A Real Man of Letters

“As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces,” said Will Shortz, the editor of the famed New York Times crossword puzzle. But it seems that some human beings have a compulsion to create these empty spaces, as well.

Even though they are firmly entrenched in our culture, crossword puzzles are a relatively new phenomenon. Originating as simple word games in 19th century England, the first modern crossword was written by Liverpool journalist Arthur Wynne and appeared in the New York World on December 21, 1913. The New York Times crossword, which is the most well-known word puzzle, was first printed on Feb. 1, 1930, according to the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament website.

While most people are familiar with the act of solving crosswords, the formation of these puzzles is rarely considered or understood. For those in the know, the act of creating crosswords is called cruciverbalism—“constructing” for the rest of the population.

Contrary to popular belief, this is not done by computer programs—at least not entirely. While modern technology has changed how crosswords are created, humans continue to come up with the themes, choose words that are used in our quotidian lives, and write clever clues for these words.

The holy grail of crossword publications, the Times, is every cruciverbalist’s dream. In the Times, puzzles get harder as the week progresses from Monday to Saturday. Although Saturday puzzles are the hardest, Sunday’s is bigger than the others, clocking in at about a Thursday in difficulty—it’s the peak of crossword writing. And one Harvard sophomore has made it to the top.

Kyle A. Mahowald ’09 is a cruciverbalist who publishes his crosswords in the Times as well as other publications, including the Wall Street Journal. Mahowald’s first Sunday puzzle was published in September 2004; 17 years old at the time, he became the youngest constructor to publish a Sunday Times crossword puzzle. Mahowald remains modest about his achievement. “It was pretty cool. I didn’t know it when I sent it in that I would be the youngest.”

For Mahowald, puzzle creation begins with a theme. This can be as simple as a famous quote that is revealed on the board through solutions to many clues, or as complicated as replacing letter combinations in common idioms, as in his first Sunday crossword entitled “I.E., not I.” When the puzzle called for a “DNA sample for lab analysis” the answer was “GENE IN A BOTTLE.”

After picking a theme and setting the grid, “you start filling the grid with words,” Mahowald says. Even though there are now computer programs that have extensive stores of words and tell the constructor which words can possibly fit, it is still the human touch that separates the ordinary puzzles from the extraordinary ones that are seen in the Times and other respected publications.

“You want to make the words as fun and lively as possible,” says Mahowald. While computer programs can generate entire puzzles, they are just not the same. “Puzzles made entirely by computer are boring and come out badly,” he says, adding that “The Crimson crosswords are made by computer.” Zing!

And the experts agree, at least in Mahowald’s case. In an interview with CBS News, Will Shortz said of Mahowald, “His puzzles are ambitious and well-crafted. He uses interesting, long, colorful answers with no obscurity at all. They’re all familiar words and phrases, but they are challenging.”

And it this isn’t idle flattery. Mahowald’s puzzles made such a strong impression on Shortz that he landed an internship more exclusive than any consulting or investment banking job—he was Will Shortz’s only intern.

“It was a lot of fun getting to see puzzle submissions from that end. I helped him edit them, look at manuscripts, write to the constructors,” says Mahowald. But he is not sold on crosswords as a career. “I don’t think I would want it as a profession. It’s a really tough field,” he says.

He’s right. While you do get paid for published crossword submissions, it is not easy to make a living. An NYT Sunday puzzle pays a cool $700, but the weekday and Saturday submissions are only worth $135 each. It can also take as much as four months to hear back on the status of a pending crossword, according to the Crossword Constructors Community Center.

Although Mahowald has ambitions beyond puzzles, he will still enjoy the festivities that come with his hobby. In March, hundreds of crossword junkies will gather in Stamford, Connecticut for the biggest and oldest crossword tournament in the nation: The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which was started by Will Shortz thirty years ago. And Mahowald will be one of them.

Mahowald, who competed for the first time last year, is still deciding in what capacity he will be attending the competition. “I can go as a judge or a contestant, but I don’t know which I will do yet,” he says. With a finish in the top 200 last year, Mahowald hopes to train and break into the top 100 this year, should he compete.

However, the competition isn’t the weekend’s only selling point. “People stay up all night playing word games and trivia games. There is pick up boggle, too,” says Mahowald. “They all speak in puns.”

Although some might say this sounds like summer camp for adult losers, the decidedly cool Mahowald is still excited. Like all crucaverbalists, he is always up for throwing down...and across.


See some of Kyle's handiwork in a puzzle he constructed just for FM.