# Why Are Crossword Puzzles Symmetrical? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 1, 2011, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746 "2011-02-01T04:24:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/21 "2011-02-03T22:29:57Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > A[n unchecked letter is a] letter that only appears in one word, either going left-to-right or top-to-bottom. They’re affectionately known as “unchies.” Try _that_ word at your next game of Scrabble! ---
**Author:** ![Primobabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@Primobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primobabe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/22 "2011-02-04T15:25:12Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > [Obligatory link to column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/452/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical) > > I’m remembering it interviews a crossword-puzzle-master lady who interned under one of the pioneers, who also decreed there could be no isolated areas, no little “word islands” completely cut off from the rest of the puzzle. > > The movie also has Bill Clinton It’s worth mentioning that an “isolated area” is either an across-word or down-word, but not both. In other words, every single letter in a crossword puzzle is part of both an across clue and a down clue. The puzzle can’t look like a Scrabble game, with words that connect just here-and-there to other words. Bill Clinton continually did crossword puzzles at his Oval Office desk. The man’s so intelligent, he could work on a puzzle while simultaneously having a high-level, complicated telephone call. ---
**Author:** ![Primobabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@Primobabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Primobabe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/23 "2011-02-04T15:30:46Z")
It’s fun when a crossword puzzle’s theme includes fitting an entire word into a single square. For example, the across answer might be LIGHTrail and the down answer LIGHTroom. It can take some effort to figure out the pattern, as it’s normal to expect just one letter per square. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/24 "2011-02-04T15:50:39Z")
I used to write crossword puzzles for a local newspaper. As the creator, it was too easy to cheat when the words don’t fit like they were supposed to and just put a black box and have the puzzle no longer be symmetrical. I kept my puzzles symmetrical just because I felt there was some truce between the writer and the solver to not do any cheats. That’s not to say I didn’t get lazy. One of my clues was: 15 Across-Walking backwards. The answer was the obvious: GNIKLAW ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/25 "2011-02-04T17:05:04Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I used to write crossword puzzles for a local newspaper. As the creator, it was too easy to cheat when the words don’t fit like they were supposed to and just put a black box and have the puzzle no longer be symmetrical. I kept my puzzles symmetrical just because I felt there was some truce between the writer and the solver to not do any cheats. > > That’s not to say I didn’t get lazy. One of my clues was: 15 Across-Walking backwards. The answer was the obvious: > > GNIKLAW Saw that coming. You get a demerit. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/26 "2011-02-04T17:34:28Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I used to write crossword puzzles for a local newspaper. As the creator, it was too easy to cheat when the words don’t fit like they were supposed to and just put a black box and have the puzzle no longer be symmetrical. I kept my puzzles symmetrical just because I felt there was some truce between the writer and the solver to not do any cheats. > > That’s not to say I didn’t get lazy. One of my clues was: 15 Across-Walking backwards. The answer was the obvious: > > GNIKLAW I’ve seen Times and/or Games puzzles with that kind of thing as the theme. It is also standard as part of cryptic clues. However, as a standalone clue it is cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/27 "2011-02-04T17:36:17Z")
> [@Primobabe](#): > > It’s worth mentioning that an “isolated area” is either an across-word or down-word, but not both. In other words, every single letter in a crossword puzzle is part of both an across clue and a down clue. The puzzle can’t look like a Scrabble game, with words that connect just here-and-there to other words. No, that is an unchecked letter. An isolated area is one in which you can complete a segment of the puzzle in isolation, with none of the letters being a part of the rest of the puzzle. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/28 "2011-02-04T19:04:48Z")
> [@Primobabe](#): > > Bill Clinton continually did crossword puzzles at his Oval Office desk. The man’s so intelligent, he could work on a puzzle while simultaneously having a high-level, complicated telephone call. So he could do \*three \*things at once, then? ---
**Author:** ![zhoen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c4cdca/32.png) [@zhoen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zhoen)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/29 "2011-02-06T20:04:35Z")
Finally, I get the joke in Pratchett. Sator Square is a place in Ankh-Morpork. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/30 "2011-02-08T18:51:03Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > English cryptic puzzles are symmetric, but have unchecked letters in each word in order to force you to solve every single one. In regular puzzles if you solve every across clue you don’t even have to look at the down clues. Does “regular” = “American”? 😛 I’m no sort of expert, but it seems to be standard in the UK for both cryptic and “quick” crosswords to have unchecked letters. By way of what seems to be typical examples, I offer the [Grauniad’s crosswords](http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords). ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/31 "2011-02-08T21:01:57Z")
