Where the Iowa class sits on a battleship-battlecruiser spectrum

Would a list of battlecruisers include the Iowa class?

Iowa is not classified here as a battlecruiser, although its functional priorities put it nearer that end of a spectrum than Montana. A purpose-built contemporary battlecruiser would still differ from Iowa.

In this comparison, Iowa and Montana are post-First World War super-dreadnought developments. Their functional priorities can still be placed on a battleship-battlecruiser spectrum, with Iowa nearer the battlecruiser end and Montana nearer the battleship end. That does not amount to classifying Iowa as a battlecruiser. A purpose-built battlecruiser of the same period would differ from Iowa, just as a narrowly battleship-focused design would differ from South Dakota. The spectrum describes an interpretation of the designs' orientation rather than a new formal classification.