Wordplay

Scheming, witty, and extraordinarily cunning, the Brown Puzzling Association takes pride in producing weekly brain-busting crossword puzzles. On Thursday mornings, early risers arrive at the Ratty with eager bellies and brains, ready to delve into the Brown Daily Herald’s crossword puzzle with pen and spoon in hand. Beer guzzlers and bar hoppers beware: these intricate crossword puzzles have been known to produce an extra punch to your already pounding head—they are that good.

Once a week, members of the Puzzling Association break from their lives as students and unite to form a team where punny, lyrical, and wordy madness reigns. According to Joey Weissbrot ’11, “We are all very busy, so it’s great to have an hour or so to challenge our minds in a more recreational way.” Prior to sitting down with members of the club, I deemed it necessary to try to finish a puzzle. Like the majority of rookie crossword puzzlers, I aimlessly filled in empty squares with nonsensical answers, convinced of an editor’s error when one of my absurd responses did not have the correct number of letters. Frustrated, I wanted to rip the puzzle into pieces. It just didn’t make sense! However, when I got the chance to talk to the members of the puzzling club, they explained to me that puzzles, in fact, do make a lot of sense. I was just missing a vital (and obvious) clue—the theme.

Whether it’s the titles of Russian novels, hairy animals, or Disney Channel Original Movies, a crossword puzzle cannot be conceived without a stimulating theme. For sophomore Aimee Lucido, “inspiration can be derived from everyday conversations between friends.” From the insanity that ensues when Charlie Sheen is actually awake, to Mark Zuckerberg’s awkward stint on Saturday Night Live, the theme is the first step in creating a challenging puzzle. Upon passing the first test in Puzzles 101, the creator must defeat the second obstacle, which is thinking of unique, anomalous words to place in the square grid. A word to the wise: the scheming masterminds do not employ preferred e’s, t’s and o’s—they are seeking unique words with j’s, q’s, and wicked z’s. After filling the square grid with outlandish idioms and blackening the unused squares, the puzzle architects are rewarded with mischievous fun: writing the clues. With cheeky riddles and hints composed, the process is finally complete, and their collaborative effort is ready for BDH prime time.

The Puzzling Association’s passion for letters and clues exceeds that of any group that dabbles in wordplay. In fact, two of the club’s members have interned for Will Shortz, a renowned crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times and the Puzzle Master for NPR. According to Natan Last ’12, working for Will Shortz was “like sleeping over with the Puzzle Master.” Anagrams, crosswords, and double entendres are oxygen to this genius, a devotion to puzzles tantamount to Newton’s commitment to physics. Upon crossing the threshold into his house, the guests immediately see a wooden case filled to the brim with ancient puzzles, a taste of Shortz’s obvious obsession. In fact, not only does Shortz stuff every drawer with stacks of puzzles, but he also has the largest puzzle library in the world, a Disneyland for game-loving adults. Despite his celebrity status in publication, the savvy wordsmith works out of his home office, which is why he took advantage of having eager interns. Both Weissbrot and Last were treated with the utmost respect and their input was just as valid as the director of the “Shortz Show” himself, with responsibilities ranging from test solving the NPR crosswords to editing and helping him write clues. The word ace even rewarded his interns by treating them to dinner. Last recalls dining with Shortz at a local Chinese food restaurant after a day of work. As Last was on the verge of snapping his fortune cookie to retrieve the fateful slip of paper, Shortz stopped him, claiming they need to play “Fortune Cookie Charades” and guess each other’s fortunes in order to be rewarded with the sugary dessert. For Will Shortz, everything is a game.

After a summer working for a prestigious leader at The New York Times, Weissbrot and Last returned to Brown University to resume their roles as contributing writers at The Brown Daily Herald. Though it is a significant step down in the pyramid of the publication world, they were glad to regain complete control over their own Thursday crossword puzzles. As Weissbrot explains, “it’s fun to create things that appeal to a small niche of people,” making the return to puzzle creation at Brown a rewarding and personalized treat.

I encourage you to brave the body-chilling trek to the Ratty on Thursday morning to get your chapped fingers around a The Brown Daily Herald. The Puzzling Association’s weekly product will warm up your brain for a laborious day in the fluorescently lit labs of Barus and Holley.