Growing up I always watched my mom doing the crossword puzzles in the newspaper, doing them so fast and filling in each blank spot quickly, so assured. As I got older my curiosity got the best of me but when I first decided to try my hand at it, I was completely stumped. A hint such as 'take place' would have had me completely stumped.
At some point I sat down one day and actually studied and thought about the puzzle. What was the point of the hints. And then it hit me, the answers were synonyms. So using the hint as above I automatically thought 'happen' or 'occur' only to find out that the answer was three letters. What was three letters for something that is taking place. So I tried a different tactic asking myself what happens when something is taking place. Well it is occuring. Then I thought when? Something that is taking place is happening in the present, now. What is a three letter word that is now? Then the lightbulb: ARE.
Many people don't even attempt to do the crossword because it requires too much thinking but I have found that it has been a great teaching tool by increasing my vocabulary and in my profession that is a valuable asset. Also it is a great trivia game as well. Beside clues about words, there are clues for book titles, movies, famous people, history. Basically the crossword covers everything.
As I became better and better at the puzzle, I began to wonder how the puzzle is made. I mean how do they manage to get every answer coincide with the question or clue while having each letter coincide with the other clues.
A few weeks ago, I found a documentary about the crossword puzzle. Basically it focused around the New York Times puzzles, which are said to be among the hardest to do. The crossword puzzle editor Will Shortz basically is a genius.
While he doesn't create the puzzle, it did show how the puzzle is created. There is definitely a formula that goes into every crossword. A specific percentage of the puzzle can have black squares but the puzzles doesn't start with those. Nor does it start with the clues. It actually begins with the answers. They figure out what theme of the puzzle is going to be. using that theme they place the main word in the center of the puzzle. Whatever word that is, then they figure out what the clue will be. Then they work from there, with each word centered around that theme somehow. It's complete genius.
Will Shortz makes each day of the week a different skill level. So Monday is the easiest and then Sunday is the hardest. Hence why the Sunday crossword is so popular. Anyway, when the puzzlemaker is creating the puzzle, he gives it to Shortz basically who then takes a dictionary and finds the clue that will fit with that day of the week. Genius.
I am still on the easy-to-do crosswords and haven't moved to the New York Times yet but one of these days, I am going to sit down and be able to complete a whole puzzle in that paper.
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