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The Delicious World of Food Clues in Crosswords

Much like going to the grocery store while hungry, doing a crossword puzzle on an empty stomach may come with its own struggles.

Rebecca Tulis

By Matt GaffneyPublished Nov 09, 2020 4:55AM EST

You usually don't have to bother eating before solving a crossword, since there'll probably be some food in the grid for you to chow down on anyway. You've surely seen many a piece of EDAM cheese in grids over the years, but our menu in last week's puzzles included AHI tuna, PHO, and NAAN.

As with geographical place names in grids, food can also be a gateway to learning about the wider world. Constructor Sid Sivakumar makes a point of leaving some Indian food for solvers to snack on in his puzzles, and not just the widely familiar NAAN and ROTI: DAL, IDLI, DOSA, LASSI, and many more have either already made it into one of Sid's puzzles or soon will.

Pleasantly surprised to see the debut of 13D in the #NYTXW. I will always advocate for Indian food in puzzles.

Constructors take note: DAL, IDLI, PURI, DOSA, NAAN, ROTI, VADA, UPMA, ALOO, CHAAT, RAITA, LASSI, KULFI, RAJMA, CHOLE, HALWA, KHEER, RASAM, PAPAD.

You’re welcome.
— Sid Sivakumar (@sid_sivakumar) January 9, 2020

Speaking of LASSI, don't forget the drinks: generic ALE, TEA, NOG and COLA are commonly seen in crossword grids. NEHI is practically the unofficial soda of crosswords, with BARQ'S a fun runner-up with its unusual Q-not-followed-by-a-U. OUZO is a favorite liqueur, with its many vowels and rare-letter Z, and SKYY vodka is fun with its double-Y. Spanish-language AGUA is commonly seen as well.

And for dessert? ECLAIR and SMORES have nice letters and are often seen, but no one can top the vowel-heavy OREO— a fitting super-popular end to a crossword meal, since, like a crossword grid, it's black-and-white as well.

What's a food you'd like to see in a grid? Tweet it to #beastxword and our chefs will get right on it.

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