Intro -- Praise for Michelle Arnot -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- A Puzzle a Day: Adventures with Crosswords -- 1. Why Four-Letter Words?: The Anatomy of a Crossword -- 2. Decoding Clues: How to Solve for Four-Letter Words -- 3. The First Lady of Four-Letter Words: Margaret Farrar neé Petherbridge -- 4. The First Lady of Four-Letter Words: All the Puzzles That Are Printed to Fit -- 5. Key Four-Letter Words Starting with E: A Chain of Crossword E's -- 6. Around the World in Four-Letter Words: Armchair Traveling -- 7. Four-Letter Surnames: Hello, DALI and 8. Four-Letter First Names: Who's Who in Clues -- 9. Three-Letter Words: The Shortest Repeaters -- 10. British Four-Letter Words: Cryptic Crosswords -- 11. Four-Letter Words Outside the Box: Crossword Variations -- 12. Four-Letter Word Dash: Solving Against the Clock -- 13. The Future Of Four-Letter Words: "The -- the Limit" -- Appendix -- Essential Crosswordese -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author