Hello reader – I have a surprise for you.
If you’re reading this column in print, flip to Page 6C in this Northern Living section and read the introductory paragraph of the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Digital readers, you can click on the “E-Paper” link on the homepage to find Page 6C and do the same.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
While I’m killing time here, I’ll just mention that the rest of this column has spoilers.
You’re back! And now you know what this column is about.
Because when Will Shortz, the long-time editor of the New York Times crossword, assigns you a column topic … you listen.
Corresponding with Will was one of the many extraordinary events I experienced leading up to March 8, when the Sunday crossword puzzle I wrote was published in the Times.
There was also creating the puzzle, hearing it had been accepted, driving around the Big Island of Hawaii on vacation to find a print copy on the big day, and getting congratulatory messages from friends, family, colleagues, and strangers.
Now, two weeks later, that same puzzle is running in syndication in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, the very paper that sparked my love of crosswords.
It’s a full circle moment.
I’m not sure I had ever solved a Sunday Times puzzle before 2022. My husband and I were back in northern Michigan after a summer of travel, our homebuilding project was on pause, and I had a lot of white space on my calendar. One Sunday, I flipped the Record-Eagle over to 6C, looked at all that white space in the crossword grid, stood up, and got a pen.
A couple hours later, my husband and I had solved the puzzle together.
Two months later, I started playing with crossword construction software.
Six months later, I had my first puzzle byline In The Los Angeles Times, Thanks To A Generous Offer Of Collaboration From Their Assistant Editor.
And in the years since, even as the white space on my calendar has diminished, I’ve still made time to create the white space of a puzzle.
There is so much I love about the art form. I love all the layers of connection – the serendipitous intersection of words, the personal memories that entries and clues evoke, and the communities that spring up when people who enjoy the puzzle find each other. The comments section of a crossword blog is the only online space where my faith in humanity is consistently restored.
I also love how puzzles are a reflection of the constructor’s experiences, values, and voice. One of the commenters on the Times Wordplay blog said that even before he read Will’s introductory paragraph, he could tell I lived in Michigan.
After all, I had clued DECO as [Style for Detroit’s Fisher building]. I debuted the entry ODAWA. And at least one of the people whose name I included in the puzzle grew up on our pleasant peninsula. I’ll leave it to you to figure out who.
In fact, I’ll ASK you to try the puzzle now. It may take some NERVE to pick up that pen, especially if you’re not already KEEN, but even if your solving process isn’t IDEAL, I bet there will be at least one clue that has you thinking, “I LIKE IT.”
And when you ARRIVE at that very last word, you’ll feel like a LEGEND.