You’re staring at a grid, three letters deep into a five-letter word, and the prompt says "short tempered." Your brain immediately shouts angry. Or maybe mad. But then you realize the "A" from that intersecting movie star's name doesn't fit. Crosswords are a psychological game of bait-and-switch. When you see a short tempered crossword clue, the constructor isn't just looking for a synonym; they are testing your ability to pivot between different parts of speech and obscure linguistic corners.
It happens to everyone. You get stuck. You start questioning if "irate" has a secret spelling you forgot in second grade.
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The Usual Suspects: Solving the Short Tempered Puzzle
Most solvers lose time because they hunt for a mood when the answer is actually a personality trait. If you've got three letters, the answer is almost certainly HOT. Simple, right? But what if it’s four? Suddenly, you're looking at EDGY or SNAP. The New York Times, particularly under the long-standing editorship of Will Shortz, loves to play with the nuance of the word "short."
Sometimes the clue refers to the duration of the temper, not the intensity.
Take the word CURT. It fits the "short" part of the clue literally. If someone is curt, they are being brief to the point of rudeness. It’s a favorite for mid-week puzzles because it bridges the gap between "brief" and "angry." Then there is TESTY. That’s a classic. It’s five letters, pops up in the LA Times crossword constantly, and it perfectly captures that specific vibe of someone who is just about to lose it but hasn't started screaming yet.
When the Grid Demands More Letters
If you’re staring at a six or seven-letter gap, things get interesting. CHOLERIC is the big one here. It’s an old-school term, rooted in the four humors of ancient medicine. If you were "choleric," you had too much yellow bile. Gross, maybe, but essential knowledge for Friday or Saturday puzzles where the vocabulary gets a bit more... academic.
Then we have IRASCIBLE. It's a mouthful. It’s the kind of word a crossword constructor uses when they have too many vowels in a corner and need to burn through them.
Why Crossword Constructors Love This Clue
Constructors like Lynn Lempel or Brendan Emmett Quigley don't just pick clues out of a hat. They look for words with "high connectivity." The word RATTY is a great example. It’s common in British crosswords but shows up in American grids when the constructor needs to link a tricky "Y" at the end of a word.
Is it fair? Kinda.
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The beauty of the short tempered crossword clue is its elasticity. It can be an adjective like SNAPPY or a noun phrase in some rare, twisted Sunday grids. You have to look at the suffix of the clue. If the clue is "Short-tempered sort," you aren't looking for a description. You're looking for a person. The answer might be BEAR or TARTAR.
The Science of the "Aha!" Moment
There is a real neurological process happening when you finally crack a tough clue. It’s called the "incubation effect." You stare at the white squares. Nothing. You go make a sandwich, come back, and PEEVISH just jumps out at you.
Researchers at Northwestern University have actually studied how the brain solves these verbal puzzles. It’s not just about memory. It’s about "diffuse association." Your brain is subconsciously scanning every time you’ve heard someone described as "having a short fuse."
- ASPISH: Like a snake. Rare, but it happens.
- PETULANT: Usually implies a childish sort of anger.
- WASPY: This one is tricky because it can also refer to a specific social demographic, but in a temperament context, it means stinging or irritable.
- SNIPPY: Very common in the Monday/Tuesday easy puzzles.
Beyond the Basics: The Obscure Variants
Every once in a while, you’ll run into a "Short-tempered" clue that feels like a personal attack from the constructor. SPLENETIC is one of those. Like choleric, it refers to an organ—the spleen—which was once thought to be the seat of ill temper.
If you see this in a Saturday NYT puzzle, don't panic. Look at the crossings. If you have an "L" and a "P," you're halfway there.
Honestly, the most frustrating part of these clues is when they use "short-tempered" to clue a word that is actually a synonym for "fast." Think about the word QUICK. "Quick to anger" is a common phrase. So, "Quick" can be the answer for "Short-tempered." It’s a classic crossword misdirection. You’re looking for a feeling, and they’re giving you a speed.
Tactical Tips for Your Next Puzzle
Don't just fill in the first thing that fits. That's how you end up erasing half the grid twenty minutes later. Check the tense. If the clue is "Showed a short temper," the answer must be in the past tense. SNAPPED or RAVED.
- Count the squares twice. It sounds stupid, but we've all tried to fit "irascible" into an eight-letter slot.
- Look for indicators of slang. If the clue has a "kinda" or is written in a casual way, the answer might be something like HUFFY.
- Check the cross-references. If 14-Across is "Short-tempered" and 15-Across is "Like 14-Across," you're in for a theme-heavy solve.
The Cultural Weight of a Bad Mood
Crosswords are a time capsule. In the 1950s, a short tempered crossword clue might have frequently resulted in SHREWISH, a word we thankfully see a lot less of now because of its gendered connotations. Today, puzzles are more likely to use neutral or even humorous terms like CRANKY or GROUCHY.
It’s also worth noting that different publications have "personalities." The Wall Street Journal loves puns. Their version of a short-tempered clue might involve a play on words related to a "short" circuit or a "short" stop in baseball. Always know your editor.
Actionable Steps for Crossword Mastery
If you want to stop getting stumped by these types of clues, you need to build a mental "synonym map" that isn't just a list of words but a list of lengths.
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- For 3 letters: Try HOT, MAD, BAD.
- For 4 letters: Think EDGY, CURT, SNAP, FIRE.
- For 5 letters: Go with TESTY, IRATE, RATTY, SNIPY.
- For 6 letters: Look for CHOLER, ORNERY, UPSET.
- For 7+ letters: Prepare for PETULANT, SNAPPISH, IRASCIBLE.
Start keeping a "cheat sheet" of words that appear in the puzzles you fail to finish. It’s not cheating if you’re learning for the next one. Use a site like XWordInfo to see how often a specific clue-answer pair has appeared in the past. This isn't just about being a walking dictionary; it's about understanding the "dialect" of the crossword world.
The next time you see "short tempered" in a clue, take a breath. Don't write in "angry" immediately. Look at the letters you already have. Look at the day of the week. If it’s a Monday, keep it simple. If it’s a Saturday, get ready to dig into some medieval medical terminology or a word your great-grandfather might have used.
Focus on the intersections first. If you can solve the words crossing the "short tempered" entry, the answer will reveal itself through the "crosses," which is exactly why they call them crosswords. This approach reduces the cognitive load and prevents you from forcing a word that doesn't belong into the grid.
Keep a small notebook of common crosswordese. Words like ALOE, ERIE, and AREA are the "filler" that will often surround your short-tempered friend. Once you master the filler, the "thematic" or descriptive words like IRASCIBLE become much easier to spot because the skeleton of the word is already there for you.