how long does it take to create a crossword? part 2

On Dec 7, I asked how long does it take to create a crossword?

My sister and I share the creation of each puzzle. I fill the grid, and Carla writes the clues.

I've timed myself on filling a few grids, and it can vary a lot. To start with, I create an empty grid. If the puzzle is going to be themed, I fill in the theme entries. Then I run Robert T. Morris' crossword filling software on this grid.

In some cases, the software fills the grid completely. In that case, I then have to eyeball the entries, maybe research a word if I don't know it, to make sure that the puzzle is acceptable. "Acceptable" is subjective. For example, I try to avoid having an excessive number of abbreviations as puzzle entries (sometimes this seems to be unavoidable, in particular when filling around a set of themed entries). If there are areas of the puzzle which are not acceptable - which is the usual case - I empty out some of the fill, and rerun the software. Sometimes, I'll edit puzzle entries by hand.

In other cases, the software simply can't fill the grid. In those cases, I'll have to think of a different set of theme entries, or move the entries around in the grid, then run the software again.

All this turns out to be rather time-consuming. So far it seems to take about 3-4 hours for me just to fill the grid - and that's using software to help! In at least one case, however, it only took an hour.

I'm hoping I can speed up this process as I get more experienced with it. I'm truly amazed that some people can create a whole puzzle, including writing the clues, in just 4 hours.

themeless vs themed puzzles

I like themed crossword puzzles. It's fun to figure out a 15-letter entry when just a few letters are filled in.

I was talking to my sister yesterday, and it turns out that she prefers themeless puzzles because they're harder!

Currently, all of the puzzles at World of Crosswords are themed. But over the next month we'll be adding a few themeless ones. It would be interesting to know whether people prefer themed or themeless, on average.

[Edit] I've set up a poll at cruciverb.com so you can vote for which type you prefer - themed or themeless. There's also a "no preference" option. If you want to express your opinion on the matter, go there, and if you're not already a member, join up so you can vote!

Christmas puzzle on Dec 25

We've got a Christmas themed puzzle coming up on Dec 25... give it a try!

chocolate chip cookies

I'm baking chocolate chip cookies!

This post is not about crosswords, but cookies! They looked (and tasted) so good, I just had to blog them.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

version 0.1.3

The latest version of the site adds some functionality which is common for many crossword puzzle sites: the ability to get a hint by revealing a highlighted letter, word, or, if you really give up, the entire puzzle.

You can do this by using three new buttons: "show letter", "show word", and "show puzzle". The puzzle solution for the most recent puzzle is not available until one week after it has been released, so the "show puzzle" button is disabled for that puzzle. However, it is enabled for all previous puzzles.

user feedback

We got some user feedback on World of Crosswords: the site is "fun, but a little too challenging."

I'm curious to hear from more users. Are the puzzles too hard? Obviously our puzzles will not be suitable for all solvers. Eventually, we'll add easier puzzles to the site. Meantime, we hope the current selection of puzzles will prove interesting for some crossword enthusiasts.

site outage

World of Crosswords was down between about 9:30 and 10:30 pm EST last night. It might have been down at other times, as well. This happened because Dreamhost was experiencing a DOS attack. Bummer. Sorry for the inconvenience!