Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Crosstalk Episode 2: Rachel Fabi
0 Plays3 seconds ago
Daniel talks to Rachel Fabi about how she started constructing, getting mentored and being a mentor, what makes a good theme, cryptic crosswords, fundraising for social causes, and so much more!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Crosstalk Podcast
00:00:12
Speaker
Hello, puzzle people. My name is Daniel Grinberg, and you're listening to episode number two of Crosstalk, the crossword construction podcast. In this show, I'll be talking to other crossword constructors to learn more about how they work and what inspires them.
00:00:27
Speaker
Whether you're a current constructor, an aspiring one, or a fellow word nerd who wants to find out how a puzzle gets made, this show will be a forum to share insights and learn from each other.
Rachel Fabie's Background in Crosswords
00:00:39
Speaker
For the second episode of Crosstalk, I'm joined by none other than Rachel Fabie.
00:00:44
Speaker
Rachel is an associate professor in the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at SUNY Upstate Medical University, a Jeopardy! champion, a constructor of over 100 published crosswords, and the founder and editor of these puzzles fund abortion. Rachel, thanks so much for taking the time to speak with me today and giving us a clue about how you work. Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
00:01:08
Speaker
I wanted to start at the beginning and talk about origin stories. So what led you to begin constructing? I started solving when I was a teenager because I was trying out for the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament. Oh. And I had this, I think, ultimately proving false belief that solving crossword puzzles would prepare me for Jeopardy! I did not make it into the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament.
00:01:31
Speaker
But the crossword solving habits stuck. So fast forward 15 years later, I did eventually make it onto adult jeopardy, as you mentioned. And after filming concluded, I was like, okay, what am I going to do next? Right? Like this has been my goal for so long. What is the next nerdy thing that I can do? And so, so crossword constructing seemed like an obvious next project after fulfilling that particular life goal.
00:01:57
Speaker
yeah I do wonder just how big that intersection between trivia lovers and crossword lovers is. I imagine it must be pretty sizable. Oh my gosh. it's you know i mean All of the Jeopardy people that I know, aside from the ones that I filmed with, are crossword people. and they're There are a lot of crossword constructors who have been on Jeopardy or other trivia shows. I think it's a pretty similar skill set in some ways. The trivia is obviously part of it, but I think even more than trivia is being good with words and being able to come up with words quickly.
00:02:27
Speaker
Yeah, it's not quite as impressive as Jeopardy, I will admit, but I did win an episode of Cash Cab, so I have not to make credit. That's awesome. Honestly, you probably got more money. I did not. I made $525, but it was just fun to ride around. Still pretty good. Yeah, you know, I'll take it. So you got on Jeopardy. You've now switched over to crossword constructing.
Entering Crossword Construction
00:02:52
Speaker
How long have you now been constructing?
00:02:54
Speaker
So this was in 2019 and I should say I didn't go from like being on Jeopardy! to having a puzzle in the Times, right? Like I was on Jeopardy! and then I was like, how do I how do i do this thing? And so in 2019, there was three things that happened all at the same time that helped me get my foot in the door with constructing.
00:03:13
Speaker
The first was David Steinberg's Universal Crossword Equal Representation Project, which is a project that David did over at Universal to try to get people from basically not men, people who are historically not represented, and constructing more experience with constructing. And it paired you with a mentor and provided some support for learning how to construct And at the same time, I also saw a tweet from Nate Carden, who was coordinating Queer Crosswords 2. Nate basically said, hey, does anyone who hasn't made a puzzle want to make a puzzle? And I had solved Queer Crosswords and loved it. And so I said yes to Nate on Twitter. And Nate put me in touch with Finn Vigeland, who also mentored me. So I was working with Finn on a Queer Crosswords puzzle while I was also working with Jeff Chen.
00:04:02
Speaker
on this universal puzzle. They were my two main mentors as I was learning how to construct. And then I had some help from the incubator. I sent them a grid around the same time that they really like and helped me make better. And then they ran it in the incubator. So those three puzzles came out in the same window and launched me into this space. I'm curious when you say that Finn and Jeff mentored you as you were getting started, could you tell me a little bit about what that kind of mentorship looked like and how you learned from that process?
00:04:32
Speaker
So after you invited me to be on this podcast, I looked back at these early email exchanges with Finn and with Jeff to refresh my memory about what that process was like because, you know, it's been six years at this point and both of them were incredibly patient as I sent them theme ideas and theme sets and they both were kind of like, oh yeah, I like the idea, but, and helping me workshop them into things that could actually be a theme set And then also going back and forth tens and dozens of emails of grids where they would give the feedback on, Hey, this corner has a lot of crap in it. Or you have too many three letter words here and getting a sense for what the rules are, because you can solve a lot of puzzles and get like kind of a sense of what's expected of you.
Writing for NY Times Wordplay Column
00:05:20
Speaker
But until someone tells you what the rules are, I don't know that it's ever made explicit as a solver. So that was a real learning curve for me. And they were so patient as I figured it out.
