Letter Sequence Indicators ~ Crossword Unclued

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Letter Sequence Indicators

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A compilation of indicators for letter selection clues.

This covers the following clue types:

Initialisms or acrostics – the first letters of a sequence of words spell out the answer
Odd or even letters/alternate letters – every other letter from a sequence of words form the answer
Any other uniform letter selection pattern

Acrostic Indicators

BEGINNERS
BEGINNINGS
FIRST
FIRSTLY
FOR STARTERS

HEADS
INITIALLY
INITIALS
LEADERS

LEADING
LEADS
SOURCES
STARTERS

Select Letters

ALTERNATELY
EVENLY
EVERY OTHER

EVERY SECOND
ODDLY

ODDS
REGULARLY

Drop Letters

EVENS OUT
NOT EVEN

NOTHING ODD
ODDLY LACKING

REGULAR LOSSES
SECONDS OUT

Other Patterns

ENDS OF,
TAILS

EDGES OF,
EXTREMES OF,
EXTREMELY

HEADS OFF,
INITIALLY AWAY

THIRDS OF

Indicates picking last letters of a series of words
e.g. feaR nO thornS herE = ROSE

Indicates picking one or both edges of a series of words
e.g. RituparnO SpokE = ROSE

All letters except the first from a series of words. The indicators for this pattern are similar to "Delete The Head" subtraction indicators, but here the indicator acts on a sequence of words instead of a single word. The indicator is generally in the plural e.g. HEADS OFF instead of HEAD OFF.

Third letters of a series of words

Notes:

There is a plenty of overlap between letter selection indicators and subtraction indicators, where the letter sequence involves discarding letters. In fact, the "Drop Letters" style can be viewed as a special kind of deletion.

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