cruciverbalist love

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A constructor of crosswords.
  • noun An enthusiast of word games, especially of crosswords.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A person who constructs crosswords.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin crux, cruc-, cross + Latin verbum, word (translation of English crossword).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

cruci- (“cross”) + verbal (“words”) + -ist (“agent, person”), from Latin roots crux ("cross") and verbum ("word").

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Examples

  • But come on, when you first saw the word "cruciverbalist," didn't you think it might have something to do with religious jargon?

    Oh joy! delagar 2009

  • ( "cruciverbalist," actually) who exercises her craft in the service of a small circulation daily.

    PegasusNews.com stories 2009

  • And then there's the "Get Today's Puzzles" button, a simple but indispensible tool that makes being a lunatic cruciverbalist that much easier.

    Six Letters, Magical Device 2011

  • Mary Horowitz (Sandra Bullock) is a cruciverbalist.

    'Steve' Is All About Inanity 2009

  • This afternoon, The ♥ G ♥ and I went to see the new film Wordplay, about the phenomenon of the crossword puzzle (and the phenomenon of the cruciverbalist) and the competitions related thereto.

    Archive 2006-07-01 KaneCitizen 2006

  • This afternoon, The ♥ G ♥ and I went to see the new film Wordplay, about the phenomenon of the crossword puzzle (and the phenomenon of the cruciverbalist) and the competitions related thereto.

    Bangalore/Detroit; Album Art; WWII Movies; Crossword Doc.; Zorn on Getting a Life KaneCitizen 2006

  • The less said about the plot (other than that it involves mysteries on a yacht), the better, but suffice to say, it was written by Tony Perkins and Steven Sondheim (remember, Sondheim is also a damned talented cruciverbalist), and directed by Herbert Ross.

    My suggestions never fly yendi 2004

  • GWM cruciverbalist seeks same w/big vocab (in a way) for possible ecdysiasm.

    NYT Seeks SWM: This Times , It's Personals! 2001

  • GWM cruciverbalist seeks same w/big vocab (in a way) for possible ecdysiasm.

    NYT Seeks SWM: This Times , It's Personals! 2001

  • Dr. Fill is the creation of Matt Ginsberg, an artificial intelligence scientist and cruciverbalist, the word you should fill in if you're ever starting at the clue: "a creator of crossword puzzles."

    SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter James Temple 2012

  • Crossword fanatics – or “cruciverbalists”, in the parlance – must get their fix, and they prefer to get it from a man whose puzzle is considered the gold standard.

    ‘I’ve outlasted them all’: the spectacular life of the world’s most powerful crossword editor J Oliver Conroy 2021

Comments

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  • ~a designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles.

    August 27, 2009

  • JM is across being a cruciverbalist - he's not down on it at all.

    December 27, 2009