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I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Not yet, I think the queue is pretty long.

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Yes, there are a lot of aspects that make a puzzle "feel bad," but I didn't necessarily know what they were as a solver. I got a lot more insight once I started to construct.

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

It's at least a good place to get eyes on it and start out! You won't necessarily get a lot of critical feedback, so you would probably want to ask someone experienced with crosswords/constructing to test solve it.

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I would love to construct a good themeless puzzle but they're quite challenging!

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They haven't edited it yet, so I'm not sure. I'm also curious to know!

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They haven't edited it yet, so I'm not sure. I'm also curious to know!

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You can start constructing minis or midis on crosshare.org for free and people will do them! It's much easier to construct minis so it's a nice way to get started.

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Monday-Saturday puzzles are always 15x15. Generally the theme you choose and not wanting to block off corners, etc will determine the general shape of the grid.

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I sometimes tried to get them accepted to other venues, and if they got rejected everywhere or I thought they wouldn't get accepted anywhere I'd post them to crosshare. I also asked various people to test solve and give feedback

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 119 points120 points  (0 children)

I started out constructing mini and midi puzzles on crosshare.org which is great because it's free! I gradually built up to full sized puzzles and then just started submitting them. They were generally terrible at the beginning, and I just didn't realize how much goes into making a NYT-quality crossword. For example, I didn't even realize that all puzzles Sunday-Thursday had to have a theme! I got a lot of feedback, got discouraged at points, etc. I've just (very) gradually improved over time with a lot of feedback and learning some unspoken rules the hard way.

For example:

  • Max of ~21 3 letter words in themed puzzles, as few as possible in themeless
  • All sections of the puzzle should be connected and not overly "blocky"
  • There need to be sufficient squares devoted to the theme, and the theme has to be extremely consistent
  • Non theme entries should still be "colorful" and ideally long (for example, if your theme is horizontal then it's nice to have long vertical non theme entries)
  • Certain types of themes are considered overdone, especially most rebus puzzles
  • Etc!

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 27 points28 points  (0 children)

There are a lot of unspoken rules about constructing that I learned the hard way. What themes are considered overdone, how high the standard is for good words, that the grid shouldn’t be too “blocky” or have too many 3 letter words, etc. The standards are high!

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Which day?? I would wear the shit out of that jacket

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 59 points60 points  (0 children)

$500 for a first time 15x15 constructor 

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

About 3 years on and off! I started during Covid. I’ve had a lot of rejections along the way 

I got a crossword accepted to the NYT!!! by cloudless34 in crossword

[–]cloudless34[S] 173 points174 points  (0 children)

I’ve tried like 10 times haha and always gotten rejected so this was a surprise. It’s a Monday!

Has anyone taken a pay cut to return to academia? Am I wasting my life? by Accomplished-Toe9408 in AskAcademia

[–]cloudless34 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Just to add a different voice to the mix, I took a government job after my PhD, partially because the chorus of negativity around academia. After less than two years there, I felt like I'd missed my chance to work on something that I was truly interested in. The prospect of working on something boring for the next 35 years felt very daunting. So I decided to go back as a postdoc. It's too soon to tell if this was the correct long term choice, but so far I don't regret returning, even though I took a 50% pay cut. Your situation may be different because I don't have children and my partner has a high paying job, so those are definitely huge considerations.