From PHAT to DEADASS
A look at how the New York Times uses slang in crossword puzzles and what it reveals about the publication's culture.
Words, of course, never really die. Long after they've been uttered by any living, breathing person, they retire to the Florida of the vocabulary: the crossword puzzle. But now, they'll have one less refuge. And it's the big one, the New York Times puzzle that is the top, the Coliseum, the Louvre Museum of puzzledom. It has been taken over by Mr. Shortz, 41, the head brat of the pack that has been dragging crosswords into the 20th century with clues composed of clever turns of phrases and references as likely to come from MTV as opera.
- The Baltimore Sun, 1993
At the onset of Will Shortz’s assent as the editor of the NYT crossword puzzle was a culture war between crossword veterans and budding puzzle-makers about what should and should not make an appearance in the New York Times Crossword puzzle. Shortz's predecessor, Eugene T. Maleska was a retired English teacher who saw the puzzles as a way to educate people on the intricacies of the English language and fine culture while Shortz felt that the puzzles should be entertaining, rather than educational. He believed that “crosswords should reflect the language of the times. In the past, [the Times puzzle] tested classical knowledge. I will add more updated subjects - TV, movies, modern slang, modern names in the news... I want to be a little more modern, to embrace everybody,” he told Baltimore Sun in a 1993 interview.
The Inclusion of Slang in the NYT Crossword
350
300
250
Oct. 11, 1993
Will Shortz is announced as the Times Crossword Editor
200
The beginning of the Shortz-era
150
100
50
0
1980
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
The Inclusion of Slang in the NYT Crossword
100
200
300
400
1980
1985
1990
Oct. 11, 1993
Will Shortz is announced as the Times Crossword Editor
1995
The beginning of the Shortz-era
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
Data Source and Analysis Notes:
The data was collected from XWordInfo. Slang terms were identified by searching Crossword clues for the following modifiers: "slang", "colloquially", "modern lingo", "informally" and "in texts"
Indeed, since he assumed this position, the number of entries marked as ‘slang’ or ‘modern’ considerably increased. Within his first two years as an editor, the number of slang phrases surpassed the total since 1976.
However, simply marking terms as ‘slang’ or ‘modern’ doesn’t mean that they are really reflecting the language of the times.
My analysis shows that it takes an average of ~9 years after a slang term enters the popular culture to be published as "modern slang" in the New York Times crossword. Considering the quick turnover of these terms, the words are fairly stale when NYT adopts them and in some ways this misrepresents the culture that Shortz wanted to reflect.
Google Trends shows that YOLO’s popularity peaked in 2013
100
90
80
70
January 11, 2020
YOLO was featured in the crossword
Clue: Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
60
50
November 29, 2014
40
Urban dictionary definition for YOLO:
A term people should have stopped using last year.
"Dude, why are you still saying yolo?"
"Yolo"
30
20
10
0
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
Google Trends shows that YOLO’s popularity peaked in 2013
10
0
20
70
90
100
40
50
60
80
30
2010
2012
2014
November 29, 2014
Urban dictionary definition for YOLO:
A term people should have stopped using last year.
2016
2018
YOLO was featured in the crossword
Clue: Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
2020
2022
Google Trends shows that YOLO’s popularity peaked in 2013
0
10
20
40
60
70
90
100
30
50
80
2010
2012
2014
November 29, 2014
Urban dictionary definition for YOLO:
A term people should have stopped using last year.
"Dude, why are you still saying yolo?"
"Yolo"
2016
2018
YOLO was featured in the crossword
Clue: Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
2020
2022
Google Trends shows that YOLO’s popularity peaked in 2013
100
90
80
70
January 11, 2020
YOLO was featured in the crossword
Clue: Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
60
50
November 29, 2014
40
Urban dictionary definition for YOLO:
A term people should have stopped using last year.
"Dude, why are you still saying yolo?"
"Yolo"
30
20
10
0
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
I researched the etymology of 103 slang terms to learn when the term became popular. For the terms that did not have definitive information on its origin, I looked for the earliest entry in the Urban Dictionary/open source dictionaries that matched the definition of the given crossword clue.
