You're staring at a Saturday New York Times grid. You've got three little squares left, and the clue is "Old English letter." Your brain immediately goes to "E" or maybe "A," but those don't fit the crossings. You start cycling through the alphabet. Is it a Runic thing? Is it some weird Middle English holdover? Honestly, these are some of the most frustrating clues in the crossword world because they rely on a specific type of linguistic trivia that most of us haven't looked at since a college lit survey course.
The Usual Suspects: Thorn, Eth, and Ash
When you see an old english letter crossword clue, nine times out of ten, the setter is looking for one of three specific characters. These aren't just obscure squiggles; they were functional parts of the English alphabet before the printing press and Norman influence smoothed things over.
Thorn is the big one. It looks like a lowercase 'p' and 'b' had a baby—a vertical line with a loop in the middle ($\text{\thorn}$). In crosswords, it’s usually a five-letter answer: THORN. It represented the "th" sound. You know those "Ye Olde Shoppe" signs? The "Y" wasn't actually a "Y." It was a stylized Thorn that people eventually started misreading because of German moveable type fonts that didn't have the specific character.
Then there is Eth. This one looks like a curved 'd' with a crossbar ($\text{\eth}$). If the clue is three letters long, ETH is your best bet. It also makes a "th" sound, though specifically the voiced version, like in "this" or "father." Most crossword solvers just memorize it as a "three-letter vowel-heavy word," but knowing it's the partner to Thorn makes it stick.
Ash is the third member of the trio. It’s that combined 'ae' symbol ($\text{\ae}$). If you see "Old English letter" and the grid needs three letters, and ETH doesn't work, ASH probably will. It’s technically called a ligature. In Old English, it represented a short 'a' sound, like in "cat."
Why Crossword Editors Love These Obscurities
Will Shortz and other editors like Patti Varol or David Steinberg use these because they are "vowel-rich." In the world of grid construction, words that end in H or start with E are gold. They help bridge difficult corners.
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But it’s also about the "Aha!" moment. Crosswords aren't just about what you know; they're about what you can recall under pressure.
Sometimes the clue is more specific. It might say "Letter after wynn" or "Predecessor to the modern TH." This is where it gets tricky. Wynn ($\text{\wynn}$) was the Old English letter for 'w'. It looks almost exactly like a 'p', which is why it eventually got replaced. If you see a clue for a "runic crossword letter," keep WYNN in the back of your mind. It shows up less often than ETH or THORN, but it's a total grid-killer if you don't know it.
The Linguistic Shift That Deleted Them
Why did we stop using them? It wasn't just a random choice. When the first printing presses arrived in England from continental Europe, many of the type sets were made in Germany or Italy. Those languages didn't use Thorn or Eth.
The printers were lazy—or maybe just practical. They substituted "Y" for Thorn and "th" for Eth. Eventually, the "th" spelling won out entirely. It’s a classic case of technology dictating the evolution of language. We literally lost letters because they weren't on the keyboard of the 1400s.
Tips for Solving Historical Letter Clues
You've got to look at the letter count first.
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- 3 Letters: Usually ETH or ASH.
- 5 Letters: Almost always THORN.
- 4 Letters: Could be WYNN or YOGH.
Wait, YOGH? Yeah. That’s another one. It looks like a curly '3' or a 'z' ($\text{\yogh}$). It was used for various "g" and "h" sounds, including that throat-clearing sound in the middle of "knight" that we don't pronounce anymore. It's rare in crosswords, but it’s the "final boss" of Old English letter clues.
Also, pay attention to the word "Runic." Old English was originally written in runes (the Futhorc) before the Latin alphabet took over. If the clue mentions "Rune," it’s almost certainly THORN or WYNN, as those two were borrowed directly from the runic alphabet into the Latin one used by scribes.
Dealing with Semantic Variations
Lately, I’ve noticed a trend where constructors get a bit more clever with the phrasing. Instead of "Old English letter," they might use "Anglo-Saxon character" or "Early alphabet entry."
The logic remains the same.
Don't confuse these with Greek letters. A lot of beginners see "Ancient letter" and immediately type in BETA or RHO. But "Old English" is a specific historical marker. It points you toward the Germanic roots of the language, not the Mediterranean ones. If the answer is three letters and the second letter is 'T', it's almost definitely ETH. If the second letter is 'S', it's ASH.
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Beyond the Grid: Why It Matters
Honestly, knowing these letters makes you a better reader of history. When you see "The" written as "Ye," you can smugly tell your friends that it's actually a "Thorn." It changes how you look at the English language. It’s not just a static thing; it’s a messy, evolving pile of substitutions and tech workarounds.
The next time you hit a wall with an old english letter crossword clue, don't just reach for the "reveal word" button. Think about the printers in the 15th century tossing out metal type because it was too expensive to cast a Thorn. Think about the "th" sound being split into two different symbols.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Puzzle
To stop being intimidated by these clues, do these three things:
- Memorize the "Big Three": ETH (3), ASH (3), and THORN (5). These cover about 95% of all instances.
- Check the Vowels: If you have an _ T _ pattern, try ETH. If you have _ S _ try ASH.
- Watch for "Runic": If that word appears in the clue, prioritize THORN or WYNN.
- Visualize the Shape: Remember that Thorn looks like a 'p'. This helps if the crossword has a "visual" or "rebus" element, which happens occasionally in more difficult Sunday puzzles.
By keeping these specific historical bits in your mental "crosswordese" dictionary, you turn a potential frustration into a guaranteed few squares. You aren't just guessing letters; you're recognizing the ghosts of a language we used to speak.