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How to Embrace the Double X With Ease

Not everyone likes their exes but a puzzler has got to have some love for their XX’s.

Rebecca Tulis

By Matt GaffneyPublished Feb 01, 2021 4:55AM EST

Did you dig the pair of double-X's in Wednesday's puzzle? We had [Person who won't protect themselves from COVID-19, e.g.] for ANTI-VAXXER at 12-Across, and then [Has one's personal information revealed online] for GETS DOXXED at 27-Across.

Yes, it was tricky to work around all those X's, especially since that's a letter that doesn't play well with too many other letters — there's a reason it's worth 8 points in Scrabble! I needed some fancy footwork to make it happen, including the XFL in the bottom-right. XX doesn't really appear in any standard English words, which is why the recent coinages of VAXXER and DOXXED were so interesting.

Entertainers may adopt a cool-sounding XX name to jazz up the marquee. Legendary funnyman Redd FOXX and actor Jamie FOXX both adopted their stage names (Redd was born John Elroy Sanford, hence the name of the show "Sanford and Son," while Jamie was born Eric Marlon Bishop). And Mötley Crüe's Nikki SIXX came into the world as Frank Carlton Serafino Feranna Jr.

On the other hand, famed runner (but non-Hollywood star) Jim FIXX really was born James Fuller Fixx.

Brand names are good sources of XX's as well. Eclectic merchandiser T.J. MAXX is an invented name, and EXXON is an easy way to work some X's into the grid. The anti-inflammatory drug VIOXX has been off the market for 15 years, but crossword writers keep it alive for those XX's.

And of course, the greatest supply of XX's in crossword is Roman numerals, where entries like XXI, XXV, and CXX have kept that letter pair in business for decades.

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