Wednesday Words & Woes: A Logophile's or Cruciverbalist's Challenge

Last year -- yes, 2016 -- one of the magazine's top articles concerned home makeovers, so I kept it around. I didn't realize until recently I hadn't done the crossword puzzle, and it's a dandy, all based on words that indicate a love of something. 

Let's see how many YOU know! Which word belongs to which definition?

 1.  Amaxophile's love                                         Outer space                            

 2.  Arctophile's love                                            Small places

 3.  Astrophile's love                                            Teddy bears                                     

 4.  Audiophile's love                                           Wine tasting

 5.  Chasmophile's love                                       Foreigners

 6.  Glossophile's love                                         Reptiles

 7.  Herpetophile's love                                       Riding in cars

 8.  Oenophile's love                                            Languages

 9.  Pantophile's love                                           Long words

10. Sesquipedalophile's love                             High fidelity

11. Teratophile's love                                          Monsters

12. Xenophile's love                                            Everything

I could figure out several thanks to the Latin classes I took in high school -- nice to know a little of that stayed with me (unlike algebra)! But several were absolutely meaningless to me, even when I had filled in most of the boxes in the grid. These are easier to guess at because the definitions are there. 

So, here are your answers:

 1.  Amaxophile's love                                        Riding in cars                            

 2.  Arctophile's love                                           Teddy bears

 3.  Astrophile's love                                           Outer space                                     

 4.  Audiophile's love                                          High fidelity

 5.  Chasmophile's love                                     Small spaces

 6.  Glossophile's love                                        Languages

 7.  Herpetophile's love                                      Reptiles

 8.  Oenophile's love                                           Wine tasting

 9.  Pantophile's love                                          Everything

10. Sesquipedalophile's love                            Long words

11. Teratophile's love                                         Monsters

12. Xenophile's love                                           Foreigners

How did you do? How many of these are new to you? The one that surprised me the most was arctophile -- with the prefix "arcto" I expected the answer to be polar bears. But I looked it up and no; it has nothing to do with polar bears -- really. It's all about a love of teddy bears. 

And although you didn't ask:

word lover = logophile

crossword puzzle lover = cruciverbalist

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed it, I hope you will . . . 

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