cruciverbalist \kroo-suh-VUR-buh-list\, noun:
A designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles.
"What kind of writer are you, then?" prods Middle. "A cruciverbalist," Claire says, regretting the word even as it leaves her lips.
-- Elise Juska, One for Sorrow, Two for Joy
In high school I was a closet cruciverbalist [because] working on crosswords seemed so uncool.
-- Kristin Tillotson, "The Life and Times of a Crossword Addict," Minneapolis Star Tribune
This young word was coined in the late 1970s and entered the vernacular in 1990. Cruciverablist is derived from two Latin roots crux meaning 'cross' and verbum, meaning 'word.'
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