The Autofill Project

Default - 338073 Words
New 9L 79S SIBILANCE

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     SEAQUAKES (73)

The entry and fill score are reasonable, though for a moment I thought about the situation in Japan and how some European television stations are editing episodes of The Simpsons that involve mishaps at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Natural disasters are a low-level sensitivity issue for crossword constructors, but I’m interested to discover how such issues affect the general media.

     SERVIETTE (55)

In college, I had a group of friends who, while eating in the cafeteria, referred to napkins as “serviettes” in a parody of highfalutin vocabulary rather than British vocabulary. That personal association may be why I gave the entry a slightly higher score than comparable Britishisms.

     SHIBAINUS (68)

A coworker recently adopted a Shiba Inu which he named Ronin. A few weeks later, I asked him about Ronin and he reported that the dog’s new name was Harley. Apparently his friends, who were unfamiliar with the samurai reference, didn’t like the name Ronin and suggested he change it to Harley, as in Harley-Davidson. My coworker is not a motorcycle fan. That’s some bizarre peer pressure!

Added Notepad entries
Default - 338073 Words

Transposal: IMPROVEON / PORNMOVIE

I added about 250 entries from a OneLook search of *movie*.

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     ELVISMOVIE (70)

A few of the entries in the new additions list are MOVIEs modified by franchises and directors (STARTREKMOVIES, WOODYALLENMOVIE). I have to admit that ELVISMOVIE is close to the border of legitimacy, but it strikes me more of a genre label than simply an identification of the main star so I decided to approve it.

     MOVIETHEATER (80)
     MOVIETHEATRE (75)

I’ve had a lot of conflict over the “theater/theatre” spelling variations in my life experience. As a college student, I was told that within academic circles “theatre” was preferred for the art form while “theater” was used for the physical location. When I became an editor, I subscribed to the company style policy of “theater” being used in all cases except for proper names of theatrical organizations that used the “Theatre” spelling. In commercial use I see the spelling variation used interchangeably, and I recall a story (probably apocryphal) that American performing companies dating back to the 1830s intentionally used the British spelling to subconsciously add artistic cachet to their advertisements. I gave MOVIETHEATRE a slightly lower fill score than MOVIETHEATER, but I’m deciding that both are usable without tagging.

     STAGMOVIE (75)

STAGFILM seems more common than STAGMOVIE — the FILM/MOVIE distinction came up with several entries in the new additions list. I guess a *film* search on OneLook is the next step.

Default - 337817 Words
New 9L 79S SEABOARDS

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     ROANOKEVA (70)

Years ago I manually entered about 500 of the highest populated U.S. cities concatenated with their respective spelled-out states. I didn’t include versions of the entries with postal abbreviations, but I have a few in Default from other constructors’ puzzles that I’ve harvested. Entries such as ROANOKEVA are idiomatic and database worthy, but they are visually jarring and can be difficult to clue in a way that indicates the abbreviation. I’m using 70 as a baseline fill score for these entries. A few similar entries, such as WASHINGTONDC, would be scored higher, and others, such as EDINAMN (should that entry ever end up in Default) would be scored much lower.

     RONBKITAJ (60)

Frank Longo is a very thorough crossword entry database manager. When I add a name to Default and recognize that many variations of the name (based on nicknames, initials, and professional titles) are database worthy, I identify the situation as Longo’s Curse. The MASH character LIEUTENANT COLONEL HENRY BRAYMORE BLAKE, is an example of a name that could present a permutation nightmare for a database completist. Kitaj, whose painting The Ohio Gang appears above, is not a household-name artist. He is variously referred to as Ron and Ronald, sometimes with the middle initial B. (for Brooks) and sometimes without, and sometimes as “R. B. Kitaj.” Practically speaking, the entry RONBKITAJ is not going to show up in tons of crosswords, so gauging a fill score relative to the scores of other variations of his name is ridiculous. I can always ask Frank how he scored the entries.

     SATINDOLL (75)

I spent one of my college summers as a sound engineer for a traveling Christian music group sponsored by my university. While on the road, we stopped at a McDonald’s in Limon, Colorado, where a player piano was positioned in the center of the dining area. The restaurant manager recognized us a music group, and invited us to perform a song. The group’s keyboardist sat at the piano and turned off the autoplay mechanism. The singers gathered around and, with the keyboardist’s accompaniment, performed a nonchalant, impromptu rendition of “Satin Doll.” The image of five WASPish college kids performing a Duke Ellington jazz standard for the lunch crowd of an Eastern-Plains-Colorado McDonald’s is pretty bizarre in retrospect, but it’s one I will always associate with that song.

Default - 337817 Words
New 9L 79S RHAPSODIC

The most recent Default list subset I reviewed contains entries beginning with RE. Almost two-thirds of the 9L 79S R* entries start with RE and most are unremarkable in terms of fill score adjustments. Here are a few that caught my interest.

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     REDAPPLES (68)

I’m not sure about this entry. It could be a colloquial synonym for Red Delicious apples or an arbitrary category in classifying apple cultivars (not as common as “cooking apple” and “eating apple”), but some solvers would wince at seeing this entry in a grid.

