Crossword puzzlemaker plants her voice, across and down the grid

Children’s author and crossword puzzle writer Aimee Lucido writes puzzles for The New York Times and the New Yorker.

If you think trying to solve Sunday’s New York Times crossword is a challenge, try making one of your own. Writing crossword puzzles is way harder than solving them, says Aimee Lucido, a Berkeley author who knows. Not only is she a devoted puzzle solver, she writes about 30 puzzles a year.

She had always been an avid mystery buff and enjoyed puzzles and games of all sorts, but she was relatively new to crosswords when she entered Brown University to study software engineering.

For reasons she hasn’t been able to puzzle out, she mostly hung out with a group of fellow students who were all into crossword puzzles. She joined in some of the campus crossword puzzle tournaments, but when a friend taught her how to make the puzzles, that’s when all the bells started ringing.

Lucido, who lives in Berkeley with her husband and dog, left her tech job in 2019 to concentrate on her writing. She’s the author of two young adult books, “Emmy and the Key of Code” and “Recipe for Disaster.” Her crosswords appear in the New York Times and the New Yorker, as well as the American Values Club Crossword, an online subscription service.

Q

So, why write crossword puzzles? What is that draws you in?

A

I’ve always loved solving puzzles, just in general. I love the mystery, but I also love having that “aha moment,” the thrill of figuring it out when I’ve been banging my head trying to solve it. With crosswords, (the appeal) is puzzling out how to make these words fit together.

When I first learned how to do them, it was such a challenge — I had to do it. It’s also less about the puzzle and more about my voice — having words I care about in the crosswords. I love coming up with a new pun or a different angle, and it’s fun to see my name in print. I was never a journalist, so seeing my name in the newspaper is really cool.

Q

What’s the first step you take in writing a puzzle?

A

The first step is deciding what sort of puzzle I’m making. Will it be an easy one, a hard one, will it have a theme or be a themeless puzzle? Then I pick a couple of words that I really want to use. They might be an actress’ (name) or a colloquial phrase.

If it’s a themed puzzle, then I might start with a revealer. For example, I did a puzzle where the theme was “mind over matter,” and in the crossword, there were states of matter under synonyms for mind, so it was mind over matter.

From there, you kind of work backward to write the rest of the puzzle. The last part is the reveal, which is a question that also is a hint to the other clues. In this case, it would be “something you say to yourself before the big game or a hint to solving the eight starred clues.”

Q

Do you have a particular crossword style?

A

I do have a style. I always have tech references, but I also end up referring to young adult books. I’ve written two books myself, and I love to reference children’s books. Children’s book authors are not as famous as other authors, so I like to give them a little bit of attention.

I also love Taylor Swift, so there are a lot of song references, too. Sometimes it’s just simple words from a song, but it’s a way to enliven the puzzle. I love musical theater, too, so I use a lot of musical references.

I also like to include a lot of women and women of color.

And because I’m Jewish, I use a lot of Jewish slang. I try to make my crosswords a reflection of who I am.

QIs there a crossword clue that you’re dying to use, but haven’t?

A

I don’t want to say it, because I still want to use it. There’s one that’s just never going to make it because it would be too hard. The clue would be electric chair, and the answer, Elon Musk. But it’s just too hard.

Q

Do you use a computer to write your puzzles?

A

It’s all on a computer with software that helps out, but I do a lot of curating to make sure the best words get in. I have my own personal dictionaries and lists.

Q

JANE TYSKA/STAFF

Do you still work crossword puzzles?

A

Not as many I used to. I was solving so many every day that I had to pare it back. I’m not a fast solver, and I just don’t have that kind of time any more, but I do a few every week, and I do a lot of trivia puzzles that are sort of adjacent to crosswords.

Q

I have to admit that I do pretty well on Mondays and Tuesdays, but by Thursday’s crossword, I have to cheat a little.

A

There’s not anything wrong with cheating — looking up the answers. Just make sure you’re learning, too.

Q

Do you have advice for anyone wanting to write crosswords?

A

Keep your voice in the puzzle. If it’s a puzzle anyone could make, it’s not going to be very fun.