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form. It typically consists of two parts. The first part is a set of lettered clues, each of which has numbered blanks representing the letters of the answer. The second part is a long series of numbered blanks and spaces, representing a quotation or other text, into which the answers for the clues
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enjoyed acrostics, comparing them favorably to crossword puzzles. In "Yours, Isaac Asimov", published three years after his 1992 death, he wrote, "As it happens, I don't... have time for hobbies. But I am a fiend at
Crostics. Crostics don't have the public that crosswords do, because Crostics seem
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fit. In some forms of the puzzle, the first letters of each correct clue answer, read in order from clue A on down the list, will spell out the author of the quote and the title of the work it is taken from; this can be used as an additional solving aid.
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In this primal acrostic the words are pictured instead of described. When the seven objects have been rightly guessed and written one below another, the initial letters will spell the surname of a famous man. (published in
658:. Charles Duerr, who died in 1999, authored many "Dur-acrostic" books and was a contributor of acrostics to the Saturday Review. Michael Ashley's "Double Cross" acrostics have appeared in
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The numbers in the quotation are generally followed by letters corresponding to the clue answers, to aid solvers in working back and forth from the clues to the puzzle.
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from 1963–1993. Trans-O-Grams were often themed puzzles, with clues related to the quote. The name Duo-Crostic was used by the
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constructors were Doris Nash
Wortman, Thomas Middleton, and Barry Tunick. Thomas Middleton also produced many puzzles for
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A similar puzzle, called a Trans-O-Gram, by Svend
Petersen, and later, Kem Putney, appeared in
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for puzzles by Barry Tunick and Sylvia
Bursztyn. Charles Preston created Quote-Acrostics for
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554:. Some people might already begin to recognize the phrase "Jack and Jill went up the hill."
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hard. They aren't, and they're infinitely more interesting than crosswords."
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may be the most accurate term used, and hence most common, as it is a
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623:. Kingsley, Wortman, and Middleton created additional puzzles for
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took over the bi-weekly setting duties for the NYT in 1999.
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from 1952–1999, but not more than one every other week.
503:Letters 16 and 17 form a two-letter word ending in
58:For example, two clues in the first part might be:
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1329:D-Day Daily Telegraph crossword security alarm
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324:, then the second part fills in as follows:
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583:is credited with inventing the puzzle for
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18:
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597:ending in "-crostic" have been used.
1334:"Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words"
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550:and the following word starting with
1236:American Crossword Puzzle Tournament
137:The second part is initially blank:
13:
909:Derrick Somerset Macnutt (Ximenes)
14:
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934:Alistair Ferguson Ritchie (Afrit)
919:Edward Powys Mathers (Torquemada)
879:John Galbraith Graham (Araucaria)
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23:An acrostic puzzle published in
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1:
904:Margaret Irvine (Mace/Nutmeg)
894:Sarah Hayes (Arachne/Anarche)
824:Joyce Cansfield (Machiavelli)
531:, or even a proper name like
64:A. Country of the Rising Sun:
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990:Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon
10:
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1339:"The Riddle of the Sphinx"
939:Roger Smithies (Bunthorne)
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1291:Merv Griffin's Crosswords
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829:Ruth Crisp (Crispa/Vixen)
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834:Jonathan Crowther (Azed)
589:in 1934, under the name
1316:Alice Solves the Puzzle
844:John Crozier (Crosaire)
789:Crossword abbreviations
507:. Since this has to be
1115:Brendan Emmett Quigley
899:Jeremy Howard-Williams
665:GAMES World of Puzzles
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538:If the answer to clue
316:If the answer to clue
103:B. Not doing anything:
41:, related somewhat to
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1090:Andrea Carla Michaels
573:St. Nicholas Magazine
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671:Writer and academic
593:. Since then, other
689:AcrosticPuzzles.com
655:The Washington Post
1255:In popular culture
1246:United States Open
1216:A. N. Prahlada Rao
1160:Jan Buckner Walker
694:American Acrostics
626:The New York Times
581:Elizabeth Kingsley
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1201:Pedro Ocón de Oro
1085:Eugene T. Maleska
1080:William Lutwiniak
764:Printer's Devilry
754:Cryptic crossword
649:Los Angeles Times
511:, letter 16 is a
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43:crossword puzzles
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1270:Across the Board
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1010:Jeremiah Farrell
970:Paula Bauersmith
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1186:Jacques Bens
1170:Arthur Wynne
1050:Tyler Hinman
1025:Matt Gaffney
975:David Benkof
929:John Pidgeon
924:Jeremy Morse
889:John Halpern
884:Barbara Hall
854:Colin Dexter
849:Leonard Dawe
803:Constructors
794:Crosswordese
749:Cross-figure
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673:Isaac Asimov
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668:since 1978.
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1075:Frank Longo
1020:Vic Fleming
995:Sam Ezersky
965:David Astle
874:Dave Gorman
859:Tom Driberg
819:Adrian Bell
603:portmanteau
595:nonce words
39:word puzzle
16:Word puzzle
1262:Quiz shows
1110:Trip Payne
1105:Rex Parker
1055:Henry Hook
1040:Paul Green
960:Erik Agard
914:Don Manley
730:Crosswords
599:Anacrostic
54:An example
1165:Will Weng
1015:Dan Feyer
864:Roy Earle
631:Emily Cox
519:could be
1365:Category
1345:Wordplay
1070:Wyna Liu
782:Elements
744:Acrostic
611:acrostic
47:acrostic
35:acrostic
759:Fill-In
607:anagram
561:History
29:in 1986
1229:Events
576:(1873)
1308:Other
1179:Other
737:Types
660:GAMES
322:JAPAN
953:U.S.
812:U.K.
662:and
633:and
609:and
544:IDLE
605:of
548:AND
542:is
533:Ann
529:all
525:any
521:and
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320:is
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33:An
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