LING 3050 - Cruciverbalism: Crosswords & Language

This course examines crossword puzzles and the structure of language with the goal of exploring the relationships between them. It centers around solving and constructing crosswords and related puzzle types, as well as the linguistic systems that make this kind of puzzle possible. Topics include the exploitation of semantic and syntactic ambiguity to make challenging puzzles, the ways English sound patterns make constructing puzzles difficult, properties of language that can facilitate solving puzzles, and how crosswords vary across languages.