Let's face it, much of the fun of being a puzzle solver is not just in having enough of a vocabulary to be
able to complete a puzzle (even in record time).  The real fun lies in being able to decipher the theme or to get the joke (either of which is usually contained in those areas of the puzzle which are really long, perhaps several sections in a single puzzle which could be twelve or fourteen letters long).

Several cases in point.  A New York Times crossword contained the following clues…"Hacked it, as a farmer?"; "Hacked it, as a highway engineer?"; "Hacked it, as a candlemaker?"; and "Hacked it, as a pelican?".  The answers turned out to be cutthemustard, madethegrade, wasuptosnuff, and filledthebill.  A syndicated Tribune puzzle asked for "Start of Kentucky State motto" and "Rest of Kentucky motto".  Not being a Kentuckian, it took me a while to come up with unitedwestand and dividedwefall.  Still another crossword gave as clues "Religious monster?"; "Macho dance?"; "Jerusalem?"; and "Measure a pop singer?".  The answers, would you believe, were faithgila, studpolka, holyterra, and weighanka.

I wouldn't have wanted to miss any of them considering how much fun they all are, but I also have to admit that I never would have come close to answering any of those clues if I hadn't been helped by a lot of the "frequently used crossword words" that I have come to know from many a previous puzzle.

So what should our next category of "frequently used words" be?  How about Foreign Words and Phrases?  More specifically, how about French Words and Phrases?  There are certainly a lot of them, and don't you agree that they add a touch of class to a puzzle?
 
 

Most often, however, the clue will be "_  _  _-de-France", which is the French district surrounding Paris, as shown above, as well as the name of a French Line passenger ship which was retired in 1959. 
A click on the picture of the ship will take you to Kevin R. Tam's website containing a full account of the history of the famous French liner.

The three "rivers of France" referred to most often in Crosswords are the LOIRE, the OISE, and the SEINE. The LOIRE is "the longest river in France"; the OISE is a "Seine tributary"; and the SEINE is usually just a "river of France".  Click on the high-lighted names of these rivers for more information about them.

STLO for the clue "French town" is also a current favorite.  The town is actually called Saint-Lo, but abbreviated to St. Lo.  It was tragically destroyed during the Normandy invasion in 1944, and you can read Britannica Online's descriptive account of that event by clicking here on STLO.

AMOUR...This popular puzzle word might turn up in clues as "Jacques' love" or "love, in LaHavre" or even "liaison, often", and you can probably provide your own variations on these examples from puzzles you have solved down through decades past.  And if you want to send your sweetheart a postcard directly from Paris (for a price, of course), click on the title above.

CHERI…Usually clued as "dear one" or "darling".

EPEE…Used in fencing, the epee is a thin, pointed sword without a cutting edge, and the word itself appears in crosswords nearly as often as any French word we know.  Invariably it is clued as "fencing sword" or "fencing weapon", but I've also seen it referred to in a puzzle as a "sport in which players wear metal jackets".  To find out more about the epee and the sport of fencing click on the graphic of two fencers to go to the Louisiana State Univerity's Fencing Club page.  Additionally, the University of New Hampshire has interesting things to say on the subject, and you can reach their site by clicking on the high-lighted word EPEE here or at the beginning of the paragraph.

MELEE…A "noisy, confused fight" also finds favor with the clue writers as a "Donnybrook".

In my recent column on Art and Artists in Crosswords I covered several of the most often used names of French artists and you can read all about them by mouseclicking their names... Claude MONET, Edouard MANET, Edgar DEGAS, Salvador DALI, and the ever popular ERTE.
 

This month we can add French composers, in particular the "composer of 'LeRoi d'ys'", Edouard LALO and Claude DEBUSSY, the "composer of 'La Mer'".    A click on the high-lighted names as well as on the picture of Claude Debussy from Matt Boynick's Classical Music Pages will take you to biographical information. The word MER, which is French for "sea," often appears in puzzles as a Debussy composition.  Otherwise, a clue such as "it's bleu on maps" is a good enough reason for filling in those three empty blank spaces with MER.

Along with the artists and composers there are several French authors who turn up in crosswords quite consistently.  The most popular would probably be….

DUMAS…"novelist Alexandre" and "'3 Musketeers' author" make frequent appearances.

VERNE…Jules VERNE shows up as "Nemo's creator" and "creator of Captain Nemo" which is interesting considering the number of books he authored during his lifetime.  A short biography of Jules Verne is available at NASA's website.  Just apply your "mouse" to his name at the beginning of this paragraph to reach it.  NEMO receives equal time in many a puzzle as "Verne's submarine Captain" or variations of the same.  A click on the Captain's high-lighted name here will take you to a full text electronic version of Nemo's story by Verne, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea."

ZOLA…"author Emile" and "'Nana' novelist" as well as "'J'Accuse..' writer" appear the most often.

GENRE….A "kind or type of literature" or an "art style" have both been around as clues for awhile.  I've also seen the clue "movie genre" for answers such as "horror", "Western", and "musical."

