Patois Crossword

Big · Easy · No. 40:00

Patois Crossword: Big · Easy · No. 4

An easy big Patois crossword with 24 clues. Every answer is a real Jamaican Patois word from the dictionary, and each links to its entry when you finish. Easy: The most familiar words. Meanings come with a category, every word starts with its first letter filled in, and you can check and reveal.

Across

  1. 5 Food & Drink: A soft, pale-yellow fruit whose ripe arils are cooked as a savoury vegetable (5)
  2. 7 Descriptions & Emotions: Greedy, grasping, and excessively covetous (6)
  3. 12 Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality: An Afro-Christian folk religion of Jamaica, blending African spirituality with Christianity (7)
  4. 13 Food & Drink: The beloved sweet tropical fruit, of which Jamaica boasts dozens of named varieties (5)
  5. 14 Money, Work & Business: To work hard and resourcefully to earn a living, by any honest means available (6)
  6. 17 Actions & Verbs: To go along, go away, or carry on — a versatile word that swings between dismissal and encouragement (6)
  7. 18 Rastafari & Iyaric: God, in Rastafari belief (3)
  8. 19 Dance, Party & Celebration: A classic dancehall dance move of the early 1990s (5)
  9. 22 The world-famous Jamaican music genre that grew out of rocksteady around 1968 (6)
  10. 23 Animals, Plants & Nature: A large, smooth-scaled Jamaican lizard, deeply feared in country folklore (9)

Down

  1. 1 Places & Directions: The porch or covered gallery running along the front or side of a Jamaican house — the shady, open-air spot (8)
  2. 2 Actions & Verbs: To stand — but far more often to stay, remain, or wait, and to describe how something is or looks (3)
  3. 3 Grammar & Function Words: Marks location and existence — roughly 'there', 'is at', or 'to be somewhere' (3)
  4. 4 Food & Drink: A starchy edible tuber (3)
  5. 6 Food & Drink: Ground corn (maize) meal — a versatile staple used for creamy ____ porridge (8)
  6. 7 Clothing & Style: Desert boots and shoes (6)
  7. 8 Descriptions & Emotions: A loud commotion, uproar, or disturbance — chaos, a noisy quarrel, or a great fuss (9)
  8. 9 Affection, Love & Romance: An affectionate term for a serious, committed girlfriend or wife (5)
  9. 10 Clothing & Style: A man's sleeveless vest or singlet worn as an undershirt — the everyday Jamaican word for it (6)
  10. 11 Animals, Plants & Nature: The small, quick, weasel-like animal introduced to Jamaica in the 1800s to control rats and snakes… (8)
  11. 15 Places & Directions: The wealthier, more affluent parts of Kingston (6)
  12. 16 Descriptions & Emotions: Strong, sturdy, fearless, and full of fortitude despite small size — the word carrying the specific, cherished idea (8)
  13. 20 Descriptions & Emotions: Clean, new, and stylish — 'him look ____' means he's sharply dressed (5)
  14. 21 Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality: Spiritual and herbal healing in the Jamaican folk tradition (4)

Where the words come from

Every answer is an entry in the Patois dictionary. This puzzle draws on: Actions & Verbs, Affection, Love & Romance, Animals, Plants & Nature, Clothing & Style, Dance, Party & Celebration, Descriptions & Emotions, Food & Drink, Grammar & Function Words, Money, Work & Business, Places & Directions, Rastafari & Iyaric, Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality. When you finish, each answer shows its meaning, its pronunciation and an example sentence.

The number in brackets after a clue is the length of the answer, and (3,5) means two words of three and five letters, typed with no space. Patois has no single spelling, so if you type another spelling the dictionary records, it counts.

More to play

Back to all Patois crosswords, try the daily word game Guess Di Word, or take a Patois quiz. You can print this puzzle from your browser's print menu.