It might take a little squinting, staring off into space, head scratching, or a quick Google search. But when the blank white squares in a crossword puzzle finally give up their answers, it makes you feel oh-so-satisfied.
That’s exactly the reaction Gulf News’ Crossword creators are looking for.
J. E. Luebering, Executive Director of the Core Editorial Group at Encyclopaedia Britannica, manages the content of Gulf News’ daily and weekly crosswords. According to him, a “good” crossword “is one that harbours a spark of delight and surprise… a good puzzle is one that meets the puzzler where they are – that it challenges the person completing the puzzle and enables them to learn something, but it also gives them a chance to discover something that they might not have realised that they already knew.”
Gulf News and Encyclopaedia Britannica work together to create custom puzzles for our gamers. It’s a back-and-forth that drives not just unique and relevant content for the news site's Daily and Weekend Crosswords, but also content that is interesting, exciting and educational.
Luebering said: “Publishing these games is as much a creative endeavour as it is a technical one, and I'm glad that we've assembled a group that excels on both fronts. The most important part of our work together has been developing puzzles that Gulf News readers will enjoy and learn from, and that's been an ongoing process driven by discussion and data and figuring out content calendars and digging into individual clues and answers to see how we can make the puzzles even better. The creativity of our puzzle creators always delights me too, and that keeps all of us plunging ahead.”
The most important part of our work together has been developing puzzles that Gulf News readers will enjoy and learn from, and that's been an ongoing process...
Identifying timely topics is a key part of the process. For instance, during the recently concluded Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Gulf News’ Crosswords tested people’s knowledge of its history, events, famous athletes, and much more. And when The Rolling Stones band member Charlie Watts passed away last month, music fans were able to reminisce about his time with the band in a custom crossword.
The puzzle-makers
The effort to keep content relevant and make engaging crosswords all comes down to the puzzle creators. Luebering said: “We're lucky to be working with extraordinary constructors who are doing amazing, imaginative work....”
Some crossword constructors ventured into the field of puzzle-making very early in life. Will Nediger, 31, from London, Canada, started when he was only 10 years old by “just using graph paper and a lot of erasing”.
With a love for wordplay, Nediger said: “My favourite kind of clue is when a common phrase can be cleverly reinterpreted to mean something completely different. For example, I'm particularly proud of cluing ‘halitosis’ as ‘Mint condition’ – reinterpreting the phrase as a ‘condition that might require a breath mint.’”
But it’s not always possible to clue in what you want. Nediger said: “There are a lot of things you have to balance when you're creating a crossword. Ideally, a grid won't have any unfamiliar abbreviations, obscurities, or any other less-than-perfect entries, but in the real world, you always have to make compromises.”
There are a lot of things you have to balance when you're creating a crossword... in the real world, you always have to make compromises.
Fred Piscop, a 71-year-old New Yorker, is a veteran at puzzle-making, and has been creating crosswords since the 1980s. His first crossword in the acclaimed puzzles pages of US-based publication The New York Times was published in 1993. He said: “It was the first daily crossword under the editorship of Will Shortz, and the first New York Times daily crossword to carry a constructor's byline.”
Now, Piscop is trying his hand at puzzles for Gulf News, as well. One of the challenges he faces is from a cultural perspective. He said: “I have to be very careful not to include ... references to American pop culture that a non-American would be unlikely to know.”
The challenge for Nirupama Sivaraman and Sanat Pai Raikar, a husband-wife team from Bangalore, India, is that many people still have an outdated perspective of crosswords. They said: “Crosswords are seen as overly intellectual. While they are all around us, in online and print newspapers and periodicals, not many people attempt them. For many, it is because of a past attempt solving (and not finishing) an overly cryptic or difficult crossword.”
So, making their own crosswords engaging, fun and not too highbrow is a priority. Sivaraman said: “I strongly prefer cryptic crosswords. They rely less on the solver’s knowledge of facts and more on the systematic working out of the clues. There is a very strong element of wordplay involved here, which allows for much more creativity when designing the clues. For example, the clue could be ‘Wes flung about leading daily newspaper.’ Here, ‘about’ indicates that the words before it should be unscrambled to arrive at the answer, which is ‘leading daily newspaper’. So. the answer is ‘Gulf News’.”