     REPELLANT (65)
     REPELLENT (65)

Another spelling variant pair where both spellings have roughly equal usage. I used to think that REPELLANT was more common in the noun sense and REPELLENT more common in the adjective sense — or was it the other way around? I see that the auto-spell-check’s wavy red underline in Tumblr’s text editor prefers REPELLENT.

     REPLYPAID (55)

I think this term, describing postage-free cards and envelopes in solicitation mailings, is more common in non-American English-speaking countries. The entry is inferable, but didn’t impress me beyond a fill score of 55.

     RETROJAMS (70)

This defunct music video network might not appeal to some editors due to its brief duration. Still, it’s a fun entry and I would give it a chance if it came up in a fill list.

Added AcrossLite files and Notepad entries
Default - 337817 Words

Transposal: THATSHUGE / THEAUGHTS

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     CREDITSQUEEZE (85)

I added this entry to the Notepad when I saw it in an article about television history. The article used the term to refer to narrowing of a television show’s final credit sequence to accommodate a side screen with scenes from an upcoming television episode or some other local station preview. I bought into the definition momentarily, until I Googled the phrase and discovered it was more commonly used as a financial term. I wonder if the television meaning has a more universally accepted term.

     HOWWEIRD (70)

This sort of non-dictionary-value “utterance” entry (maybe there’s a better label) is not uncommon in commercial crosswords, especially themeless crosswords. I used to have a higher regard for them, and wondered if there was an efficient way to find them on the Internet. Some constructor friends suggested that these entries are not as great as I initially thought, so I chose to set 70 as a fill score cap. Many of these entries turn out to be titles of songs, movies, etc., which may result in a score adjustment. The transposal in this post has an example of an utterance entry. Another such entry in this set of new additions is YOUROTHERLEFT from a recent Mike Shenk themeless. It’s a fun entry, but it still scores a 70.

     KWYJIBO (65)

This term for a big, dumb, balding, North American ape with no chin and a short temper would be great to use in a puzzle for solvers that could tolerate a somewhat obscure reference from The Simpsons. It would probably be a dealbreaker for many mainstream crossword editors. The 65 score splits the difference to a degree, but also reminds me of the disadvantages of maintaining a single Default word list for all construction.

Default - 337694 Words
New 9L 79S REABANDON

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     PUFFDADDY (80)

The entry is desirable and clueable, though part of me wonders if the fill score should have some reflection of the obsolete status of this Sean Combs performing name. It’s not as problematic as MCIWORLDCOM or SPIKETV, and ultimately I decided to leave the score at 80.

     QUACKSTER (1)

Is there a legit clue option for this entry? My research was admittedly brief.

     QUIETUSES (48)

The entry is gloomy and obscure, though the clue option {They might be made with bare bodkins} is perversely tempting.

     RAPPELLED (63)

I made this an exception to the spelling-variant relegation rule. RAPPELED and RAPPELLED seem to be toss-up variants in American English usage. The double-L version is listed first in 11C, and British English speakers would probably use “abseiled.”

Added Fail Entries (6-Letter)
Default - 337694 Words

Jeffrey Harris volunteered to look through my Default “fail list” of 6-letter entries, and tagged about 400 entries for re-scoring. Most of the tagged entries were scored 45 or lower, but he salvaged a handful of gems that were previously overlooked. Thanks, Jeffrey!

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     ACANTH (35)

When I started the project, I decided that combining forms should receive a base score of 35. Someday I may look at all of the entries with 35 scores — combining forms, British spelling variants, scientific esoterica — and decide that they need an added degree of discrimination. Or, I may decide that I’m wasting my time on the lower-level hierarchies of the Default. The upside of an impending nervous breakdown is the excitement of not knowing the nature of its impetus.

     KITCAT (65)

I never knew the manufacturing name of the kitschy feline wall clocks with the shifty pendulum eyes. It could be a fun opportunity for a trivia clue in a themeless.

     OPRAHS (45)

Plurals of first names score a 43 if the name is common and less if the name is uncommon. I was ready to knock this entry into the 30s, but then I thought of the clue {“___ Favorite Things” (onetime TV theme for an annual gift giveaway)}. It’s not a great excuse for the entry, but it’s good enough for a partial score.

     YAHWEH (50)

I know this word but don’t have the spiritual background to understand its cultural ramifications for use in a puzzle. Is it especially worth avoiding as a crossword entry?

Default - 337395 Words
New 9L 79S PROPOSALS

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     PRAYINGTO (65)

There are a few ways to clue this entry without duplicating the word “to,” but it’s more awkward than other phrasal verbs.

     PRETENDTO (55)

CRUCIVERB cites an instance where this was clued (in the form PRETENDSTO) as {Claims, as the throne}. It’s not a particularly inferable definition, but I can’t see other good options.

     PROMQUEEN (85)

The PRE- and PRO- entries in this sections of the Default is pretty bland. I was glad to find an occasional good entry that helped offset the low scores.