I’m Mike Shenk, and I’ve been crossword editor and puzzle writer for the WSJ since 1998. I’ve created over 10,000 crossword puzzles in my life, including many of our weekly contest crosswords link. Ask me anything (except the answer to this week’s contest)!
PROOF: https://i.redd.it/im06minwkx5a1.jpg
UPDATE: I'm stepping away now. Thank you all so much for your questions!
I solve a few crosswords. I do Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest puzzles, and Peter Gordon's Fireball crosswords. I solve the Times puzzle sometimes, especially the unthemed Saturdays.
Do you make catty comments about how they constructed them as you complete them?
You know he can't admit that!
are there people who dont do that?
I'm an average crossword enthusiast and even I can tell when they're poorly made
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Are you and Will Shortz friends, enemies, or frenemies?
Will and I are friends. We worked together for years at Games Magazine, and I'm a judge every year at his crossword tournament.
Games is where I recognized your name from, way back in the early 80s.
We got games magazine at home all through the eighties and it's what got me hooked on crosswords.
Whatever happened to Games Magazine. I subscribed for years...
Still exists under the name Games World of Puzzles. (World of Puzzles was a spin off, then they merged back). Not as great as it once was, but still fun. Like me.
Lol! :-)
Hi Mike. Big fan.
As a constructor I've had many instances where I've had a puzzle I've made accepted for publication by an outlet, and then in the interim between that acceptance and the puzzle getting published, one or more of the clues became outdated or otherwise problematic (sometimes I look through the AVCX archives and think, wow, we referenced Kanye a lot back then!) ... have you ever had to significantly alter or un-accept a puzzle that was kosher at the time you accepted it?
I wish this question was answered. There are so many crossword editors who don't take into account the problematic phrasing of clues or the fact that the solved word is only legible to a certain segment of the population (hello baseball?)
why would the word baseball be only legible to a certain segment of the population?
I worded that poorly. The baseball clues can be legible to a certain segment. I wouldn't classify them as pop culture.
oh okay, I thought that’s what you meant but I’m a bit clueless on the world of crosswords (no pun intended) so wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
What are some bits of crosswordese you'd be happy to never see again?
If I consider it crosswordese, I'd be happy to never see it again. My current top nonfavorite word is STYE.
Is that crosswordese? I've definitely used that in casual conversation, and is a thing that is occasionally genuinely relevant to my life unlike, say, ETUI or mel OTT.
OTT and ORR are by-far my least favorite. Especially because, even after seeing them thousands of times, I can never remember which is which.
(One is a famous hockey player from 60 years ago, the other a famous baseball player from 90 years ago.)
EPEE is also up there, but I just like the feel of it.
You know you're old when words that confuse people were common knowledge to you when you were growing up...
Testify
I'm pretty sure Bostonians still worship Bobby Orr
Can confirm, I'm never upset to see Bobby ORR in a puzzle, even if I'll concede that Catch-22 deserves mention once in a while
Just remember that a hockey stick is flat like an oar (ORR), and a baseball bat is not (OTT)
OAST
I think after 10 years of practice I'm finally remembering the difference between ural and aral.
Hahaha, I’m about 10 years in but still short of mastering this
Bobby Orr! I don't even like hockey but I know that one... Maybe because he's Canadian. Dunno who Ott is.
Bobby Orr, defenseman in Hockey
If the guy that's been putting these together since 1999 says it is, then it is.
in that case it would be interesting to know how he defines "crosswordese", because I've always understood it to mean "words and concepts that are common in crosswords, and more or less nonexistent in real life", which stye demonstrably is not.
How often do you find yourself referring to medical term, Stye?
I personally had a stye a few months ago, and it was also a topic of conversation last weekend with my sister-in-law who currently had one. So, not infrequently, I guess?
Fair enough
I'm not trying to be like "I have this very unique experience, and that should be everyone's experience", I just genuinely didn't think of styes as this ultra esoteric concept that people only understand in the abstract, i think of it as a relatively common, relatable experience that most people will probably have a few times in their life.
Is that not the case?
I literally said fair enough
Give him a break; he has so many styes he can’t read your posts properly.
I’m sorry, but this exchange is peak comedy
Nice use of literally
Please calm down.
It's a common enough word.
Have you seen etui recently? Your comment just reminded me that I haven't found it in a puzzle in awhile. Glad it's gone, like they finally (mostly) stopped putting "sapporo sash" in as well.
Oreo can't seem to die though.
