Cross Words

Cross wordsNow, before you write and tell me that crosswords is usually written in solid form, trust me: I know that. But cross words is exactly what the right term is for these challenges in a recent puzzle in the Boston Globe Sunday magazine that again I’d never heard of! OK, I’d heard of a couple of the answers, but questions threw me a curve.

Usually I find the words over a few weeks’ time, one or two in each puzzle. These all come from the SAME puzzle, so again, trust me: Cross Words was perfect.

Clues in the left-side column ………………. Answers (all mixed up) below

Bird bunch ……………………………………………….Protean

Moldings with a rounded edge ……………………Urano

Pear-shaped string ……………………………………Aves

Where the talus is ……………………………………..Habib

Chomolungma ………………………………………….Rebec

Arabic name meaning “beloved” …………………Ankle

Prefix for heavens ……………………………………..Everest

Shape-changing ……………………………………….Ogees

So, what about you? Can you line up all the words with their proper definition, as given? I sure couldn’t!

Clues ………………………………………………………Correct answers

Bird bunch ………………………………………………..Aves

Moldings with a rounded edge …………………….Ogees

Pear-shaped string …………………………………….Rebec

Where the talus is ……………………………………..Ankle

Chomolungma …………………………………………..Everest

Arabic name meaning “beloved” ………………….Habib

Prefix for heavens ……………………………………..Urano

Shape-changing ………………………………………..Protean

Uh huh. I can hear you now! Seriously, Susan? These are words? Well, yeah, apparently they are. I looked each one up online to make sure I hadn’t misspelled any … they’re not exactly commonly used terms. And they surely did inspire cross words!

And feel free to look them up online at either the Merriam-Webster or Dictionary.com sites!

I always welcome your thoughts, especially from those of you who find wacky and wonderful ways to incorporate these words in your comment.