The Criss-cross Translator is a solemn poetic form intended to praise trade, originating in The Doorstop of Spiny-Dogfishes. The rules of the form are applied by poets to produce individual poems which can be recited. The poem is two tercets. The Criss-cross Translator is always written from the perspective of the author. A form of parallelism is common throughout the poem, in that certain lines often share an underlying meaning.