Patois Crossword

Grand · Medium · No. 30:00

Patois Crossword: Grand · Medium · No. 3

A medium 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. Medium: A wider vocabulary. Clues are the meaning, and you can have wrong letters marked but never shown the answer.

Across

  1. 5 A large, smooth-scaled Jamaican lizard, deeply feared in country folklore (9)
  2. 9 An affectionate word for one's father (5)
  3. 10 The regard you show and owe, and a warm greeting or sign-off in its own right (6)
  4. 12 The golden, spiced dish (5)
  5. 13 The communities of Africans (7)
  6. 15 From — a run-together of '____' (5)
  7. 17 Snobbish, uppity, and high-society — stuck-up and putting on grand, upper-class airs (9)
  8. 22 Troubles, misfortunes, and hardships (7)
  9. 24 A mixed-breed dog of no particular pedigree — the common Jamaican street or yard dog (7)
  10. 25 Afro-Jamaican folk magic (5)
  11. 26 An Afro-Jamaican Revival religion (9)
  12. 31 An exclusive, custom recording made for one sound system (8)
  13. 32 A chemical cream (7)
  14. 35 Girl or young woman (4)
  15. 36 Chocolate — and especially 'chocolate tea' (8)
  16. 37 A strong, regal, righteous woman — the female counterpart to the Rastafari 'lion' (7)
  17. 38 To arrive at a destination, or simply to get somewhere (5)
  18. 40 Greedy, grasping, and excessively covetous (6)
  19. 41 Mucus and congestion — the phlegm, blocked or running nose, and chest and sinus stuffiness (7)
  20. 42 A ____ — kept in the pen or tethered to graze (3)
  21. 43 The prized reef fish — especially the ____ (7)

Down

  1. 1 A large covered basket woven from bamboo or wicker, used to carry produce, food, or goods (6)
  2. 2 The Patois pronunciation of '____', where the 'th' becomes a hard 'd' (3)
  3. 3 An inner-city community that votes solidly for one political party and is controlled (8)
  4. 4 A drainage ____ or ditch — and, by extension, the poor inner-city neighbourhoods (5)
  5. 6 A tough, woody climbing vine ('withe') that hangs from trees and winds through the bush (4)
  6. 7 An affectionate insider name for Jamaica (7)
  7. 8 The morning worship that opens the school day in Jamaica (8)
  8. 11 A spectacle or a laughing-stock — a ridiculous display that makes a fool of someone (9)
  9. 12 A leafy green vegetable (8)
  10. 14 A rat — the larger rodent that gets into the roof, the field, and the storeroom (5)
  11. 16 A little extra given free by a seller after a purchase (6)
  12. 18 A con man and the con itself — a trickster (6)
  13. 19 A short-distance runner (8)
  14. 20 A housing development or planned residential neighbourhood (6)
  15. 21 A water pipe used by Rastafari to smoke the herb ritually during reasoning… (7)
  16. 23 A cooling street treat of finely shaved ice packed into a cup or a ball… (8)
  17. 27 Culture — heritage, roots, and identity — but in reggae it carries a special, weighted sense (6)
  18. 28 A slightly sweet, elongated fried dumpling made from flour, cornmeal, and sugar (8)
  19. 29 The deliberately modified language of Rastafari (6)
  20. 30 Morning — and, as a greeting, 'good morning' (6)
  21. 33 The regard you show and owe, and a warm greeting or sign-off in its own right (7)
  22. 34 Desert boots and shoes (6)
  23. 37 The man at a bus or taxi park whose job is to 'load' the vehicles (5)
  24. 39 An exclamation of dismissal, mild annoyance, impatience, or disbelief (3)

Where the words come from

Every answer is an entry in the Patois dictionary. This puzzle draws on: Actions & Verbs, Animals, Plants & Nature, Body, Health & Appearance, Clothing & Style, Culture, Heritage & History, Descriptions & Emotions, Food & Drink, Grammar & Function Words, Greetings & Conversation, Money, Work & Business, Music, Reggae & Dancehall, People & Relationships, Places & Directions, Sports & Games, Superstition, Folklore & Spirituality, Transport & Travel. 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.