Spoiler Sunday: The Pangram Crossword

The puzzle variety with variety!

Yesterday, we discussed getting 26 letters into a single sentence. But what about getting them into a grid?

Putting 26 letters into a standard-sized crossword grid, at 15x15, is a challenge, but it’s a surmountable one even for beginners. The crossword software I use, Crossword Compiler, can be programmed to look for pangrammatic solutions. And you see pangram puzzles in major outlets like the New York Times, although not as often as you used to.

Here’s the most recent NYT example. The theme of this puzzle is that the letters OP were hidden within black squares, so those black squares behave like white squares, giving us the longer answers SWEET SOP, OPT FOR, RAGTOP, OPEN CALL, I’M NOT A ROBOT, PET PASSPORT, CHROMOSOMES, and POPPED A PILL.

But none of that is too relevant to its status as a pangram. Look long enough and you’ll find every letter of the alphabet in the grid. Three of the four least common ones are concentrated in the puzzle’s tight center, hiding in words like FAQ, MCQ (an old John Wayne film), J. CREW, JACKS, LIZ, and PEZ. Only X ventures a little outside this zone, appearing in HOAX and LEROUX. (Gaston Leroux was the writer of the original Phantom of the Opera.)

In some corners of puzzle-making, pangrams are surprisingly controversial. The argument for making one, aside from the thrill of a challenge, is that words with uncommon letters are often interesting, but the nature of crosswords is a bit biased against them. If you’re unsure of yourself as a grid designer, you’re likely to favor common letters that are easier to work with.

So snappy, Scrabbly answers like DJ JAZZY JEFF or QUIXOTE tend to see less use…or they would, if crossword-makers didn’t also want to do something impressive. Making a puzzle a pangram is a way of “locking in” at least a few Scrabbilicious answers, guaranteeing a richer, more varied vocabulary for the solver to discover.

Or that’s the theory.

In practice, “Scrabblier” is not always better, as proven by entries like XCVI and QUIZZER. As Sophia Maymudes explains, “I oftentimes feel like trying to squish that last rare letter into the grid can cause big trade-offs in fill quality.” And I have to admit, the 1970s John Wayne picture MCQ feels a bit crusty to me. MCA, a founding member of the Beastie Boys, is closer to contemporary, and the crossing answer FAA would be fine. Is that one of those trade-offs in fill quality that Maymudes is talking about? I guess it depends on how big a John Wayne fan or Beastie Boys fan you are.

Still, in that same link, Maymudes approves of the pangram puzzle she’s reviewing, which doesn’t show signs of such trade-offs. So a “smooth pangram” is possible and desirable. For most pangram puzzlemakers, smoothness is one of the goals.

Those who try to push the form to its limits need to go further than just getting a pangram done in 15 squares by 15 squares. Back in 2016, David C. Duncan Dekker set an NYT record with the first quintuple pangram in that space. As Will Shortz himself said of the puzzle, it has its compromises (DXIX?) but not too many, considering the difficulty.

Joah made a 5x5 pangram last year, using a rebus square, two-letter entries, bar dividers, and a diagonal theme. But once you factor in that diagonal theme, every square in the grid is part of two different answers:

And me?

An Ubercross section would have a harder time not being a pangram than being a pangram. The closest I came to that status was excluding the letter e from the big E. I emphasized each letter as its turn to be glorified came around, which is why the Z section features the Dr. Seuss creation, the ZIZZER-ZAZZER ZUZZ.

I’ve played with pangrams in smaller puzzles like everyone else, but lately my approach to them, like the general public’s, has been more relaxed. The NYT has only published three pangrams this year and two the year before, compared to an overall Shortz-era yearly average of about nine. The letters are out there, but you don’t have to rush to use them all in the smallest possible space. Use the toolset that the moment calls for.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! I’m one of those celebrants, so updates will be light from here to January 1. Til then…