Funny, my baby just had a STYE so it wouldn’t be anywhere near the top of my list :)
People gets styes on their eyes
You should shout that from the top of Mount Etna
2 other words that I used to frequently see were stoa and adit. It's been a while since I've encountered them.
While riding your emu.
Ogre
My great-uncle spent years building up an alphabetized exercise book with every answer that appeared in his favourite daily crossword (it was a very repetitive puzzle.) And then every day he would look up every clue in his book and fill in the answer.
Do you approve or disapprove?
Sort of a do-it-yourself crossword dictionary. Nice.
How did you manage the transition from being a crossword solver to a crossword constructor in terms of how you approached puzzles? In the same vein, how did you manage the transition from constructing puzzles to mostly editing them at the WSJ?
At some point, I just thought "I wonder if I could make a puzzle." So I did. (The early results were pretty bad.) Editing is a lot like constructing, asking "How could this puzzle or clue be better?"
Are there words you're sick of using, but they are convenient for connections, like 'ewe'?
Yes, lots of those words that appear so often they're hard to clue in fresh ways. But they do glue the rest of the puzzle together.
If I see ALOE one more time...
Eke
South African golfer Ernie ___.
Ells
That won't fit.
No, you had the right guy first try but one L. Els.
And ‘oreo’
How do you judge what is too "niche" in terms of pop culture references, or possibly too niche in general? The answers I get frustrated with are the ones I have absolutely no relationship to- like actor names, or tv shows that I hear about but would never watch. I guess this is basically a question of how you determine "difficulty" in general, but I wonder if you have some limit in your mind that you don't cross.
Do you have a favorite puzzle? Like, a specific puzzle that you've done.
I'm not sure I have an absolute favorite. One of my favorite Friday contest puzzles was "Rainbow Connection." (I won't spoil it in case you can find it on the WSJ site.)
Hi, Maddie here from the WSJ interrupting for a minute. Here's a link to Rainbow Connection: https://www.wsj.com/puzzles/crossword/20180629/41573/index.html?mod=wsjreddit
Thanks Maddie and adding that the hidden answer to that contest is a color.
That was great. Thanks!
Genuinely feel like I'm missing something. Is there a peculiarity to the WSJ puzzle I'm unaware of? Completed this puzzle (thanks for link) and nothing jumped out as being exceptional. Maybe the performance in a '69 football game but before my time.
I was confused too.
There's a meta-puzzle (not shown on the page) that asks for a certain color. One of the clues suggests how to find the answer.
It's a very tricky one.
>!The colors of the Rainbow are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. And each of those seven initial letters only appear once in the whole puzzle: R, O, Y, G, B, I, V. And if you join those seven letters in the puzzle they make an arrow which points to the diagonal solution to the Color Puzzle: TEAL.!<
https://crosswordfiend.com/2018/07/01/wsj-contest-june-29-2018/
Wild
Thank you
Thank you.
As you create more and more crossword puzzles, does the job get easier or harder?
Filling grids becomes easier--you get to recognize which areas need to be tackled first and what words will fit. Coming up with new themes gets harder, since you feel like you've seen everything.
From time to time, I hear a song on one radio station and then a minute or two later hear it on another station. This may happen for a few songs in a row, and I'm convinced it's just the DJs messing with each other. Well, one time I was travelling for work and I was doing a couple different crosswords every day - I noticed that for that whole week, several words appeared in common between the two crosswords. Do you think it was coincidence or do crossword editors mess around from time to time like radio DJs?
I've noticed that too, but it is just coincidence. I don't collaborate with other editors to plant common words. (Though maybe there's a super-meta contest idea in that...)
My local newspaper prints last weeks NYT and LAT crosswords every Sunday. We always do both and there is almost always one obscure word in common or sometimes reversed ( the clue in one is the answer is to the clue on the other). I really don’t believe that it is coincidence.
I’m glad somebody asked this. I was doing a few different crosswords a day at one point as well and every day there are words from the other crosswords in each others’ puzzles. It feels like they’re copying their homework!
I'm not sure it's an accident. One of the papers was the Detroit Free Press and I think the other one was the USA Today but it's been several years and I can't remember.
Mine was only a few months ago. I would do USA Today, Dictionary.com, and Washington Post.
Thanks for doing this AMA. 2 questions:
My assistant Joanne and I look at every submission separately and then compare notes. It usually doesn't take long to look over a puzzle--usually less that 15 mimutes--but we get so many, we have a big backlog (months) of puzzles we haven't gotten to.
