The Million Word Crossword Dictionary

I purchased this crossword dictionary for my 80 year old mother who is an avid crossworder. She loves it! It's very up to date yet also has many older terms and is easy to use. She says it's the best one she's found. She also has given several as gifts to friends. Enjoy!

This crossword dictionary is FANTABULOUS! Not only lots of words but phrases and associated words are in it too...When you can't find that obscure 5 letter word-Japanese island you are looking for- guaranteed it is in here....Sigh...just what a puzzler ordered! AND it is edited by Will Shotz of NY Times fame.

An excellent crossword puzzle help book; it is a compilation of Crossword definitions that have been taken from other puzzles over the past 10 years.

What I liked...

1.)It features an extensive list of words, abbreviations, acronyms, phrases, and fill in the blanks in phrases and sayings.

2.)It also gives detailed information on authors (and their books), actors and actresses (listing their movies), sports and sport persons, musicians, movies with stars, directors and music and Oscars; this is, of course, in addition to a huge volume of 'normal' crossword puzzle definition and answers.

3.)There are foreign countries listed (with notable persons, places and unique points of interest), as well as common words found in many foreign languages

4.)Answers to definitions are listed first by word size, e.i. 3, 4, 5, letters etc. and then all these words are listed alphabetically; for example, If you looked up the word 'MEANING' you'd find: 3...aim, use; 4...gist, goal, pith; 5...drift, heart, and so on.

Minor concerns:

1.)The book is large (1,268 pages) and heavy, making it a significant weight to be toted around. (not unexpected, I guess, for the quantity [and quality as well] of material it holds)

2.)The printing is somewhat small; most of us 'older' folks will need reading glasses to see the offered answers comfortably.

Suggestions for improvements:
Some shading at the side edge of the pages would have be very useful to indicate where each letter of the alphabet started; possibly using different colors may have helped even more.

Conclusion:
I love challenging crossword puzzles; this book has provided the best help for finding most tough clues that I've come across. 5 Stars

I bought this for my 87 year old father who is an avid crossword puzzle junkie. His old dictionary was not current enough for the newest slang or movies and actors and awards. Although this was currently published in 2004, he has already found it immensely helpful and was astounded at the list of academy award entries. He uses it daily. Although I found the print to be small and hard for me to read, he has not complained about it, nor does he wear glasses. I bought the hard back so it would last longer. Some people don't like the larger book but my father prefers it. Go figure.

This is an awesome crossword reference. Rarely will it not help, and at those times probably no dictionary will help. I have one question for other users, is anyone missing the end or T and beginning of U? I bought the book new, and it doesn't seem to be missing pages, it just goes from 1142 to 1175, I used it for weeks before realizing this.