What is a seat in crossword puzzles?

In crossword puzzles, a "seat" refers to a numbered square or space where a word is placed. It's the physical location of the word in the grid, not the actual seat itself.

For example, you might see a clue like:

"1 Across: Seat of government"

This means that the word "capital" would be placed in the squares numbered "1" across the grid.

So, "seat" is essentially a synonym for "square" or "space" in the context of crossword puzzles.