The answer is TATAMI The corresponding square is house puzzle by Chris Morse Bottom Ribs by Chris Morse (ironic) Notice the reference to "dashed" in the intro. I also considered talking about this short list not long before he died. Each of the clues is for a word in a normal crossword fashions Johns line Nia Shelley circuit Huey Howie standing Martin change Each of these words (as are the two word in the title) often associated with the word LONG or SHORT. Therefore: long(johns) Short (Line) (Nia) Long (Shelley) Long short (circuit) (Huey) Long (Howie) Long long(-standing) (Martin) Short short(change) If you look at each line as longs and shorts, these are Morse code letters. long = T short-long = A long = T short-long = A long-long = M short-short = I The answer is TATAMI.