Yes – considering merely the grids, not the definitions, to a US eye, those look like kiddy crosswords. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/32 "2011-02-08T23:37:37Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Does “regular” = “American”? 😛 > > I’m no sort of expert, but it seems to be standard in the UK for both cryptic and “quick” crosswords to have unchecked letters. By way of what seems to be typical examples, I offer the [Grauniad’s crosswords](http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords). Well, I meant regular = non-cryptic. Though we did invent them. 😃 Having unchecked letters makes the puzzle easier to set and to solve. Perhaps it is done to keep the grids constant and less confusing. The NY Times sometimes runs “Puns and Anagrams” puzzles which are light cryptics in a standard American grid. These long predated the actual introduction of cryptics in the Sunday Times once a month or so. BTW, so you don’t think I’m a chauvinist, my daughter brought home a Daily Mirror from her ordeal in Heathrow just before Christmas, and the puzzle page is so far superior to the puzzle page of any American paper it is not even funny. ---
**Author:** ![A.Gwilliam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@A.Gwilliam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.Gwilliam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/33 "2011-02-09T16:02:38Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Having unchecked letters makes the puzzle easier to set and to solve. Didn’t someone say earlier that it was possible to solve an American-style puzzle by only using the “across” clues? That says to me that the UK-style puzzles are more difficult, since you must pretty much solve **every** clue. (I should mention that this is only an academic point for me; I can’t stand cryptic crosswords! :D) > [@](#): > > BTW, so you don’t think I’m a chauvinist, my daughter brought home a Daily Mirror from her ordeal in Heathrow just before Christmas, and the puzzle page is so far superior to the puzzle page of any American paper it is not even funny. Now that’s an interesting observation. As a red-top tabloid I’d have expected the Mirror would do a page of pretty easy (even simplistic) puzzles. Hm! {strokes beard thoughtfully} ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/34 "2011-02-10T03:33:38Z")
> [@A.Gwilliam](#): > > Didn’t someone say earlier that it was possible to solve an American-style puzzle by only using the “across” clues? That says to me that the UK-style puzzles are more difficult, since you must pretty much solve **every** clue. I’m getting a bit lost. American style, I thought, uses unchecked letters, meaning unless do a Wheel of Fortune-type guess for a few words to fill in the missing letters, seems like you’d need to answer every clue. Or has the American style changed? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/35 "2011-02-10T06:18:20Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I’m getting a bit lost. American style, I thought, uses unchecked letters, meaning unless do a Wheel of Fortune-type guess for a few words to fill in the missing letters, seems like you’d need to answer every clue. Or has the American style changed? That was me about the across clues. An American puzzles (good ones that is) don’t have any unchecked letters. [Here is an example from Yahoo.](http://games.yahoo.com/games/gen/cwpuz/puz_110208.html) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/36 "2011-02-10T15:53:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > American style, I thought, uses unchecked letters, meaning unless do a Wheel of Fortune-type guess for a few words to fill in the missing letters, seems like you’d need to answer every clue. Or has the American style changed? You can see various grids [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword) (American, British, Japanese, Swedish.) > [@](#): > > Crossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines feature solid areas of white squares. Every letter is checked, and usually each answer is required to contain at least three letters. To answer the second part of your question, I don’t ever remember seeing a standard American crossword (like one you’d see in the daily paper or the back of your TV Guide) contain unchecked letters. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/37 "2011-02-10T16:12:16Z")
The Swedish grid doesn’t really belong in this discussion. It’s a picture crossword (a Swedish invention if I understand correctly) puzzle with the clues embedded in the grid and a picture (or more) that generates words or phrases to be filled in. I’d say this is the most common style in Sweden, but there are also British style crosswords. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746/38 "2011-02-11T02:45:11Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > That was me about the across clues. An American puzzles (good ones that is) don’t have any unchecked letters. > [Here is an example from Yahoo.](http://games.yahoo.com/games/gen/cwpuz/puz_110208.html) > [@pulykamell](#): > > You can see various grids [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossword) (American, British, Japanese, Swedish.) Ah, okay. Thanks. I see now. When I read about not containing unchecked letters, I envisioned a crossword with no blacked-out squares whatsoever. I’ve seen those before. But these in the links are the ones I’m familiar with, yes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-crossword-puzzles-symmetrical/569746.md?page=1)