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.

By Aisvarya Chandrasekar

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


1993: A Crossword Cultural Revolution

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.

How modern is Shortz’s “modern slang”?

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.

What is the cause of this cultural disparity?

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."

Is the Crossword once again the Florida of Vocabulary?

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.