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Square Theory | Adam Aaronson

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The story starts in Crosscord, the crossword Discord server. Over 5,000 users strong, the server has emerged as a central hub for the online crossword community, a buzzing, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes delightful town square where total noobs, veteran constructors, and champion solvers alike come together to talk about words that cross each other. We direct our attention toward the #etuiposting channel, Crosscord’s designated space for shitposting (so named because ETUI, a sewing case, is a prototypically shitty piece of crosswordese). There, one afternoon in January 2022, crossword constructor and Crossword Nexus warden Alex Boisvert posted what seemed at the time to be an innocuous, mildly interesting observation: Suffice to say, the Crosscord hivemind had other examples of this. Will Nediger replied a few minutes later with the clever MULTITOOL and MULTIPLIERS (words with completely unrelated meanings, despite the fact that PLIERS are a TOOL). Several messages later, Alex chime

Square Theory | Adam Aaronson ← Back to Blog May 27, 2025 Square Theory The story starts in Crosscord , the crossword Discord server. Over 5,000 users strong, the server has emerged as a central hub for the online crossword community, a buzzing, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes delightful town square where total noobs, veteran constructors, and champion solvers alike come together to talk about words that cross each other. Square roots We direct our attention toward the #etuiposting channel, Crosscord’s designated space for shitposting (so named because ETUI, a sewing case, is a prototypicall

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