ELLE…It might be clued as  "she, in Paris" or "she, in Chamonix," but three out of four times you can be almost certain it will refer to the most popular French fashion magazine published in English here in the United States.  Most clues for ELLE will therefore be along the lines of "Vogue rival" or "Glamour rival".  You can find the Web's version of ELLE by clicking on its picture above.

And while we are on the subject of French fashion, you might also want to be aware of the often included "Parisian house of design" and "New Look creator", Christian DIOR, as well as the very popular "first name in fashion",  YVES St. Laurent.  Click on their names to learn more about these designers.

 BERET...The "flat, round cap" usually associated with the French.  Recently clued as "military headgear" in a puzzle.

TUTU…This is assumed to be a French word, but it doesn't appear in French dictionaries.  My guess is that it is because it is a French baby talk word referring to a baby's bottom or back-side.  How it became the name for the short skirt worn by ballerinas is anybody's guess.  At any rate, it is such a perfect fill-in word for Crosswords that it keeps showing up as everything from "ballerina skirt" to "balletic put-on".

PATE…Occasionally it might turn up as "top of the head", but more often it is given the French pronunciation with an accent on the last letter and the recognizable clue of "_ _ _ _ de foie gras"--the delicious goose liver paste which quickly reminds us that chopped chicken liver is merely, well, chopped chicken liver.

 PUREE…The French-English dictionary takes us for granted and announces that PUREE means PUREE.  I guess that means we'll have to consult our cookbooks to find out the method in which fruits or vegetables are pressed through a sieve or whipped in a blender until smooth and thick.  The best our clue writers seem to come up with is "a thick, smooth soup".

ENTREE…This word would mean that we are "free to enter" in France, but here in the United States it becomes a restaurant list for the "main course of a meal" or for a "dinner course".   It can mean that in France, as well, but with their seven course meals the ENTRÉE is more likely to be what they serve you between the fish course and the meat course.

ELAN…In France it usually refers to impetuosity, even an outburst.  In English and in Crosswords it most often refers to self-assurance with clues such as "bubbliness" and "dash".

GAFFE….That's what a "big blunder" would be.

OUTRE...for "bizarre" or "outlandish"

ABBE…"French priest" or "abbot"--it is actually a French title of respect given to religious leaders.

AIDE....for "assistant", "helper", or "Igor, to Frankenstein".

AMI....for "Pierre's pal" or "French friend".

FLIC…With clues such as "Paris policeman", "Calais cop", and "gendarme de Grasse", I'm not about to pass this word up.  You're apt to hear it in an old Jean Paul Belmondo or Jean Gabin movie.

PERE....for "Jacques' father" or "'_ _ _ _ Goriot' by Balzac".

ETE…Anyone who has ever filled in a crossword or two must have run across this one.  In addition to fitting easily into almost any puzzle, it offers the clever clue writer a chance to really shine.  Get a load of these recent examples: "Summer on the Seine", "Somme summer", "summer, to Simone", "Parisian season", "time for les vacances", and my favorite of all, "hot time, in Paris".
 

ETRE....for "to be, in Paris" or "to be, to Pierre".

FRANC…."French money" or "French coin" is the usual designation, but in a recent puzzle the clue was "Garcon's pourboire".  Can you just see the expression of the French waiter when you lay down a tip worth about 16 or 17 cents in American money?  Of course, that's all a thing of the past now with the 2002 arrival of the ubiquitous EURO.

NEE…We're back to the Crossword Hall of Fame with this one.  Whether the clue is "born", "born as", "once called", "formerly", or even "Miss named?", you'll find this word tucked hither and yon in many a puzzle.

NICHE…In France it is an "alcove" for a statue or a "kennel" for a dog.  It seems to take on wider significance in the United States, and to find one's "niche" in life is to find a comfortable place and position in which to exist.  In Crossword clues it is usually an "alcove".

NOEL…A click on the blue "La Page" will tell you all about the French "holiday season", "seasonal song", "seasonal word", "French carol", etc. and we quickly learn that Christmas in France is just as much the season to be jolly as it is in the United States.  Be alert to the fact, however, that your puzzle might also clue it as "carol or Coward", or even just plain "Coward".  The latter clue refers, of course, to English performer, dramatist, song writer NOEL Coward.
 

As I've pointed out earlier, if it wasn't for the use of all the wonderful, frequently used familiar words that fit so easily and so well into Crosswords, how would I ever have been able to figure out in a Los Angeles Times puzzle not too long ago that "finishing stroke" is coupdegras; that "justification for existence" is raisondetre; that "the middle class" is the bourgeoisie; "high society" is grandmonde; and "Dumas' Camille and others" are courtesans.  And they were all in one single Crossword.  May those wonderful, frequently used familiar words be with us in puzzles forever!

With all the crossword puzzles on the internet, I've included a link to an interactive design that is relatively
"user friendly" (Java-powered browser required).  It's Timothy Parker's Universal Crossword which is
syndicated in many of the major newspapers in the U.S.  Just click on the logo below for the puzzle of
the day.

 Copyright 1998 C. Schnebel, Revised 2002
All rights reserved
 

Return to Starview Home Page

FastCounter by bCentral