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Theme database

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alicebobby:
Excellent to know. I appreciate your assistance, which I have already used. Had another thought that would result in a somewhat small collection of theme terms.  After doing enough research, I discovered that the NYT had already done it in 2003. That at least proves that my idea was reasonable, if not unique.  retro bowl
To Will's credit, I believe he suggested returning the problem to the constructor, but the latter chose to hold off and declined.  I believe that Shortz weighed in to defend himself when this was discussed on Rex Parker's site.

Shnston:
Consider the inverse situation, though: same concept, different theme words. Imagine a theme where certain letters are added at the end of words.  Thematically, two problems using the same collection of letters might get very different results. I don't recall the exact details, but I heard somewhere that Shortz had been sitting on a very ingenious puzzle for four years before releasing it, because someone had already done something similar. In order to stay away from such, what steps can one take?

admin:

--- Quote from: mmcbs on December 16, 2019, 06:59:00 AM ---
This site cruciverb.com has a similar feature (Puzzle Database). Here you can actually see the grids (not just a list of answers/clues). I believe you have to have a paid membership to use this, and it only covers a limited number of publishers and isn't always up to date.


--- End quote ---

I realize the post I'm replying to is more than four years sold, but here's my take:

1) The cruciverb database may not cover all publishers, but certainly more than one (vis-a-vis xwordinfo). They include NYT, LAT, WSJ, Washington Post, Universal, New Yorker, Crossword Nation and more.

2) The database may have had periods of being out-of-date years ago, but I have made sure it is updated on a very regular basis for some time now. Do a search and see for yourselves!

The cruciverb database search allows you to enter full or partial entries while specifying "Thematic Only", so it's fairly easy to see if your puzzle's theme has been done before (or recently) in the major publications.

-Kevin

jonesphedra:
Yes, there are several resources available for crossword constructors to check if their theme idea has been previously used. One popular resource is the Crossword Database, which is maintained by crossword enthusiasts and contains information about themes, clues, and answers from various wordle puzzles. You can search for specific themes or keywords to see if they have been used before.

evawillms:
Yes, there are resources available that can help you check if a crossword topic has been done before. While there isn't a single comprehensive database that tracks all crossword topics, there is a website Hello Neighbor that people Crossword builders and crossword enthusiasts use it to explore and research topics.

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