Pym's Daily Word Square Tactics: Common Words

Tuesday, 21st January 2025

From uncommon letters, we move on to common words. Not common in the sense that they are often used in speech and writing, but common in the sense that they appear often in word squares. This could be because they contain common letters that fit well into the word square format. You'll see them crop up often in puzzles, and learn to recognise the clues that lead to them.

Dr. Pym wrote on the matter, "It has come to the notice of some attentive persons, that certain words appear very often in these pages. The intelligent reader will commit these to memory, and consequently quickly recognise them when they subsequently appear."

For instance, the clue -V-I- often turns out to be AVAIL, even though other words are possible. AVOID and OVOID appear much more rarely. Similarly, -P-R- is most often OPERA, even though APART and SPORT are possible. When you see these clues, you'll save time by trying out their most common matches first.