Once a puzzle is accepted, I add it to the files. Every week, I pick a set to use, pick the days they'll run, edit them and lay them out. Then they go to the test-solvers to check. Once the revisions are made, they get uploaded to the WSJ.
Wait. Stop. TEST-SOLVERS??? How do I get that job??
Did you grow up wanting to work in crosswords?
I didn't have those ideas until I got to college, where I made a crossword for the daily student paper. Then I thought it would be great to make a living making puzzles, but I knew that wasn't realistic. Years later, I'm still surprised.
How much pull does an editor have at the paper in terms of increasing pay for constructors, setting editorial standards, etc.?
I've been pretty much allowed free rein on deciding on the puzzle style. Getting more pay for constructors is tougher, since the WSJ is a big organization with lots of levels to go through, so my pull isn't as strong as I'd like.
What's an innovation in crosswords that you would love but the Public isn't ready for?
I'm not sure there's any innovation I could come up with that some clever constructor hasn't already done. With all of the self-published crossword sites online now, a constructor doesn't need to worry what the public is ready for.
4D crossword puzzle
Edit: Nevermind, already exists.
What do you think of wordle? do you like it?
It's weird, I kinda think it's silly but I still do it every day.
Who's your favorite crossword-famous person? Yma Sumac? Erle Stanley Gardner?
Gotta be Yoko Ono or Brian Eno
Don't forget Anais Nin and Erno Rubik!
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Yeah, no favorites. Too hard to come up with fresh clues for those folks.
What do you think of (modern/indie) crossworld’s drive in increasing diversity among constructors, and what do you think print outlets could do better in this area?
I'm happy the indie outlets are doing what they are. I'd love to get more puzzles from underrepresented groups, but my philosophy is that I'll use any good puzzle submitted to me.
Are computer-generated crosswords kinda of crummy?
Many of them are. The key to making a good computer-generated crossword is to spend a lot of time tweaking the word list. And even after that, the computer can't write good, clever clues.
What are some of your favorite clues that you made up during your career?
One of my early favorites was "Play with matches" for TENNIS.
Nice! Those are the kinds of clues that make me LOL when I finally figure it out.
I love the clues that make me mad at myself for not getting them, when they’re super obvious but with a twist that throws me off!
I've never seen the word abecedarian in NYT puzzles. I always thought it would be an excellent addition to the game. Are there words that you would love to include but can't (or won't) for some reason or another?
The only words I can't include are the really offensive ones, and anything longer than the grid will fit.
Do you get hate mail?
I don't get hate mail. If the WSJ mailroom gets any, they're nice enough not to share it with me. I do get occasional lukewarm-or-worse reviews on some of the puzzle blogs.
Are you a pen/paper solver? Or do you prefer digital puzzles?
Until recently, I was pen solver (with plenty of cross-outs). When my printer conked out a while back, I switched to digital and haven't gone back to paper.
Until recently I was a pen-and-paper solver (with plenty of cross-outs). When my printer conked out a while back, I switched to digital, and haven't gone back to paper.
Do your worry your job won't be around much longer? Have you given any thought to what you'd do if crossword editor wasn't a thing anymore?
I'm not too worried. I've been doing this for decades now, so if it goes away I'll be ready to retire. Though I hope it lasts another decade or two.
Me too. The newspaper business needs oldtimers like us. Good luck to you, and thanks for the reply.
What do you look for when evaluating puzzles submitted to WSJ?
First: the theme--is it fun, clever, fresh?; is it well balanced and consistent?
Next: the filler words--are they good, lively words and phrases, with a minimum of abbreviations, partial phrases, crosswordese?
Last: the clues--if everything else looks good, the clues can always be fixed.
What is your process when creating a puzzle?
The first step is coming up with a theme, and finding theme answers of good lengths that balance each other. Then I place them in a grid, decide where black squares look promising, and then fill in the restof the words. Clues come last.
Any crossword pet peeves, either as a solver, a constructor, or an editor?
As an editor, I don't like an answer word in the grid to appear in a clue for a different answer. My test-solvers are very good at pointing those out.
Any tips for someone who'd like to give creating puzzles a try?
Get a copy of Patrick Berry's Crossword Constructor’s Handbook from his website. And look for the Facebook groups for new constructors.
What do you normally change when editing puzzles? i.e. do you change grid letters, entire clues, wording of clues, grammar/spelling, all of the above? What might prompt you to change grid letters or clues?
Any or all of the above. First I'll look at the grid fill to see if any areas can be improved. After I'm happy that the grid is as good as it can be, I'll edit the clues which can mean tweaking a few or rewriting whole swaths. Which day of the week the puzzle is scheduled for can mean making the clues easier or trickier. And when the puzzle is laid out, I might need to edit more clues to fit on the page.
