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How do you build a crossword? In this hour-long seminar, the puzzle constructors Natan Last and Robyn Weintraub provide a hands-on guide, detailing how to curate word lists, use software to place the black squares, and write clues. They also discuss the difference between writing puzzles for The New Yorker and other publications. Liz Maynes-Aminzade, the magazine’s Puzzles & Games editor, live-edits clues submitted by audience members, sharing how she would sharpen or alter them for a New Yorker puzzle. The New Yorker crossword has been published online since 2018.
Liz Maynes-Aminzade is the Puzzles & Games editor at The New Yorker. Since helping the magazine launch its first digital crossword puzzle, in 2018, she has overseen the expansion of the Puzzles & Games department, which publishes a daily crossword, trivia quizzes, and other online and print games. Previously, she was the digital director of Public Books and a Mellon/A.C.L.S. Public Fellow. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Harvard University.
Natan Last is a regular crossword contributor to The New Yorker. His puzzles, criticism, and poetry have also appeared in the New York Times, The Atlantic, The Drift, Hyperallergic, and elsewhere. His forthcoming nonfiction book about crosswords will be titled “The Electric Grid.” He holds a master’s degree in human rights and humanitarian policy from Columbia, and works as a refugee advocate in New York.
Robyn Weintraub began constructing crossword puzzles fifteen years ago. She joined The New Yorker’s crossword team in 2020, and has since contributed more than eighty beginner-friendly puzzles. Her puzzles also appear regularly in the New York Times and People magazine. Weintraub volunteers for the League of Women Voters and lives in Rye Brook, New York.
This seminar was filmed live at the 2024 New Yorker Festival.
Sourse: newyorker.com
