title: Four-Letter Words: And Other Secrets of a Crossword Insider
author:  Michelle Arnot 
description: Starred Review. While opening up a window into the unique world of those who write, edit, and obsessively solve crosswords, puzzle writer, editor and self-proclaimed "acrossionado" Arnot (What's Gnu: History of the Crossword Puzzle) opens up a chest of insider secrets and solving tips worth the price of admission themselves. The title refers not to profanity, but a stable of commonly occurring crossword answers-"repeaters" to the insider-that form the foundation of nearly every standard crossword-and are cleverly highlighted, with an accompanying clue, throughout the text, equipping her readers with old-pro tools while keeping up a fleet, at times manic examination of the puzzle's people and processes. Bouncing with little or no warning from topic to topic, Arnot comes across like a close friend finally given the green light to unload about a lifelong obsession. She wisely outlines her thoughts into chapter topics like geographical words, the occurrence of "E," proper names, 3-letter words and crossword variations. Crossword fans should tear through this like a specimen from Monday's New York Times, but Arnot's enthusiasm alone could make anyone curious into a convert. <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  **PART ONE—THE ASHCOMB POOR CASE**
  
   **I**
  
  I cannot better put that extraordinary woman, my employer, before you than by
  describing my first meeting with her. It is easier to show her qualities in
  action than to describe them.
  
  On a certain morning, no different from thousands of other mornings, I was in
  a subway train on my way to the office when my eye was caught by this striking
  advertisement:
  
  > > WANTED—By a woman of affairs, a woman  
  >  secretary; common sense is the prime requisite.
  
  Printed words have an extraordinary effect on one sometimes. Something in
  these terse phrases so strongly appealed to me that though I had a very good
  position at the time, I interrupted my journey to the office and went directly
  to the address given.
  
  It was on Gramercy Square. The house proved to be one of the fine 