Pygmy hourglass
In this article
In a Pygmy hourglass (named for its creator, Pygmy), words read across and diagonally from top left to bottom right. Two diagonally adjacent, equal-length words form the basewords.
To make a grid for a Pygmy hourglass, start with the middle Across entry; that will be two letters long. Then extend the grid in a triangle one square at a time in each direction. (For example, in a Pygmy hourglass with 15 across clues, word 8 is two letters long; words 7 and 9 are three letters; and so on, up to words 1 and 15 at nine letters.)
G A B L E E N D S
O G R E S S E S
O R I E N T E
D E A V E S
H E R E S
U T E S
M O D
O D
A R I
H U E S
K O R D A
B A N I N G
G A R O T E R
H A R A R E S E
P O L I T E S S E
A triple Pygmy hourglass is the same, except that it has three diagonally adjacent basewords; thus, its central across word is three letters long.
S I C K I E S
A N O I N T
S T A N K
S E R E
A R C
P F F T
K O R E A
D E P A R T
G E N E S E E