Tag Archives: Geeking Out

Happy Anniversary, Crosswords!

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Today is the 100th anniversary of the crossword. (Not yesterday, as Google’s marvelous Merl Reagle-penned crossword doodle might’ve had you believe.) One hundred years ago today, Arthur Wynne’s “word-cross” puzzle debuted in The New York World, kickstarting a phenomenon that has gone well past pencil-and-paper, more relevant and influential today than ever before.

Let’s take a look at that very first puzzle, shall we?

[For the solution and a slightly larger grid image, click here.]

In modern crossword terms, this diamond shape is known as an open puzzle or a cut puzzle, since it’s not the standard crossword square. I’m a fan of cut puzzles, because their shapes draw the eye. H-shaped, Z-shaped, and diamond-shaped puzzles aren’t uncommon among cut puzzles, and it’s always a treat to see one when flipping through a book of crosswords.

And it’s sort of fascinating to see all the differences between this puzzle and the modern crossword, despite its utter familiarity.

There’s the set word, the singlet letters at the puzzle’s four corners that don’t get crossed, and those enormous numbers that leave no writing space for the actual letter. There’s also that very curious cluing order, which took me a second to decode: the acrosses along the left side of the diamond grid, then the acrosses along the right side of the diamond grid, then the downs from furthest left to furthest right. Figuring that out was something of a puzzle in itself!

It’s not hard to see the appeal of the crossword from the very beginning. The grid is open, not daunting at all, and that casual spirit no doubt attracted plenty of intrigued first-time solvers. The mechanics of the puzzle are solid, and the synonym-heavy cluing style is an easy introduction to cluing.

Some of those clues, like 23-30’s [A river in Russia] for NEVA wouldn’t be out of place in a grid today. Though hopefully you wouldn’t come across a clue like 10-18’s [The fibre of the gomuti palm] for DOH too often. Wow, that is a seriously tough one. (Plus, I suspect modern solvers would get it much faster if clued as [Homer’s exclamation].)

Still, there’s a sense of humor to the construction. Look at clue 18-19 [What this puzzle is]. HARD. Well, no kidding, Mr. Wynne, when you expect us to know the fibre of the gomuti palm. *laughs*

What about clue 6-22? [What we all should be] MORAL. Wynne’s puzzle has a message. =)

Solving the puzzle was a curious experience, both as a solver and constructor. On the construction side, the word DOVE appears twice, a serious no-no in the modern puzzle community.

It would need editing to make the cut these days, but Wynne’s word-cross remains a worthwhile and laudable start for a long, proud legacy of wordplay and puzzling.

That legacy is quite personal for me, since this year also marks my ten-year anniversary working in the puzzle business. (That anniversary came less than a week before today’s centennial celebrations.)

I make a living thanks to Arthur Wynne’s wildly-successful creation, and I am grateful every day that I get to work on puzzles, or come here and write about them, all the while contributing to a community with a century-long tradition of humor, playfulness, intelligence, and style.

Thank you, Arthur.

Thanks for visiting the PuzzleNation blog today! You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, cruise our boards on Pinterest, check out our Tumblr, download our Classic Word Search iBook (recently featured by Apple in the Made for iBooks category!), play our games at PuzzleNation.com, or contact us here at the blog!

5 Questions with Puzzle Master Will Shortz

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Welcome to another edition of PuzzleNation Blog’s interview feature, 5 Questions!

We’re reaching out to puzzle constructors, video game writers and designers, writers, filmmakers, and puzzle enthusiasts from all walks of life, talking to people who make puzzles and people who enjoy them in the hopes of exploring the puzzle community as a whole.

And I’m overjoyed to have Will Shortz as our latest 5 Questions interviewee!

Without a doubt the most famous name in crosswords today, Will Shortz is the crossword editor for the New York Times, a position he’s held since 1993 (after putting in time with both GAMES Magazine and our friends at Penny/Dell Puzzles). In his time as editor, he’s been credited with spearheading a sharp decrease in crosswordese in Times puzzles, as well as offering a greater level of visibility and acknowledgment for individual constructors.

He continues to serve as the amiable face of crosswords across all forms of media — on the radio with NPR, on television in The Simpsons and How I Met Your Mother, and in theaters with the documentary Wordplay. (He even provided the Riddler’s puzzle clues that so bamboozled the Dark Knight in the film Batman Forever.)