There is a very strong element of wordplay involved [in cryptic crosswords], which allows for much more creativity when designing the clues.
Raikar, on the other hand, enjoys creating quick crosswords with straightforward answers. But even these can be designed creatively. He said: “To make quick crosswords interesting, I like to add some pattern to the grid. My favourite grid was one where the main diagonal of the crossword had only the letter ‘Q’. It takes a lot of effort to design such grids, but when they come together, it’s amazing. I also like to link answers to each other, so when the reader gets one answer right, it leads them on to the next one, and so on.”
To make quick crosswords interesting, I like to add some pattern to the grid... It takes a lot of effort to design such grids, but when they come together, it’s amazing.
The fact that every crossword isn’t churned out from a computerised program might come as a surprise to some gamers. The reality is, a lot of careful thought goes into constructing puzzles, so that when certain answers or crossword designs reveal themselves, they can elicit reactions of absolute delight.
Annemarie Z. Brethauer, an Ohio, US resident, has been constructing crosswords for over 20 years and transitioned into it after starting out with other forms of puzzles, like logic problems and word searches. She soon realised that crosswords had the “strongest market”. The challenge of creating a well-balanced, engaging puzzle is something she relishes.
She said: “I always enjoyed working crosswords, but never felt the need to finish one! As a constructor, I have no such luxury. If I have a great puzzle except for one corner well, I’d better figure out that corner or it’s not such a great puzzle. I particularly like what I call ‘spoken vernacular’ clues, where, for example, ‘Are you kidding me?’ is clued ‘That can’t be right.’”
For Melissa Petruzzello, a 34-year-old Miami, Florida resident, witty clues and clues that have more than one purpose have the maximum appeal. She said: “I enjoy clues I can use multiple times in the same puzzle, like ‘A flower and a colour’ for rose and lavender. I do like clues that reference another clue and answer, but I use them infrequently because I know it can be frustrating if you can't solve either one!”
I find it challenging to come up with a theme that compliments the content, is broad enough to work up an entire puzzle, and doesn't require too much obscure knowledge to solve. I spend quite a bit of time just researching potential themes before I ever start writing.
And since Gulf News’ Crosswords are unique in that they explore a myriad of themes – from famous explorers to animals featured in English expressions – Petruzzello says it’s important to get them right. “I find it challenging to come up with a theme that compliments the content, is broad enough to work up an entire puzzle, and doesn't require too much obscure knowledge to solve. I spend quite a bit of time just researching potential themes before I ever start writing.”
Her own experience with solving crosswords drives her goal of creating engaging content. Petruzzello said: “I first discovered… crosswords in an in-flight magazine in a moment of deep boredom. Having only known simple crosswords for children, I found these quality, difficult puzzles to be so engaging, a great way to pass some time while working your mind. I love trying to create a crossword puzzle that is intelligent, fun, and engrossing. I also hope… that people come away from our puzzles having learned something new, and that's always an exciting thought for me!”
Everyone at Gulf News’ Games shares that hope. Start playing the Daily or Weekend Crossword and discover a whole new gaming experience!
If you get stuck in a Crossword, here are some tips from the people behind the puzzles:
- “Don't be afraid to use resources such as Google. It's not cheating! Then you'll know the answer for next time.” – Fred Piscop
- “If you get stuck on an answer, see if you know the answers to any of the entries that intersect it - once you've got a letter or two, it often makes the answer a lot easier to see.” – Will Nediger
- “Read all the clues when you begin the crossword, so you can complete the easy ones and boost your confidence. When you are really stuck, take a break for a few minutes and come back to the grid.” - Nirupama Sivaraman and Sanat Pai Raikar
- “If you've solved the connecting answers and still can't figure it out, I don't think there's any shame in searching online for the answer.” – Melissa Petruzzello
