So I used to write crosswords for my college's newspaper. I would spend hours on them and then I barely got paid so I only did it for one semester (I did, however, continue to be a photographer for the newspaper). However, it might be nice to reflect on making them.
There was something very intellectually stimulating about creating the crosswords. I would try and get themes into the puzzles to make it more fun for myself. The only theme I can remember right now though is science fiction. I also tried to make all of the clues be on theme instead of just some major ones like I see most crosswords do. I eventually deviated from themes because it made it too hard to make the crosswords.
So how did I go about making them after I had a theme (or had decided that there wouldn't be one)? I would think of the big clues that I wanted and start from there. I would spend hours researching random strings of letters to see if I could make something out of them or adjusting things if not. Now I admit that I ultimately made some pretty bad clues to shoehorn in the clues I wanted but c'est la vie I needed to finish the crossword and I was in too deep now so a random string of letters was just going to have to work.
Regardless of how good or bad the clues I made were, I remember that I could feel my brain stretching as I did it. It was an activity that engaged several parts of my mind. I had the trivial knowledge part in the full clues, my vocabulary for the half-formed clues, my research skills for all clues, and my visual sense for the overall pattern (which to be honest, I struggled with at times).
Intitally I didn't make my crosswords rotationally semetric (I think that's what it's called), but this got called out pretty quickly (which, to be honest, annoyed me a bit because I was already spending a lot of time making them and this made it take even longer). Now it was easier to make crosswords that weren't, but it is standard to make them rotationally semetric (I'm not sure why though, maybe just because it looks nice?).
Seeing a finished one filled me with immense satisfaction (especially once I saw it printed in the school's newspaper). However, sometimes I was filled with some annoyance. Had I really worked for hours on something that looked that small once it was done? Did anyone actually do these? Who even read the college newspaper? These negative feelings were backed up when I was told I would be paid for a total of like two hours for making six crosswords each of which took hours to make (no, I'm not still bitter, what would make you say that?).
So I guess making a crossword is, in many ways, fulfilling and challenging, but in many others a huge pain. I don't regret doing it for my college's newspaper. I got a lot of enjoyment out of them, but I ultimately felt underappreciated by the newspaper itself (they were pretty unapologetic about how little I was paid...I'm not bitter, you're bitter!). Maybe making them on my schedule just for fun would be better.
Man, now I kind of want to make one again (even though I did complain about making them too). Would people do them if I did make them? Would people mind if they weren't rotationally semetric? Would people mind if they were small? Would people mind if they came out inconsitently? Or, man, I could try making one of crosswords where there are no black squares and the puzzle doer has to fill them in themselves.
(Prompt by Kimisha Cassidy)
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