What is "crosswordese"

n. The jargon of crossword puzzle answers, classically consisting of rare, archaic, or dialectal words.

Crosswordese is the group of words frequently found in US crossword puzzles but seldom found in everyday conversation. The words are usually short, three to five letters, with letter combinations which crossword constructors find useful in the creation of crossword puzzles, such as words that start and/or end with vowels, abbreviations consisting entirely of consonants, unusual combinations of letters, and words consisting almost entirely of frequently used letters. Such words are needed in almost every puzzle to some extent. Too much crosswordese in a crossword puzzle is frowned upon by cruciverbalists and crossword enthusiasts.

Knowing the language of ‘crosswordese’ is helpful to constructors and solvers alike. According to Marc Romano, “to do well solving crosswords, you absolutely need to keep a running mental list of “crosswordese,” the set of recurring words that constructors reach for whenever they are heading for trouble in a particular section of the grid.”