It takes ~9 years from popular adoption to enter the Xword
1990
2000
2010
2020
PHAT
8 years
Excellent, in modern slang
Popular adoption
Appears in Xword
DOPE
9 years
Excellent, in modern slang
MANSPLAIN
7 years
Patronizingly point out, in modern lingo
JANK
16 years
Of very poor quality, in modern slang
BAE
7 years
Main squeeze, in modern lingo
YOLO
8 years
Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
It takes ~9 years for slang to enter the Xword
PHAT
8 years
Excellent, in modern slang
DOPE
9 years
Excellent, in modern slang
MANSPLAIN
7 years
Patronizingly point out, in
modern lingo
JANK
16 years
Of very poor quality, in
modern slang
BAE
7 years
Main squeeze, in
modern lingo
YOLO
8 years
Rationale for a dumb stunt,
in modern slang
It takes ~9 years from popular adoption for slang to enter the Xword
1990
2000
2010
2020
PHAT
Excellent, in modern slang
Popular adoption
Appears in Xword
DOPE
Excellent, in modern slang
MANSPLAIN
Patronizingly point out, in modern lingo
JANK
Of very poor quality, in modern slang
BAE
Main squeeze, in modern lingo
YOLO
Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
It takes an average of ~9 years from popular adoption for slang to enter the Xword
1990
2000
2010
2020
PHAT
8 years
Excellent, in modern slang
Popular adoption
Appears in Xword
DOPE
9 years
Excellent, in modern slang
MANSPLAIN
7 years
Patronizingly point out, in modern lingo
JANK
16 years
Of very poor quality, in modern slang
BAE
7 years
Main squeeze, in modern lingo
YOLO
8 years
Rationale for a dumb stunt, in modern slang
Data Source and Analysis Notes:
I collected a list of all the crossword words that had clues containing the qualifiers, "modern slang" or "modern lingo" and manually researched the years that the term was popularized. The analysis can be found here.
There are several answers to this question. There are editorial norms that the NYT Crossword puzzle adheres to - some that have endured since the 1940's: priority is given to words that are well known by the majority, appear in publications, and have a irrefutable definition. Slang does not adhere to any of these conventions. Slang is a transitory language developed by diverse subgroups of society. Before social media and online communication, it took a time for this language to enter the main culture's vocabulary, and it was only seen in print to help puzzled adults with pieces like the Boston Globe's What is YOLO? Only teens are certain.”
The audience these crosswords are catered for is "the subject of a lot of discourse right now," says Aimee Lucido, a crossword constructor at the NYT, AVCX and The New Yorker. "Historically the assumed solver for NYT puzzles was a 50-year-old straight white man, and to some extent, it still is, but we are working on trying and changing that. But there’s only so much a constructor can do since there are gatekeepers who don’t have the same goals that we have. So when I make NYT puzzles, I imagine myself pissing off the 50-year-old straight white men just a liiiiiittle bit. Not too much, or the puzzle won’t get accepted, but you're making boring puzzles if you don’t do it at all."
Another challenge when it comes to slang terms is that the vocabulary changes rapidly. According to Nediger, part of the reason Shortz has been conservative about using slang is because wants the puzzles to be “timeless” as they're often reprinted in compilations years after their initial publication. “It is unusual for slang words to remain in use for more than a few years... what is new and exciting for one generation is old-fashioned for the next… old slang often drifts into obsolescence or becomes accepted into the standard language,” says Yanchun Zhou, a professor of linguistics at Changchun University. But once a slang term enters the Crossword lexicon, it remains there. “But there are inconsistenties [with this rule]. It's pretty common to see very dated slang like PHAT or HEP, and it would be hard to argue that those are timeless,” add Nediger.
How PHAT has appeared over time in the Crossword
1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
Excellent, in modern slang
Excellent, in modern slang
Cool, in
old slang
Excellent, in dated slang
How PHAT has appeared over time
Excellent, in modern slang
1988
2001
Excellent, in modern slang
2004
2006
2008
2010
Excellent, in dated slang
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
Cool, in
old slang
2022
How PHAT has appeared over time
2010
2016
2018
2020
2022
2002
2004
2006
1988
Cool, in
old slang
Excellent, in modern slang
Excellent, in dated slang
Excellent, in modern slang
How PHAT has appeared over time
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2022
Excellent, in modern slang
Excellent, in modern slang
Cool, in
old slang
Excellent, in dated slang
Why is PHAT still in the Crossword? If Shortz wants the crossword to reflect current society, why do we still see outdated words, particularly those that even the New York Times identifies as 'old' or 'dated'? This is primarily due to how crossword puzzle creators construct these puzzles. The majority of constructors use softwares such as Crossfire or Crossword Complier. These applications fill empty grid cells with words from a word list. The terms in the word lists are prioritized based on how many times they have appeared in a previous crossword or publication. The higher the priority, the more likely the word will be used in the puzzle. So, the more times a keyword like PHAT appears in their puzzle, the more weight it will receive in the word list, and the more likely we will encounter the term again - albeit it is up to the editor to accept it in the crossword. Although some may argue that slang is ephemeral, the New York Times has made it timeless. My money is on seeing PHAT in 2030, with the clue "Cool, in archaic slang."
Probably- but NYT seems to recognize this as a problem and is trying to address it. “Anecdotally I think the NYT has gotten more accepting of current slang recently, maybe because they've expanded the editorial team,” says Nediger. There have recently been additions to the editorial staff, expanding the team's diversity in terms of age, gender, race, and ethnicity. The New York Times also announced the first cohort of its Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship, with the goal of inviting and mentoring additional voices into the crossword community. I'm hoping for another cultural shift in the puzzle, which has already commenced - after all, the answer to the recent clue "Utterly, in slang" turned out to be DEADASS.