Evening star., 1924-12-06
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

| one OF the old editionai There might
be a slight relation between two
words, but 1t IVES so slight as 60 be
academic, rather than actual
The new edition. by regrouping.
| makes each paragraph consist OF
| words moro or less actually related.
and practically interchangeable. This
| Is real step forward.
| Crossword fans will sympathize
| when I tell them that tho worst
"stickler" 1 have struck in working
out the puzzles was q 'four-let ttar
word meaning center" The joke OF
1t was that the second letter 90" and
| the fourth letter 20" had been dis
| covered from working out other
| words around it,
The fascination OF the crossword
puzzle lies in it's Individual applica-
! ton. That is. what may puzzle me.
will be easy for you. and vice versa.
What may prove to be q stumbling
block TO you. ] may think OF offhand.
| After I had looked at the two let
| ters and at the two blank spaces
did not have filled. could have con-
| tinued to look for q thousand years.
My brain was at standstill. But
how easy 1t would have been. with
Rogets Thesaurust
| The last third of the volume con-
sists of an Index guide" OF all
| the words. Looking up center"
you find center in order" center In
space" All, that must be It! We
will try that. 1t gives the number
] 222.
| This refers to the heading under
which the word occurs. In Thesaurus
one does not bother with page num-
| bers, but looks for these numbered
| groupings in words, of which there
are exactly 1000.
| Turning to group 222.. headed ''cen-
| trality," one sees that tho four-letter
synonym for center Is not in the first
line. Nor In the second. with It's
center Of gravity" etc.
/ But what is this word in large type
at tho head OF the next line2 whee!
That's IL! That's II!
| Gore" C-O-R-Ei
Now, why on earth wasn't I able
to think of that?" How many times
a day does the crossword puzzleI
| say that?
| What he should do, Of course, is no,
to try to rely upon his own stored
away knowledge. but to gather
around him a good dictionary, the
/ Thesaurus. an encyclopedia, diction-
aries OF all languages, etc, etc.
! AS a matter of cold fact, the libra
rian of the Library OF Congress and
! the librarian of the Public Library
| are in the best position in Washing
ton to work crossword puzzles.
wonder if they do?
r ~
| The more I see Of crossword pug
zles, the more I think Congress ough
to enact a law to compel the com
pliers of these things to confine theil
vocabulary TO words in ordinary use
| Certainly no archaic or never-useC
| words ought to be allowed.
| For instance, how easy to look here
in Roget, in section 222, and figure
out a nine-letter word meaning "cen.
trail" Nobody on earth would think
of "umbilical," yet that would b.
| within the definition.
| Those interested in words for theil
own sake will find endless entertain
ment from the lists in Roget.
| Thesaurus.
Under bad man" what list h,
linds-wrongdoer, worker OF iniquity
evildoer, sinner, rascal, scoundrel, vii
lain. scamp, scalawag, etc. And
quotation from kipling:
We have done with hope and honor
! We are lost 10 love and truth.
We are dropping down the ladder rung By rung
Doesn't that make you want to lool
up your edition of ktpling and fine
the whole poem?
| Please, do not get the wrong idea
| Rogets Thesaurus is not as inter
estlng as a novel. You would no NOR,
| read 1t by the hour than you woult
the dictionary. But when you need It
you need it-especially IL the cross
word puzzles have got you.