Crosswords

Link to my New York Times Puzzle:

Below are some of my favorite recent constructions:

  • Mini Puzzle (Very Easy)

    Try It

  • Boom Goes the Dynamite (Easy)

    Try It

  • Sanctuary (Easy)

    Try It

  • Zoomusicology (Medium)

    Try It

  • Themeless 1 (Medium)

    Try It

  • Themeless 2 (Hard)

    Try It

  • Themeless 3 (Medium)

    Try It

  • Themeless 4 (Hard. Favorite)

    Try It

Themeless Crossword Tips

  • Rescore your wordlist: I am working on using LLMs to rescore the entire 300000 word wordlist to make my crosswords cleaner

  • Start with a seed and loose grid and play around with it

  • Max 72 words

  • Max 30 3s/4s

  • Make the puzzle you want to make/solve. Don’t cater to what you think NYT likes. This also helps constrain the overly-open grid and develops your voice.

  • Never accept crappy fill for great entries

  • Ask yourself why you like a puzzle

  • Kill your darlings; All 8+ entries must be exciting

Previous

Math and Other Projects
Next

Random Thoughts Blog