In this article, let's talk about an amazing puzzle. Crossword: what does this word mean.
Meaning and origin
The word is borrowed from England and consists of two parts: cross (crossing, cross) and word (word). It is impossible to definitely answer the question of where and when the first crossword puzzles appeared. Interesting puzzles, strongly reminiscent of modern ones, were found at the site of Pompeii and dated back to the 1st century AD. Some sources say that the analogues of the current crossword puzzles appeared in the middle of the 19th century in New York. Countries such as Great Britain, Italy and the United States of America also claim to be the birthplace of these puzzles.
According to Efremova's dictionary, a crossword puzzle is a task that consists in filling rows of cells with letters so that the words given by the description are obtained vertically and horizontally.
Ozhegov interprets the meaning more simply. A crossword puzzle is a game, a task in which a simple figure from empty cells is filled with words, the meaning of which is set according to the condition of the game.
The Russian Dictionary of Humanities gives this meaning. A crossword is a crossword, a puzzle consisting of weavesrows of cells that are filled with words according to a given description or meaning.
Crossword Rules
When compiling crossword puzzles, it is important to observe the following parameters:
- The clue word is given a brief but meaningful description or definition.
- Letters are written one by one in each cell of the field.
- There should not be isolated sections in the crossword puzzle.
- Answers must be singular nouns. The plural is used only if the singular word is not used (for example, glasses).
- Each clue word must intersect at least twice.
Types of crosswords
In the American version, all cells are located at the intersection of words. At the same time, authors often use abbreviations, which is not typical for other types.
Japanese crossword is different in that the black cells in it do not touch each other sides. Cells in the corner always remain white. Thus, the crossword has the shape of a rectangle.
In the Scandinavian crossword puzzle (scanword for short), instead of full and detailed descriptions, a brief definition is given, by association with which the word is guessed. You can replace definitions with images and photographs.
Hungarian crossword (filword) - a field of cells already filled with letters. The task of a person is to find words among these letters. In this case, the answers should not intersect and do not have common cells.
English crossword puzzlesimilar to fillword. It also consists of a field filled with letters, but the answers are always in the same direction, do not break, and may have common letters. In both types of crossword at the end of the game there are letters left from which the keyword is assembled.
There are no empty cells in the Estonian crossword puzzle. Among them, cells that do not belong to the same answer are delimited by a line.
There is another special crossword. What is a keyword or a keyword? The task of the keyword is to restore the original crossword. In it, letters are encrypted using numbers, with each letter corresponding to a certain number.
Thus, a crossword is a puzzle, a riddle that is created and filled in accordance with the rules and taking into account the type of crossword.
