there's some kind of spectrum here with hegemonic monoculture at one end and hyperspecific shibboleths at the other but i don't entirely have my head around the intermediate points

not sure if this at all answers you @bewilderingly.bsky.social 🥴

ofc this isn't at all limited to slang/new stuff - there are no words more frustrating to a new solver than "oh yeah i know that word from crosswords" - that's just a lens i'm seeing through atm

(which, to be clear, can be great when it's done intentionally)

xword constructors, who are obv interested in language, jump at the opportunity to include new and interesting words/phrases in grids, but when it's something that has no meaning outside its original context/audience, it is inherently exclusive bc it can't even be made comprehensible to anyone else

very willing, tho i haven't been able to articulate it very well even to myself so it may not be coherent! it's of a piece with an observation about "slang" referring to what are effectively inside jokes with short lifespan, as much as to new-but-useful terms that assimilate into common usage