According to the Oxford Dictionary, a clue is ‘a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime; a fact or idea that serves to reveal something or solve a problem; a word or words giving an indication as to what is to be inserted in a particular space in a crossword.’
We strive to be as accurate as possible with our crossword clues. Dawdle, linger, loiter, dally, tarry all mean to hang around, but convey slightly different meanings. DAWDLE is to move slowly in a particular direction, the way a child might walk to school, unwillingly. LINGER and DALLY both mean to stay in a place longer than necessary because of a reluctance to leave. ‘TARRY’ is to stay longer than intended and LOITER is to wait around without apparent purpose – perhaps because of the legal term ‘loiter with intent’ when questionable motives are involved.
‘Allude’ might be used to clue REFER, but it actually means ‘refer indirectly’.
We sometimes clue CLIMATE as WEATHER. They’re not quite the same though – weather is ‘the conditions of the atmosphere over a short period of time’, whereas climate is ‘the way the atmosphere behaves over relatively long periods of time’.
It’s close enough for a crossword clue but there are slight differences in the meaning of many of our synonym clues.
We clue WAGES as SALARY – but a salary is a fixed amount per pay period, and wages are earned by the hour.
Is TEPID the same as LUKEWARM? They can also both be used when describing both temperature and a less than enthusiastic reception as a tepid, or lukewarm response – a rare example of being true synonyms.
Words that seem interchangeable, such as LARGE and BIG, are not always used in the same way. We might say we have a big brother, not a large brother. We’re more likely to make a big decision than a large decision. This is because large only refers to size, while ‘big’ also conveys importance or seniority as well.
However, if they had exactly the same meanings, we wouldn’t need them both. So synonyms are words that are interchangeable in some contexts.
We clue ELK as MOOSE and vice versa, because the European elk is the same as the North American moose. However, the ELK in North America is a completely different animal, a type of deer.
American elk European elk (or moose)
When solving crosswords, some puzzlers go straight to the unambiguous clues, such as ‘Ballet skirt’ – it can only be TUTU, or ‘Baby cat’ = KITTEN. If in doubt, the number of letters in the answer will guide you but a clue only needs to be a nudge in the right direction.
We love our English vocabulary with its huge capacity to accurately describe a situation, and also to give us so many ways of cluing a crossword.
Happy puzzling!
