DO NOT_ ever try a British crossword. I visited there in 1997 (Di died two days before I headed home). My friend’s father is a crossword devotee. Because I’ve always been pretty good at Murkan ones (I used to get _Saturday Review_, lo these many years ago, and do the acrostics - which weren’t all that easy, trust me), I tried _The Times_ Friday one (weekdays crosswords are usually the simplest, this side of the Pond) on a Saturday morning in Liverpool. **YEOWTCH!** 😕 I didn’t understand a single clue. :smack: I’d long since accepted that English and American are two different languages (who was it? GBS? who said that the English and the Murkans are “two peoples divided by a single language.”) Clearly, it’s so. I admit to preferring Harry P in the Original Tongue (perhaps because there are a number of British writers whom I’m fond - e.g., Sayers, Heyer, Lindsey Davis), but I’m reasonably sure that I miss some stuff. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/15 "2004-10-11T00:32:16Z")
> [@tygerbryght](#): > > If you think those are hard, _DO NOT_ ever try a British crossword. I visited there in 1997 (Di died two days before I headed home). My friend’s father is a crossword devotee. Because I’ve always been pretty good at Murkan ones (I used to get _Saturday Review_, lo these many years ago, and do the acrostics - which weren’t all that easy, trust me), I tried _The Times_ Friday one (weekdays crosswords are usually the simplest, this side of the Pond) on a Saturday morning in Liverpool. > > **YEOWTCH!** 😕 > > I didn’t understand a single clue. :smack: > > I’d long since accepted that English and American are two different languages (who was it? GBS? who said that the English and the Murkans are “two peoples divided by a single language.”) Clearly, it’s so. I admit to preferring Harry P in the Original Tongue (perhaps because there are a number of British writers whom I’m fond - e.g., Sayers, Heyer, Lindsey Davis), but I’m reasonably sure that I miss some stuff. 😛 British standard crosswords are what we call “cryptic crosswords” over here. Our standard crosswords are what they (should) call “idiot puzzles” over there. I do love me some NYT Sundays though… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/16 "2004-10-11T01:28:47Z")
British crosswords are not harder because they use British slang or words known only in the U.K. They are harder because they are constructed to be harder. They are, as jayjay points out, what’s called “cryptic crosswords” here. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/17 "2004-10-11T01:37:13Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > “attachment” “ending” “follower” etc. are all “contemporary” puzzle clues that mean add a suffix. Another term I’ve seen is “train” as in “B Train (5)” CDEFG Obviously, this is a crutch for the lazy or just plain unskilled crossword author. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/18 "2004-10-11T01:59:08Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Another term I’ve seen is “train” as in “B Train (5)” > > CDEFG > > Obviously, this is a crutch for the lazy or just plain unskilled crossword author. Well, if the A Train gets you to Harlem, where does the B Train get you? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/19 "2004-10-11T02:05:00Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > Well, if the A Train gets you to Harlem, where does the B Train get you? Red and wet. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514/20 "2004-10-11T03:20:04Z")
The Shortz (with a “z”) reference is a bit of a private joke (I used to sell to him when he was the editor of Games), but I put him as more influential in spreading the style than Weng. And it’s just not true that most papers have the same puzzles. Almost every major newspaper in the country (Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, Wall Street Journal) has its own puzzle creators and several of them are also syndicated to other newspapers. I have a friend who actually recently won a British-style weekly competition from some major source. (The Times?) I have gone over the suggestions for solving a million times and they still make no sense to me. OTOH, I got started doing the Sunday puzzles regularly in the 80s when some others at work were bringing them to work on Monday. At first it would take me until Wednesday to go through them a few clues at a time. Today I can usually do one while watching a TV program. Familiarity with the standard quirks and crochets of the trade makes a huge difference. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-crossword-word/268514.md?page=2)