Member-only story
Launching My Puzzle Book
Do Martians Like Puzzles?
As much as I love creating puzzles, I reached the horizon of burn-out as I neared the finish line. It’s my own fault: I built in a secret puzzle that only the most intrepid, lateral-thinking puzzle lover will ever find. This construction required such exactitude that I felt like a pantser who’d written himself into a corner.
Luckily, there are many ways to frame a puzzle. Let me give you a f’rinstance. Say I have a thematic list of words (phobias). I could create a trivia quiz, construct a crossword puzzle, word search, fill-in, scrambled words or cryptogram list. The deciding factor is how many words I want to use, how challenging I want it to be and how aesthetically pleasing the puzzle is.
Crosswords have that built-in aesthetic, along with the opportunity to construct a clever theme. However, the thing about crosswords is that you really want to have good clues for all of your words. I do not have the patience for that. I removed two crosswords from my book because I figure solvers want more. Have you noticed that most variety puzzle magazine do not include crossword puzzles?
