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Words that like to cross
Some words bring generous letters to a grid. Others make every crossing negotiate.
A constructor learns to see words as both language and geometry. Meaning matters, but so does the company each letter keeps.
Language as material
Common vowels and flexible consonants open routes through a grid. Rare clusters can create character, but every unusual letter asks the surrounding words to absorb more pressure.
The aim is not to avoid difficult shapes. It is to spend them where the resulting word is worth the constraint.