The answer is FAMED, five letters. NOTED fits the same five squares and also finishes in ED, which means only a crossing among the first three letters can tell the two apart. When the slot runs longer, EMINENT, FAMOUS and CELEBRATED are the fills to try next.
Renown comes from a name, not from knowing
The word looks as if it ought to contain know, and people often spell it that way, but its root is name. English took renown around 1300 from Anglo-French renoun, which goes back to the Old French verb renomer, built from re-, repeatedly, and nomer, to name, from Latin nominare. To be renowned is to have your name repeated. The adjective appears in the late 1300s as the past participle of a verb, renounen, meaning to make a name famous or celebrated.
Usage guides flag reknown as a common misspelling for exactly this reason: writers think of being well known and supply a K the word never had. The mistake is a fair guess at the meaning, which is also why WELLKNOWN sits comfortably in the answer list, but the history runs through names rather than knowledge.
Three past participles in one clue
Renowned is a past participle doing an adjective’s job, and both five-letter answers are built the same way. FAMED comes from an old verb, to fame, meaning to spread abroad or report, and as an adjective it first meant much talked about, in the 1530s. NOTED began around 1300 simply meaning observed, from the verb note, and picked up the sense of conspicuous or distinguished by the middle of the 1400s.
That shared shape is useful. Crossword convention asks the answer to match the clue’s part of speech, so an adjective clue wants an adjective, and a participle often answers a participle. It also explains the frustration here: FAMED and NOTED both end in ED, so the last two squares cannot tell them apart, and the help has to come from the front of the word.
Standing out, lit up and crowded around
The longer fills each carry a small picture. EMINENT comes from Latin eminere, to stand out or project, formed from ex, out, and an element related to mons, hill. An eminent person rises above the surrounding ground, and English has used the word for people distinguished in character or attainments since the 1610s.
ILLUSTRIOUS entered English in the 1560s, replacing an earlier borrowing, illustre, and goes back to Latin illustris, lighted or bright, and figuratively distinguished or famous. CELEBRATED rests on Latin celeber, which meant frequented or crowded and shifted toward well attended and famous; the English adjective, meaning much talked about, dates from the 1660s. Side by side, the three describe fame as height, as light and as a crowd.
Renowned fills from five squares to eleven
Measure your slot, then compare the clue’s wording with the triggers below:
| Letters | Answer | What triggers it |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | FAMED | The default five |
| 5 | NOTED | Same length, same ending |
| 5 | GREAT | Loose, general praise |
| 6 | FAMOUS | The plain six |
| 6 | OFNOTE | A two word phrase answer |
| 7 | EMINENT | Formal register, usually a person |
| 7 | NOTABLE | Worth notice rather than famous |
| 9 | LEGENDARY | Fame that has turned into story |
| 9 | PROMINENT | Standing out in public life |
| 9 | WELLKNOWN | Phrase answer, hyphen dropped |
| 10 | CELEBRATED | Longer formal slot |
| 11 | ILLUSTRIOUS | Grand, formal register |
| 11 | WORLDFAMOUS | Global reach in the wording |
Picking between FAMED and NOTED
When the first three squares are still empty, the company the clue keeps can break the tie. NOTED is often attached to a field, as in a noted historian or a noted collector, where the reputation is professional. FAMED suits a reputation that travels by talk, which fits its old sense of much talked about, and it sits easily before nouns such as chef, landmark or racehorse. That is a tendency rather than a rule, so use it only after the crossings have had their say.
If you count six squares instead of five, stop weighing the pair and try FAMOUS, the plainest word in the whole list. OFNOTE shares that length, so a single crossing near the front, F against O, will tell you which one the grid wants.
