Michael Dewey's Daily News crossword today includes
Get hitched: TAKETHEPLUNGE
Lose one's mind: GOOFFTHEDEEPEND
Attack an endeavor vigorously: DIVEINHEADFIRST
The puzzle also includes MAS, ORO and REY, which are not used in English, and ZIT for "Teen's facial blemish." Are there any more disgusting words in the English language than "zit" and "barf"? The word "zit" dates from 1966 and every dictionary I consulted says "Origin unknown." The Oxford dictionary gives the additional---and obvious---information that the word is "American teenagers' slang."
Brock Wilson's Los Angeles Times crossword includes
Permanent: CARVEDINSTONE
Like a lake during a dead calm: SMOOTHASGLASS
In a precarious situation: ONTHINICE
"Art form in which the ends [of those phrases] may be used": SCULPTURE
AMIE and ERAT are not used in English. "Right away" is INASEC, although I don't think the two phrases are synonymous. "Fearful" is TREPID, which dates from around 1650 and comes from the Latin trepidus. The much more familiar word "intrepid" dates from around 1680. In the early 1900s, "trepid" began to be replaced with "trepidatious." The lengthier word seems to me to be unnecessaryatious.
The Universal crossword, which often includes three long answers each containing one certain word, today has JANUARYFIRST, FIRSTLIEUTENANT and FIRSTDEGREEBURN. I thought crossword puzzle editors do not like seeing any word used more than one time in a single crossword. Perhaps the people at Universal Uclick never got the memo.
