Creating and Publishing My First Crossword

My latest hobby is solving crossword puzzles. I’ve been doing the New York Times puzzle daily for the last 8 months or so and absolutely love it. I am constantly impressed and amazed by what the creators of these crosswords can do — build a complete and connected puzzle while still integrating humor, trivia, creativity, and puns.

I’ve been so impressed, in fact, that I decided to give it a go myself. What goes into building — colloquially referred to as “constructing” — a crossword puzzle? Can I do it myself? Can I end up constructing a puzzle that makes its way into the New York Times, the gold standard of crosswords? Let’s find out!

Puzzle Construction Goals

My first step in the process was to set up some guidelines. After completing enough crosswords I learned things that I liked seeing in puzzles and things that I didn’t.

1. No “double whammies” — I never knew what these were called but I would see them occasionally. I call it a double whammy when two clues cross that involve somewhat obscure “trivia” that you either know or you don’t. I’ve since learned this is referred to as a “Natick” in the crossword community. They can be annoying when you’re solving and I wanted my puzzle to avoid them.
2. No “auto-fill” help — Probably the most obvious challenge in…