But solvers interested in puzzles beyond crosswords will also have a treat in store for them in 2014! The folks at Penny Press have teamed up with Will to create Will Shortz’s WordPlay, a magazine featuring crafty variety puzzles and crossword variants created by some of today’s top constructors.

Will was gracious enough to take some time out to talk to us, so without further ado, let’s get to the interview!

5 Questions for Will Shortz

1.) As the world’s first (and only) degree-holding enigmatologist, was becoming the editor of the New York Times crossword always a goal you had in mind, or did you foresee yourself doing something else with your singular degree?

Since childhood I’d always planned a career in puzzles, just not as crossword editor for The Times. In fact, I didn’t envision a career with crosswords at all. I imagined myself in an attic or a tiny house somewhere making novelty puzzles and sending them out for publication — probably living in poverty, but doing what I wanted. I fell into puzzle editing without a lot of planning.

But I do have a law degree from the University of Virginia (J.D., 1977), so if puzzles ever end up not working out for me, I always have that to fall back on!

2.) The hundredth anniversary of the crossword is fast approaching. Given your familiarity with puzzles both past and present, what does the hundredth anniversary mean to you? And where do you think puzzles will be a hundred years from now?

I’m not good at predicting the future. But I will say that crosswords are the best and most flexible form of puzzle ever devised, because they involve language (which we all use) and connect with virtually everything in life. They can be made easy or hard, small or large, tricky or straightforward, topical or of general interest. There’s a crossword for everyone and every mood.

Also, there’s something very appealing about filling empty squares. As humans, I think we like to fill empty spaces, and doing that in a crossword seems to satisfy some elemental human need. Even if print media die someday, I think crosswords will probably exist forever in one form or another.

[Here, Will and constructor Merl Reagle appear with the Simpsons in a
promotional pic for the episode “Homer and Lisa Exchange Cross Words.”]

3.) I could ask you how far in advance you choose puzzles for publication (considering the Times’ famous incremental rise in difficulty throughout the week), or inquire about your work as NPR’s resident puzzle master, but to be honest, I’m more curious about what you do when you’re NOT doing puzzles. What other activities or hobbies do you enjoy?

As friends know, I’m almost as fanatical about table tennis as I am about puzzles (emphasis on *almost*). I own my own club — the Westchester Table Tennis Center, just north of New York City. It’s one of the largest table tennis facilities in North America, and I believe it’s the nicest (which I say having played in almost 200 clubs in 43 states and two Canadian provinces).

At the moment I’m close to finishing a personal goal — to play table tennis every day this year. As I write this (on Dec. 17), I’ve played every single day since Jan. 1 — 351 days in all. And I’m filming myself every day as proof. At the end of the year, if I succeed, some friends of mine in Hollywood have promised to edit a 3- or 4-minute video of me playing every day, which I’ll throw up on YouTube.

My ultimate goal is to become national table tennis champion for my age.

4.) What’s next for Will Shortz?

No plans for anything else. I love what I’m doing. I’ve been the crossword editor of The Times now for 20 years, overseer of the U.S. team for the World Puzzle Championship for 22 years, puzzlemaster for NPR’s “Weekend Edition” for almost 27 years, director of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for 36 years, and program director for the annual convention of the National Puzzlers’ League for 38 years. That’s plenty to keep me occupied.

5.) If you could give the readers, writers, and puzzle fans in the audience one piece of advice, what would it be?

I have two goals in life: One, to make the world a little better for being here. And Two, to enjoy myself. I think that’s a good philosophy for anyone.

Many thanks to Will for his time. You can follow him on Twitter (@Will_Shortz) and listen to his NPR appearances on Weekend Edition here! And keep your eyes peeled for the first issue of Will Shortz’s WordPlay, which will be hitting newsstands in February!

Oh, and I suppose you could always check out the New York Times Crossword, if you’re so inclined. =)

Thanks for visiting the PuzzleNation blog today! You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, cruise our boards on Pinterest, check out our Tumblr, download our Classic Word Search iBook (recently featured by Apple in the Made for iBooks category!), play our games at PuzzleNation.com, or contact us here at the blog!

Let’s Make Our Own Crosswords, Part Two: Advice!

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On Tuesday, I posted an introductory how-to for creating your own crossword puzzles. All of the advice and guidance was based on my own constructing instincts and work I’ve done over the years.

But I’m just one puzzler, and I figured why not reach out to other constructors and editors in the puzzling community and see what helpful suggestions they had for aspiring puzzle constructors.

