# What Do These Crossword Puzzle Answers Mean? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [January 21, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230 "2012-01-21T18:14:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/1 "2012-01-21T18:14:22Z")
Can anyone figure out what these crossword puzzle answers mean? I’m just not seeing it. The only thing that I notice in them is that DENNISEXERTSFORCE contains the letters for Desert Force in the right order. It was from a Premier Crossword Puzzle from July 24, and had no title which might have clued me in. It might have had a title originally, but a title didn’t make it into the downloaded puzzle from my phone app. Answer Clue SAMUELTAPSUSHER…Alito gets an arena worker’s attention? MARYNURSESOFFSPRING…Astor feeds her infant? YULZONESAREA…Brynner divides a site into districts? JIMKISSESLASSES…Carrey is amorous with gals? ANNBAKESCAKE…Curry does a patisserie job? VICWORKSXYLOPHONE…Damone plays a percussion instrument? DENNISEXERTSFORCE …Hopper lifts weights? PAMQUITSRANTING …Shriver gets off her soapbox? GENEHOLDSINSECT …Wilder picks up a bug? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/2 "2012-01-21T18:30:27Z")
Samuel (Alito) taps usher Mary (Astor) nurses infant Yul (Brynner) zones area Jim (Carrey) kisses lasses Ann (Curry) bakes cake Vic (Damone) works xylophone Dennis (Hopper) exerts force Pam (Shriver) quits ranting Gene (Wilder) holds insect Get it? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/3 "2012-01-21T18:35:59Z")
Initial letters are alphabetical triplets, at least: STU MNO YZA JKL ABC VWX DEF PQR GHI String them together and you get ANNBAKESCAKEDENNISEXERTSFORCEGENEHOLDSINSECTJIMKISSESLASSESMARYNURSESOFFSPRINGPAMQUITSRANTINGSAMUELTAPSUSHERVICWORKSXYLOPHONEYULZONESAREA Not sure if there’s anything there? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/4 "2012-01-21T18:36:30Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > Samuel (Alito) taps usher > Mary (Astor) nurses infant > Yul (Brynner) zones area > Jim (Carrey) kisses lasses > Ann (Curry) bakes cake > Vic (Damone) works xylophone > Dennis (Hopper) exerts force > Pam (Shriver) quits ranting > Gene (Wilder) holds insect > > Get it? Well, yes, I got the words, but what is the gimmick? What do they mean? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/5 "2012-01-21T18:37:44Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > Initial letters are alphabetical triplets, at least: > > STU > MNO > YZA > JKL > ABC > VWX > DEF > PQR > GHI Hmm, interesting, and the entire alphabet is included. There are two A’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/6 "2012-01-21T18:41:58Z")
Ah, I see that the answers as entered in the grid are in alphabetical order, from top to bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/7 "2012-01-21T18:43:53Z")
I don’t think there is any hidden meaning. Its all pretty straightforward. The first name + a description of the action. I don’t know why you are looking for depth here. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/8 "2012-01-21T18:51:27Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > I don’t think there is any hidden meaning. Its all pretty straightforward. The first name + a description of the action. I don’t know why you are looking for depth here. Because there is no meaning as it stands. Why choose “Yul Zones Area”? It’s nonsensical. That’s not how crossword puzzles work. I can understand if it is alphabetical phrases, but even that’s a bit lame as the words are completely random other than the letter the words begin with. There’s usually more to it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/9 "2012-01-21T18:55:59Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > There’s usually more to it. Not in my experience. And I’ve been doing the NYT sunday puzzle for decades. I’ve seen them use similar alphabetic ploys on a number of past occasions. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/10 "2012-01-21T19:00:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Because there is no meaning as it stands. Why choose “Yul Zones Area”? It’s nonsensical. That’s not how crossword puzzles work. I can understand if it is alphabetical phrases, but even that’s a bit lame as the words are completely random other than the letter the words begin with. There’s usually more to it. They’re not completely random. They’re all subject - simple tense - object. Perhaps the title of the original puzzle alluded to that in some way. Nonetheless, I agree that if that is all there is to it, it’s not a particularly satisfying puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/11 "2012-01-21T19:06:35Z")
Moved Cafe Society --\> the Game Room. ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/12 "2012-01-21T19:09:52Z")
Considering that there are ‘alphabetical triplets’ as Ximenean pointed out, but there is no consistancy there, ie ‘Mary nurses infant’ breaks the pattern, I would have to consider that it just isn’t the best crossword puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![AppallingGael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9bd4f/32.png) [@AppallingGael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AppallingGael)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/13 "2012-01-21T19:47:00Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > Considering that there are ‘alphabetical triplets’ as Ximenean pointed out, but there is no consistancy there, ie ‘Mary nurses infant’ breaks the pattern, I would have to consider that it just isn’t the best crossword puzzle. Mary nurses “offspring”, not “infant”. As for what it all means, no idea. Maybe the Russians are about to attack? ---
**Author:** ![Enuma\_Elish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5e9695/32.png) [@Enuma\_Elish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enuma_Elish)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/14 "2012-01-21T19:54:13Z")
Oops, my bad! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-these-crossword-puzzle-answers-mean/610230/15 "2012-01-22T02:48:29Z")
> [@Enuma\_Elish](#): > > Considering that there are ‘alphabetical triplets’ as Ximenean pointed out, but there is no consistancy there, ie ‘Mary nurses infant’ breaks the pattern, I would have to consider that it just isn’t the best crossword puzzle. Yes, I was thinking that the original puzzle probably had a title like "alphabetical triplets. So if you knew that the first letter was, say, an “M,” you’d know that the answer would also contain an “N” and an “O.”