Althouse: Crossword constructing.

August 9, 2019

Crossword constructing.

20 comments:

Ann Althouse said...: Too bad that thing autoplays!; 8/9/19, 8:12 AM
Jamie said...: Lord, the creaky voices and rising inflections at the ends of phrases... I couldn't make it past "neon."; 8/9/19, 8:24 AM
Jamie said...: One of the BIG things Gabbard has going for her is her mature-sounding voice. I don't know why women with speaking jobs don't develop their instrument better.; 8/9/19, 8:26 AM
Temujin said...: I think the woman on the left was smitten by the woman on the right. And I also think that, given that I have worked hard to avoid trying to keep up with new slang, new words- I may not be able to do a crossword any long.; 8/9/19, 8:31 AM
Deborah M. said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/9/19, 8:37 AM
Jamie said...: I used to do crosswords daily - switched to Sudoku a while back for the very reason Temujin highlights: I no longer care to know all the cultural references. Maybe someone will make "crosswords for those who came of age in the '80s and '90s and don't give a hoot about either influencers or gender fluidity" somewhere (I'm figuring the latter two characteristics would cover both mass-market and NYT crosswords).; 8/9/19, 8:42 AM
Francisco D said...: Maybe someone will make "crosswords for those who came of age in the '80s and '90s and don't give a hoot about either influencers or gender fluidity" somewhere

I subscribe to the NYT crossword archive, although I despise the NYT. Will Shortz is the master editor and doesn't seem biased in terms of politics or culture. There are probably too many references that New Yorkers mostly get, but you learn them over time.

It doesn't count unless you do them in ink. I use fountain pens.; 8/9/19, 8:48 AM
Wilbur said...: Or, you can use the current crossword puzzles to help keep track of current references.

When the NYT gives you lemons, sell lemonade. $7.; 8/9/19, 8:49 AM
Whirred Whacks said...: Why do these two women (and many young women) engage in so much “up speak”?

The woman on the left looks a lot like the “Big Head” Bighetti character in “Silicon Valley.”; 8/9/19, 8:56 AM
Wince said...: If there isn't a "getable" down for a "Natick", does that mean you get a "Flutie Pass" on completing the puzzle?; 8/9/19, 9:10 AM
Bill Peschel said...: I bought my wife the Ultimate Crossword Omnibus and the Supersized Sunday Crossword Puzzles off the Zon. They have references from the '90s.; 8/9/19, 9:54 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: who's got a 6-letter word for "gather or collect"?; 8/9/19, 10:31 AM
MadisonMan said...: ^^ LOL ^^; 8/9/19, 11:11 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "I used to do crosswords daily - switched to Sudoku a while back for the very reason Temujin highlights: I no longer care to know all the cultural references. Maybe someone will make "crosswords for those who came of age in the '80s and '90s and don't give a hoot about either influencers or gender fluidity" somewhere (I'm figuring the latter two characteristics would cover both mass-market and NYT crosswords)."

I have been doing the Sunday Times puzzle off and on since I was in high school, but went through a spell from the late 80s until 2011 where I didn't do them more than a couple of times a year. Since 2011, I have done them all (they are syndicated in The Knoxville News Sentinel). I purchased the collections of the puzzles that you can get from the early 70s until I had started doing them again regularly. The puzzles from the 70s are quite difficult for me because the cultural knowledge isn't there or is very stale in my brain. They get progressively easier as I worked my way into the late 1990s puzzles.

Another factor that makes the older puzzles harder is that the creators relied way too much on obscure foreign words or obscure foreign cultural knowledge (for example, names of foreign coins). The older creators also relied on far too many obscure spellings of words. One of Will Shortz's real contributions to the craft is the strict enforcement of standards that has largely eliminated such shortcuts. However, the older puzzles were more challenging to the vocabulary, and that is a loss.; 8/9/19, 11:15 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I keep meaning to try to get a Sunday puzzle published. I have tons of ideas for the main themes for one (the easy part), but just never got around to creating one (the hard part).; 8/9/19, 11:19 AM
madAsHell said...: They actually employ a woman, AND software engineer, to make crossword puzzles?

Except for picking a theme, I figured the whole process was automated.; 8/9/19, 12:17 PM
Yancey Ward said...: There is probably good software to aid in puzzle construction- you fill out your theme clues and answers with a properly formatted grid, and the software will make suggestions for the material to make it all work. I would find that method boring if I were constructing a puzzle, but could be useful for when you get stuck.; 8/9/19, 12:30 PM
JZ said...: They are smart, amusing women but their speech patterns are lousy. It’s like so annoying!; 8/9/19, 12:42 PM
Char Char Binks, Esq. said...: Sudoku, and similar puzzles, are better than crosswords because they hone mental dexterity while not cluttering the mind with pop culture and other trivia. Crosswords are good for improving vocabulary and spelling, as well as problem-solving skills, but beyond a certain point the returns rapidly diminish.; 8/9/19, 4:28 PM
LordSomber said...: The NYT crosswords have been dumbing down for years.
The Sunday puzzle is at about Wednesday-difficulty levels, but slightly easier since there's more clues to "vector" off of.

The Cryptoquotes in the local paper are much more challenging.; 8/9/19, 8:15 PM