So today, I put you into the good hands of professionals and topnotch puzzlers, as they walk you through the do’s and do-not-do’s of crossword construction. As constructor Ian Livengood said, “it’s more art than science,” but with the advice of established constructors in your pocket, you’ll be off to a great start.

And as it turns out, they’ve got plenty of worthwhile nuggets of advice to offer! In fact, they had so much to say (and I wanted to include so much more!) that I’ve broken up the advice by topic and put each one on its own page. Just click on the links below to take you to a treasure trove of puzzly wisdom!

Good luck, my fellow puzzlers!

And thank you to David Steinberg, Robin Stears, Ian Livengood, Rich Norris, Patti Varol, Doug Peterson, and Eileen Saunders for their masterful advice!

Thanks for visiting the PuzzleNation blog today! You can like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, cruise our boards on Pinterest, check out our Classic Word Search iBook (recently featured by Apple in the Made for iBooks category!), play our games at PuzzleNation.com, or contact us here at the blog!

How to Make a Crossword: Choosing a Theme

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“Themes are the hardest part of the construction process. Filling the grid and writing the clues takes perseverance, but coming up with a theme requires that elusive spark of inspiration.” — constructor Doug Peterson

This sentiment was echoed by other constructors I spoke with. Crossword guru Eileen Saunders said, “The hardest part of constructing a puzzle (for me) is coming with the theme. After that, everything else seems to fall into place.”

Los Angeles Times Crossword Editor Rich Norris and assistant Patti Varol: “Originality is an important element of a good theme, but sometimes originality means lively themers in a chestnut gimmick or a clever spin on familiar wordplay.

“Originality, themewise, is not always ground-breaking, or innovative, or even original. A good theme always has sparkle, with lively, idiomatic phrases that will resonate with a majority of solvers.”

New York Times Crossword constructor Ian Livengood discusses how to choose theme entries: “Once you think of a potentially good theme, it’s vital to see if something similar has been done before. What’s the point of having databases, right? If the theme looks interesting and relatively new, you must make sure the theme is consistent.

“For example, if you are doing two-word phrases that start with the letter P and you’ve got PLEDGE PIN, PARK PLACE, PLUM PUDDING, PINK PANTHER and … PARAKEET, that’s a problem. The single word breaks the pattern and confuses solvers. So consistancy and freshness is very important.”

Rich and Patti also mentioned consistency and balance as critical elements of a good theme. “One odd entry can ruin an otherwise great idea: a themer that ends with the theme’s key word when all the others begin with it, a stray plural in a set of singular phrases, a noun phrase in a group of verbs, a song title in a set of movie titles, a rhyming pun in the mix with spelling-change puns.”

I think I’ll give Doug the final word on coming up with a theme for your puzzle. “If you think a theme entry is humdrum or doesn’t quite fit with the others, it’s time to put your brainstorming cap back on. Remember, your first job is to entertain the solver, so make that theme sparkle.”

How to Make a Crossword: Grid and Fill Advice

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When it comes to grid building, constructor Ian Livengood considers it “perhaps the most important aspect of construction.” And since building a grid and placing your theme entries goes hand-in-hand, I’ve opted to combine them into one section.

Ian continues, “Try to avoid a pileup of black squares and 3-letter word concentrations. Once you put the theme answers in the grid, manipulate the black squares to avoid any potential trouble spots. Trouble spots are letter patterns that are highly unusual, and therefore, difficult to fill. If, for example, you have the letter sequence ??DK? in a puzzle, the only acceptable fill is VODKA. Well, you better make sure VODKA will work in the surrounding area, otherwise you’ll have to start over. It’s always better move blocks around before trying to fill the puzzle.

“After locking in words with unusual letter patterns, place your longer non-theme entries in the puzzle. You must make these entries ‘pop.’ That is, they really should be interesting. HATCHET JOB or THE JIG IS UP, for example, would be fun entries to fill in. REPOSSESSED, on the other hand, is a total snoozer.

“Minimize crosswordese and try to make the vocabulary accessible. If your theme is a Monday-level easy theme, crazy and obscure names are unwelcome. But if it’s a razor-tough Saturday themeless, a few tough words are okay.”

Crossword constructor Robin Stears suggested an additional step when choosing your entry words and filling the grid: “I check each word against a website called Crossword Tracker, which tracks crossword puzzle words and clues.

“If a word has never been used before, I hesitate to use it. The only exception to that rule is a fairly new word that I want to be the first to use—for a while, it seemed like every other puzzle contained ZZZQUIL, including one of mine.”

