# US crosswords **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 14, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458 "2009-08-14T22:22:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [August 21, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/21 "2009-08-21T19:55:30Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Parseghian is Ara, not Ira. 😛 I would have remembered that when I figured out the across word above… ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/22 "2009-08-22T00:34:06Z")
I was proud to see my hometown, [AMES](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames,_Iowa), become a common _NYT_ clue a few years back. We’re a little light on ESNEs (our farmers are the family kind) or ERNEs (we’re 1,200 miles inland), and there isn’t a working ADIT anywhere in the state since the soft coal gave out. But we do have loads of ARILs (we’re a center for plant science), and the local fuzzbutts presumably are well supplied with ORTs. ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/23 "2009-08-22T15:11:38Z")
Common or repeat words and clues could be easy starter points for the end user who don’t want to struggle with the puzzle to much. I would suggest OP try a couple of NYT Saturday puzzles, not online for free to my knowledge. One would want to buy the paper for starters. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/24 "2009-08-22T16:10:50Z")
> [@janeslogin](#): > > Common or repeat words and clues could be easy starter points for the end user who don’t want to struggle with the puzzle to much. > > I would suggest OP try a couple of NYT Saturday puzzles, not online for free to my knowledge. One would want to buy the paper for starters. If the NYT isn’t available in your area, you can also go to a bookstore and look for the NYT crossword collections, which are more expensive than an issue, but much less expensive than a subscription. ---
**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:** [August 22, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/25 "2009-08-22T16:58:56Z")
I once saw a crossword where the theme was crossword clues. The clue would be a word commonly used in crosswords, and the theme answer was the clue usually used to clue that word. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/26 "2009-08-22T17:45:28Z")
Have to learn a lot of short filler words with many vowels, and obscure names. And don’t forget two Melville novels Omoo and Typee. Really? You were a great writer and those were all you could think of as book titles? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/27 "2009-08-22T18:50:15Z")
Hey, if I were a writer, I’d give my books titles like _Etea_ or _Iroo_. They’d be remembered for as long as crossword puzzles last (even if nobody ever read them). ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/28 "2009-08-23T10:33:11Z")
Reading [this](http://crosswordfiend.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-crossword-life-by-melissa-balmain.html) might be helpful too. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/29 "2009-08-23T22:11:54Z")
> [@AppallingGael](#): > > Reading [this](http://crosswordfiend.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-crossword-life-by-melissa-balmain.html) might be helpful too. That was great, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458/30 "2009-08-24T03:35:08Z")
[Here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=491427) is another thread discussing many of the recurring famous names. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-crosswords/506458.md?page=1)