![]() Whether the theme relates to the publication the puzzle appears in, or something chosen randomly by you, it gives solvers one more clue to fall back on. Most crossword puzzles have a theme, too. The famed New York Times crossword puzzle is known for its high level of difficulty, while a puzzle found in People magazine isn’t as challenging. And most of all, you’re just as aware of current events as you are historical ones, which lets you create well-rounded puzzles that keep ’em guessing.īeing a Crossword Puzzle Maker means knowing your audience. You probably love solving puzzles just as much as you love making them. As a Crossword Puzzle Maker, you’re a master wordsmith, an impeccable speller, and even a spatial thinker – you might even be good at geometry. ![]() And the list keeps growing.Crossword Puzzle Makers construct puzzles from scratch by designing a pattern and fitting words together perfectly. He says he has about 200 ideas saved on his phone. Now, Hobin’s working on more crosswords to submit. The hardest part is coming up with a good, original theme.” “It’s kind of hard to describe,” Hobin says of creating a crossword puzzle. He says the puzzle software he got, with access to a website that lets users review Times puzzles going back decades, helped him with creating the structure and ensuring that he wasn’t repeating anything that already has been done. By his second try, though, he’d had enough, and he gave up. Tobin says he first tried creatin a crossword puzzle about 20 years ago, using a few sheets of grid paper. “They asked for my address because they wanted to send me something.” In a note atop the puzzle, Shortz gives Hobin a brief shoutout and mentions that he credits seeing the documentary “Wordplay” - which featured Shortz and comedian Jon Stewart - with providing him the eureka moment in which he realized that The Times accepts crossword submissions from the public.Ī few days ago, he got a note from the filmmakers. “Honestly, I didn’t do it for the money,” says Hobin, who estimates that he spent about 12 hours on the puzzle, which he tagged with the theme: “Bring Your ‘A’ Game.” ![]() With success came a $1,500 payment and a “well-done” note from Will Shortz, the Times’ famed lead puzzle editor. The puzzle also appears in this week’s Sunday Sun-Times. The Times ran the puzzle in its Sunday paper on April 16. This time, the answer he got was: Yes, we’ll publish this. “There was probably some fist-pumping going on,” says Hobin, who’s married and has an adult son. Hobin was told it was “very, very good.” But could he rework it a bit? 3: “Just the refreshments, not the viewing?” ANSWERSĪnswer No. 2: “Where stealth is found in the dictionary?”Ĭlue No. A MIKE HOBIN CROSSWORD SAMPLERSpoiler alert: Answers to three of Mike Hobin’s clues from his puzzle that was accepted by The New York Times follow.Ĭlue No. In December, finally, after being rejected 24 times, he got a different response to his latest submission. You hear phrases, see things written down and see them differently. “It sort of grabs part of your brain and is always working. “It’s the price you pay for getting too heavily into crossword-making,” Hobin says. ![]()
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