Patois Crossword

Grand · Easy · No. 10:00

Patois Crossword: Grand · Easy · No. 1

An easy grand Patois crossword with 45 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. 2 Money, Work & Business: A traditional rotating savings scheme in which a group of people each pay a fixed sum (7)
  2. 6 Culture, Heritage & History: The communities of Africans (7)
  3. 7 Food & Drink: A flat, round flatbread made from grated cassava (5)
  4. 8 Clothing & Style: Shoes with soft ____ (raw-rubber) soles (5)
  5. 9 Food & Drink: A sweet steamed pudding of grated sweet potato or cornmeal mixed with coconut (6)
  6. 10 Animals, Plants & Nature: The small freshwater crayfish or shrimp found in Jamaica's rivers, prized as a delicacy (5)
  7. 11 Descriptions & Emotions: Strong, sturdy, fearless, and full of fortitude despite small size — the word carrying the specific, cherished idea (8)
  8. 13 Actions & Verbs: Going on; carry on (5)
  9. 15 Money, Work & Business: The open-air ____ where higglers and farmers sell fresh produce, ground provisions, fish, and goods (6)
  10. 19 Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality: Afro-Jamaican folk magic (5)
  11. 20 Music, Reggae & Dancehall: A dancehall event or party where a sound system plays through the night (7)
  12. 21 Actions & Verbs: To steal — and, as a noun, a ____ (4)
  13. 23 Food & Drink: A slightly sweet, elongated fried dumpling made from flour, cornmeal, and sugar (8)
  14. 26 Rastafari & Iyaric: Natural, pure, and unprocessed — used above all for the Rastafari way of eating (4)
  15. 27 Rastafari & Iyaric: The oppressive establishment (7)
  16. 30 Food & Drink: A small open Jamaican tart (7)
  17. 31 Body, Health & Appearance: The stomach or abdomen — but in Jamaican it also commonly means a pregnancy (5)
  18. 33 Places & Directions: A drainage ____ or ditch — and, by extension, the poor inner-city neighbourhoods (5)
  19. 35 Rastafari & Iyaric: A Rastafari word of affirmation and greeting meaning 'heights' — spiritual heights, joy, and unity (4)
  20. 36 Food & Drink: A wild, sprawling bitter vine (7)
  21. 38 Food & Drink: The sapodilla — a small, round, rough brown-skinned fruit with sweet, soft, grainy brown flesh (9)
  22. 39 Animals, Plants & Nature: The small, quick, weasel-like animal introduced to Jamaica in the 1800s to control rats and snakes… (8)

Down

  1. 1 Food & Drink: Allspice — the dried berry of the ____ tree, and the single most important spice in Jamaican cooking (7)
  2. 3 Music, Reggae & Dancehall: An exclusive, custom recording made for one sound system (8)
  3. 4 Clothing & Style: The red-and-white (sometimes yellow) plaid madras cloth (7)
  4. 5 Culture, Heritage & History: A masquerade tradition performed at Christmas (8)
  5. 7 Descriptions & Emotions: Boastful, show-offy, flashy (6)
  6. 8 Food & Drink: A leafy green vegetable (8)
  7. 12 Dance, Party & Celebration: A classic dancehall dance move of the early 1990s (5)
  8. 14 Grammar & Function Words: A multi-purpose question and linking word — 'where', 'what', or the relative 'that/which/who' (3)
  9. 16 Music, Reggae & Dancehall: Chatting or half-singing rhythmically over a riddim — the Jamaican vocal style, dating from the 1960s sound systems (8)
  10. 17 Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality: An Afro-Christian folk religion of Jamaica, blending African spirituality with Christianity (7)
  11. 18 Food & Drink: A traditional Jamaican snack of dried corn that has been parched (5)
  12. 20 People & Relationships: A close female friend, or a group of women bound together by friendship and mutual support (7)
  13. 22 Actions & Verbs: To go, move on, or make one's way to a place — and also to progress or advance (7)
  14. 24 Rastafari & Iyaric: The Rastafari concept of righteous living (6)
  15. 25 Greetings & Conversation: To talk or speak (4)
  16. 27 Animals, Plants & Nature: Wind of any strength (6)
  17. 28 Culture, Heritage & History: A large covered basket woven from bamboo or wicker, used to carry produce, food, or goods (6)
  18. 29 Descriptions & Emotions: Little or small — in size, amount, or degree (6)
  19. 31 Descriptions & Emotions: To break — but reaching far beyond the plain sense (4)
  20. 32 Affection, Love & Romance: An affectionate term for a serious, committed girlfriend or wife (5)
  21. 34 Greetings & Conversation: To meet up with someone, make contact, or connect socially (4)
  22. 36 Greetings & Conversation: An exclamation of dismissal, mild annoyance, impatience, or disbelief (3)
  23. 37 Grammar & Function Words: 'They' or '____', but it does more than the English pronoun (3)

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, Body, Health & Appearance, Clothing & Style, Culture, Heritage & History, Dance, Party & Celebration, Descriptions & Emotions, Food & Drink, Grammar & Function Words, Greetings & Conversation, Money, Work & Business, Music, Reggae & Dancehall, People & Relationships, 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.