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Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
Crossword Tournament 2012: A Three-Peat for "Steely" Dan
Early on in this year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, it seemed that Dan Feyer's stranglehold on the competition would finally come to an end. Instead, he mounted an unbelievable comeback to notch his third consecutive victory. Puzzlemaster Brendan Emmett Quigley joins us again with his wrap-up of the action from Brooklyn.
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Live from Brooklyn, puzzlemaster Brendan Emmett Quigley is providing exclusive commentary from the 2012 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. Brendan's got the scoop on all the action at the end of the first day of competition.
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This weekend, puzzlers will come together in Brooklyn for the 35th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, organized by New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz. The reigning champ, Dan Feyer, has been described as a crossword-solving machine. But he better look out, because this time there will be competition from an actual crossword-solving machine.
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Blog Excerpts
"Nerd": A Seuss Day Special
Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday, celebrated in the United States as Read Across America Day. Seuss contributed many linguistic inventions, but was "nerd" one of them? Ben Zimmer investigated whether we owe Dr. Seuss a debt of gratitude for this word in a column for the Boston Globe and a Word Routes followup. Check 'em out, word nerds.
A friend of mine recently alerted me to an odd type of "word." See if you can guess what the following mean:
• l10nContinue reading...
• i18n
• d11n
Word RoutesExploring the pathways of our lexicon
"Meh"? "Fail"? GOP Debate Elicits Words of Disappointment
Last night's debate among the four remaining Republican presidential candidates in Arizona was clearly underwhelming for some political pundits. On the website BuzzFeed, Zeke Miller gave out grades to the candidates in the form of trendy online lingo favored by the site. Rick Santorum earned a "FAIL," while Mitt Romney, despite being declared the winner, nonetheless was awarded a "MEH."
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Word CountWriters Talk About Writing
The Story Behind "Fulsome"
Some words are better for writers to leave alone.
Some words travel a winding path to their meanings, causing language users confusion over what they actually mean. A word whose definition or usage is so hotly contested that it never fails to draw attention to itself is called a skunked term. It may be that language users will resolve the problem over time, but until then, what's a writer to do? Today, the story behind fulsome and what to do with this stinky term.
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