stepquote

English

Etymology

From step +‎ quote. Coined by Eugene Maleska.

Noun

stepquote (plural stepquotes)

  1. (crosswording) A message in the grid of a crossword, split between multiple lights and arranged in a zigzag or steplike pattern.
    • 1986, Herbert Resnicow, The Crossword Code, →ISBN:
      No Stepquote seems to make sense. The open diagonal, 63 to 11, gives 'KLEURTIWIAAOUOA,' which doesn't have the feel of a message at first glance, even reading in the other direction.
    • 1992, The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories:
      There were a couple of areas he had trouble with, and they formed important parts of the stepquote, and in the end he couldn't work it out.
  2. (crosswording) A crossword puzzle including such a message.
    • 1984, Eugene T. Maleska, Across and Down: The Crossword Puzzle World, Touchstone:
      Later Joseph Cotten and I became pen pals because he liked my Stepquotes, and Frank Sinatra's secretary proudly informed me that her boss does the Times puzzles in ink.
    • 2020 March 17, Adrienne Raphel, Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can't Live Without Them, Penguin, →ISBN, page 44:
      A typical Maleskan stepquote's theme answer might read: THEFA/ASHIO/ONWEAR/RSOUTMOREAPPA/ARELTH/HANTH/HEMAN: " The fashion wears out more apparel than the man."
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