A Footnote in the Grid
There it is, sitting innocently in the grid, a crossword clue that feels less like a play on words and more like a final exam question from a class you never took. It’s the kind of clue that bridges two longer, more tantalizing answers, a crucial little junction box that you absolutely have to get right to make any progress. The clue in question? “Ditto, in footnotes.”
This one doesn’t ask you to anagram letters or find a clever pun. It doesn’t hide behind misdirection or wordplay. Instead, this crossword clue transports you straight to the hushed, dusty stacks of a university library. You can almost smell the old paper and binding glue. It asks you to recall a very specific piece of academic language, a bit of scholarly shorthand that saves researchers and students from the tedious task of rewriting the same source over and over again in their citations.
Imagine a lengthy research paper. The author cites a fascinating book on page 42. Then, in the very next footnote, they want to cite that
exact same book
, perhaps even the same page. Instead of re-typing the author, title, publisher, and year, they use a simple, elegant abbreviation. It’s the academic equivalent of pointing a finger upwards and saying, “That one. The one I just mentioned.” It is the very essence of “ditto,” but dressed up in formal, Latin-derived attire.
For a crossword puzzle constructor, this is a gift. It’s a short, crisp term, often consisting of common letters that are incredibly useful for building a tight and interlocking grid. It provides a fair but challenging knowledge check that rewards a well-rounded vocabulary. Encountering this crossword clue is a test of whether your mental attic contains not just pop culture and geography, but also these slightly archaic terms from the world of formal writing.
Solving a crossword clue like this feels different from solving a witty one. There’s no groan of appreciation for a clever pun, but rather a quiet nod of recognition. It’s the satisfying click of a key fitting into a lock. You either know it, or you have to piece it together from the crossing letters, at which point the answer dawns on you with an “Ah, of course!”
So, as you stare at those blank squares, let your mind drift from the grid to the bottom of a textbook page. Think of efficiency, of repetition, of a word that means “in the same place.” It’s a humble but powerful term, a tiny pillar holding up entire arguments, and today, it might just be the pillar that holds up the entire corner of your crossword puzzle.
Available Answers:
IDEM.
Last seen on the crossword puzzle: 0917-25 NY Times Crossword 17 Sep 25, Wednesday