How to Make a Crossword: Cluing Advice

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After constructing the grid, cluing is the most daunting task facing a constructor. Constructor Robin Stears readily confessed, “Writing the clues is the most time-consuming process of puzzle construction, especially for common words that appear in many puzzles. Crossword Compiler allows me to keep a database of words and clues, but I try not to use the same clue twice.”

Constructor and puzzle archivist David Steinberg: “When writing clues, it’s important to strike a balance between original clues and clues that exist in databases. For entries that appear frequently and/or have a limited number of cluing possibilities, such as ALAI (traditionally clued as [Jai ___]), I feel it’s best to go with a database clue. In the case of ALAI, almost all clever cluing possibilities, such as [Half-court game?], have been exhausted.

“Original clues for such an entry often end up feeling strained or wordy and/or rely on a less common usage of a word, which solvers generally don’t appreciate as much.”

Constructor Ian Livengood also stressed finding a balance between creativity and accessibility: “Keep you clues relatively short, especially if you’re creating puzzles for outlets with strict line counts. But don’t just use one-line clues for everything, since that will bore solvers. Try to toss in some fun trivia, wordplay, etc. that seems interesting to solvers.

“And, like filling the grid, make sure you clues are appropriate for the intended day of the week. [High line?] for ELEVATED TRAIN works well for a tough puzzle, but would only fluster new solvers in a Monday puzzle. [Above-the-street transportation] is easier and more welcome for beginners.”

Constructor Robin Stears reminds you to utilize the many resources available: “Personally, I use a number of websites to help me write clues: Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, The Free Dictionary, Crossword Tracker, Internet Movie Database, Reddit, and Google. In the old days, I used to spend hours in the reference section of the library, but nowadays, it’s much easier to search the Internet. There’s a wikia for almost everything.”

When it comes to determining the difficulty of a clue, constructor Doug Peterson suggests doing a bit of research: “My best advice is to solve lots and lots of puzzles of varying levels of difficulty. It won’t take long for you to get a feel for what types of clues are found in what types of puzzles. And it’s OK to have a few hard clues on a Monday or a Tuesday. Just make sure their answers don’t cross.”

Los Angeles Times Crossword Editor Rich Norris and assistant Patti Varol touched on how cluing can set a puzzle’s difficulty: “With the right grid, a talented, creative editor can transform an expert-level puzzle into one that any newbie can solve (and that an expert would still enjoy). Every editor has his or her own ‘familiarity test,’ which is the educated guess we make to determine if a clue or an entry will resonate with or be recognized by our solvers.

“It’s subjective, sure, but there are also pretty straightforward guidelines. If an entry is not in most major dictionaries and only gets 10K or so Google hits, well, that’s pretty obscure and probably shouldn’t be used at all. The editor needs to know the solving audience and needs to know how to balance current and older pop culture references -– much of what the Millennials find easy will completely baffle the Boomer solvers, and vice versa.”

They were also kind enough to offer an example of how cluing a given word can affect clue difficulty:

“Take the entry SMITH, for example. Will SMITH and Ozzie SMITH are arguably more famous than Patti SMITH, who is arguably more famous than Matt SMITH. Plain clues — [Actor Will], [Baseballer Ozzie], [Singer Patti], [Actor Matt] – tend to be hard. Ozzie is the exception in this example, because Ozzie is such an unusual name in baseball that even nonfans are likely to word-associate their way to the correct answer.

“What information is added to those semi-naked clues is key. Thus, [“Men In Black“ actor Will] is an easy clue for SMITH because “Men In Black” is a popular movie franchise and having the first name narrows down the potential answers. Compare [“Just Kids” memoirist Patti]. Even with that first name in the clue, it’s a tough clue — more solvers know Patti Smith as a singer than as a writer, and the title of her memoir doesn’t even hint at her singing career. For a nonfan, [Hall of famer shortstop Ozzie] is about the same difficulty as [Baseballer Ozzie], but, alas, it’s likely only a Doctor Who fan will recognize any clue for Matt SMITH.

“There’s Kate SMITH, and Bessie SMITH, and Agent SMITH of the Matrix movies. Each one resonates with a different solver. The easiest kind of clue for SMITH is, of course, the generic kind: [Common alias] or [Popular surname] or [Suffix with lock or gun]. And then there’s the fun, inferable kind: [Surname that comes from an occupational suffix].”