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Star-shaped crossword

Rules:

  • Create a star-shaped crossword using 6 letters English words.
  • Clues for the crossword is not needed.
  • Use common English words.
  • Direction for diagonals is TOP to DOWN.
  • Direction for Horizontal is LEFT to RIGHT.

Example:

Example
The words used in the example are : states, latent, steaks, strait and learns
There are 9 distinct letters used "aeiklnrst"

Challenge:

This is an open ended Challenge.
Find the crossword with smaller numbers of distinct letters used.
The fastest with the smaller numbers of distinct letters wins.

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    $\begingroup$ If Deus does this, he'll probably do 'A reckless disregard for star-shaped crosswords'. $\endgroup$
    – boboquack
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 10:21
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    $\begingroup$ Now I'll be disappointed if this doesn't happen. $\endgroup$
    – Rubio ♦
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 15:13
  • $\begingroup$ Since when did puzzle golfing become a thing...? $\endgroup$
    – jpmc26
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 19:07
  • $\begingroup$ I've got a set of words with just three letters, but I don't think they'll fit into a star crossword: sestet, settee, tsetse, testes, testee (maybe also setees? alternate spelling of settees). $\endgroup$
    – Duncan
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 21:25

4 Answers 4

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Found an example using 4 distinct letters:

The letters used are: "eort"
The words used are: tooter, totter, rooter, retter and rotter
enter image description here

Seeing as RETTER isn't exactly a common word, another solution would be:

5 letters: "elort" with the words: tooter, totter, looter, letter and rotter
5 letters: "enort" with the words: tooner, totter, rooter, renter and rotter

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    $\begingroup$ What is the fourth word in your list? $\endgroup$
    – tmpearce
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 13:54
  • $\begingroup$ @tmpearce RETTER: one that rets (you can check it out on: merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retter ) $\endgroup$
    – practiced_liar
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 13:58
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    $\begingroup$ I'm pretty sure that doesn't pass the third instruction (use common English words) $\endgroup$
    – tmpearce
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 14:03
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure if it's a common word but it's English, it appears in dictionaries (Merriam Webster and Oxford) and it's not denoted as "archaic" or "disused". $\endgroup$
    – practiced_liar
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 14:12
  • $\begingroup$ I like your 5 letter solutions! $\endgroup$
    – tmpearce
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 14:30
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Not sure if this is against the rules

but I think you can put terret everywhere. and you only use 3 letters

Let me know if this works. If not, I will delete it.

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    $\begingroup$ You can do the same with words like "sasses" with the benefit of it being a more common english word $\endgroup$
    – tmpearce
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 14:08
  • $\begingroup$ @tmpearce. Do it. $\endgroup$
    – Marius
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 14:44
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    $\begingroup$ REDDER would also work. $\endgroup$
    – Michael Seifert
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 18:21
  • $\begingroup$ +1 Great answer, but what I mean is 5 distinct words. $\endgroup$
    – Jamal Senjaya
    Commented Apr 22, 2017 at 2:15
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I've managed to do it in 7 letters

Letters: AEHORST
Words: ASSETS, ASSERT, TASERS, THESES, TOSSES
WordStar

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    $\begingroup$ Diagonals need to go from top to bottom, so one of your words is backwards $\endgroup$
    – tmpearce
    Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 13:53
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Here's one with 7 letters

enter image description here

Using:

SPEEDS, STEEDS, SHEETS, STEELS, SLEETS - Letters are DEHLTSP

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