How long does it take you to completely create a puzzle?
It varies a lot. Sometimes it feels like the grid is cooperating and sometimes it feels like it's fighting me. For a daily puzzle, it might take two hours or less, or it might take days, putting it down and coming back to it. Cluing adds more time.
What’s your favorite (non WSJ)? What’s your favorite indie outlet? Favorite blogs? Favorite constructors?
My favorite puzzles to solve are the themeless Fireball puzzles (which, since I'm crazy, I like to tackle with just the Down clues) and Matt's contest puzzles (though I don't always solve the meta). I won't name favorite constructors except to say I like the ones who require the least editing.
Have you every put any kind of hidden messaging into puzzle? Say with a certain collection or sequence of words?
When are you going to have other constructors other than you and Matt Gaffney create the Friday meta puzzles?
We have occasionally Friday metas from Patrick Berry and Peter Gordon. But since I need to test-solve every meta to gauge its solvability, I'm need to be picky about those I'll invite.
How many meta puzzles have you published that you were not able to solve? Any specific examples?
Is there a word or phrase you'd love to work into a puzzle but haven't been able to yet? And if not, are there any you're particularly proud to have included, especially if they were debuts?
I wish I had a better answer, but no, no particular word I've been dying to include. And I don't keep track of debut words, so I guess I don't have one to be proud of.
Do you ever just come up with a crossword item and just cackle maniacally as you fit it in?
I'm not really a maniacal cackler. (Maniacal, maybe.)
Didn't you work for Games back in the day? I loved that mag. How do you feel about its combination with World of Puzzles?
Would you rather fight one horse sized Will Shortz or 100 Will Shortz sized horses?
You know this one?
Leo McGarry: [on the phone with the New York Times] 17 across. Yes, 17 across is wrong...
is it okay for me to hate crossword puzzles? I get stuck early into them and have no desire to keep trying to figure out some random word.
Sometimes you just need to jump around the puzzle. Never try to do them all in order.
Are you the puzzle master?
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Has “PENIS” ever been an answer in one of your crosswords?
Throughout these years,were there some moments where you felt that you'd get short of new patterns in some time?
Also were actually used to be crazy for crosswords at some times like Stanley Hudson?😁
Will you please include "Waffles" as an answer in your next puzzle?
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What is a 6 letter word in Yiddish for bedbug? Starts with V.
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Do you have any tips for inspiring constructors?
How did you get into professionally creating crosswords?
as a fellow crossword lover, thank you for your work. does wsj plan to release a book like the LA times does?
Do you consider Eric the midget being an answer the pinnacle of your career?
Which dictionary or source do you use?
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Is Henry Quarters still submitting puzzles?
Have you seen the movie All About Steve? If so, how do you feel about it and how it portrays your job?
Have you seen the crossword killer? It’s a b movie set in a world where everyone is obsessed with crosswords. If you love a crap and cheesy movie, would recommend
Hey Mike, not sure if you’ve created any cryptic crosswords during your time (they’re my favorite); if so, what would you say would be your favorite three cryptic crosswords clues?
Mine have been:
Gegs (9,3) - Scrambled Eggs HIJKLMNO (5) - Water (8) - Clueless
Are you aware of your namesake being a very popular boss to farm for loot in the classic ARPG Diablo ii?
Do you attend the "Words Weekend" at Mohonk Mountain House?
What's a good book or resource that teaches someone how to solve crossword puzzles?
Who wins in a fight, you or Will Shortz?
In a battle to the death between you and Will Shortz , Who would win?
How do you have a job since crosswords can be autogenerated (and good software has been around since the early 90s)?
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Why are yours so hard??
Do you use "Ulees Gold" because of the vowels?
are you and Levar Burton real life friends?
I always thought crossword puzzles would be created by computers these days, since at first glance it appears to be an easily automated task. What would you say is the 'human touch' that makes publishers like the wall street journal choose you over a computer for this task?
If you met Will Shortz in a dark alley, would you fight him?
What's the answer to today's crossword?
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What is a 14-letter word that means utterly hopeless ?
YOURSEXHISTORY
How can you knowingly work for a corrupt news agency?
PizzaBuffalo t1_j0hf9xg wrote
Do you solve crosswords in other publications (NYT, USA Today, LA Times, etc)? Or, since crosswords are your work, do you avoid them as a hobby (i.e. like a professional chef who doesn't want to cook at home)?