00:05:29
Speaker
And you've definitely figured it out. As I said, you've published over 100 crosswords in about a six-year span, which is quite impressive. Do you remember what the first crossword you ended up making was? The very first one was the one with Jeff, and that was the one for Universal. The incubator and the queer crosswords ones came out just after that. Your very first crossword was published, it sounds like.
00:05:53
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's and that's true. But they were both collaborations with very experienced mentors. And there were all those drafts along the way. Oh, for sure. Yes, yes, yes. And there were a lot of misses, right? Like those were my first puzzles, but then it was another year, year and a half before I had a puzzle in the Times. So there, you know, I sent a lot in that didn't, it didn't make the cut over there. I think a lot of us can relate to that, of course. What were some of the lessons you learned along the way?
00:06:22
Speaker
oh my gosh So another tidbit from my crossword CV is that for a few years I was writing the wordplay column for the New York Times. And I learned so much about what I do and don't like in crossword puzzles from having to write every day or three days a week about the crossword puzzle and having to think through what made this good, what caused a unnecessary struggle, or what seemed too hard for a Monday. Or I learned a lot about calibrating the voice and style
00:06:53
Speaker
for different publications. And yeah, I just I think having to sit down and write about the puzzle taught me a lot about what makes a good puzzle more than just solving it and experiencing it and being like, well, I solved it and moving on with my day. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So I guess a lesson for other people is if you want to really understand what makes a good crossword, try to write an essay about it every day. Sometimes after I solve a crossword that stood out either positively or negatively,
00:07:21
Speaker
I'll go on Reddit to see the discussion happening there and I'll realize, wow, people are thinking about this a lot. And there can be some astute observations like the wordplay of a clue really resonated or a crossing was too difficult for that day. But then I've also found people can become too nitpicky and annoyed and that takes some of the fun and joy out of it for me.
00:07:47
Speaker
Yeah, I think that that's a real danger with this crossword criticism space is it can go too far into. what are the weaknesses, right? like So something I liked about writing wordplay was that the point wasn't to critique the puzzle, although I was engaging in that process while I was thinking about it, but it was to use the puzzle to teach solvers how to solve, how to be better at solving. And so if you take quality of the puzzle element out and instead focus on what can I learn as a solver or as a constructor from this puzzle, right I find that to be a little bit gentler at least than a full-throated criticism.
00:08:24
Speaker
That makes sense. And then turning to constructing, I'm curious about your process.
Constructing Themed vs Themeless Puzzles
00:08:29
Speaker
Do you feel like you have a typical process? It's a different process, depending on whether I'm making a theme-less puzzle or a themed puzzle. When you're making a themed puzzle, you know what your collection of themers is going to be, and you know how you want to lay it out more or less. But with a theme-less puzzle, I very often will just maybe I'll have a seed, but I really like pretty grids. So sometimes I start by making just like an aesthetically pleasing grid and then seeing what cool stuff I can get into it. In both cases, it's an extremely iterative process, right? You put in fill and then you realize, well, that forces this other fill that I don't like. And so you back out until you're not stuck with that anymore. And I find it very meditative actually. I really love the process of filling a grid and going through options over and over again until I find the ah final grid that I like.
00:09:18
Speaker
I'm sure this will vary a lot, but do you have a an average number of drafts you'll go through, an average number of fills before you feel like you've hit the one? I don't really have separate drafts. I mean, I will sometimes, especially if I'm collaborating with someone, but the process just keeps flowing until it's done. So sort of within the same grid, I will take out a corner and replace it like eight times, but I don't really save the iterations. Really?
00:09:47
Speaker
That's kind of wild to me. I don't think I could do that. I think if I've decided I don't like something, there's no point in saving it. I think that's my like thought process on that. I've never really thought about it. Interesting. Yeah, no, I will make a puzzle to my satisfaction, and then I'll save it, and I'll start completely from scratch, and then I'll just keep iterating over and over, each time making it until I feel like I can't make it any better, and then just start from scratch again. Oh my gosh.
00:10:16
Speaker
My record is 22 iterations. Wow. Wow. Good for you. That was a Sunday and I was like, either this will break me or I will succeed one or the other. I don't know which, but luckily that one was accepted. So it was worth the struggle. Congratulations. Thanks. And then what about your process for cluing? What is that like?
00:10:39
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I've been doing a lot of collaborating recently because I collaborate so much. My process for cluing involves exporting all of the entries into a Google sheet and writing my clues there often at the same time as whoever I'm collaborating with. We'll like get on zoom and fill out this spreadsheet together and then bring it back into the puzzle. And I don't love cluing. Claire Remkus and I actually have an independent crossword blog called Just Gridding. Which is a really clever name, by the way.
00:11:08
Speaker
We just prefer the grids. As a joke, one time we were like, what if we just put up the grids and made other people write the clues, which we have ended up doing actually a number of times. We'll just publish the grid and crowdsource the clues. This is the second podcast in a row where someone has said they don't really like cluing, which is wild to me because that's my favorite part. So I feel like we just need to start pairing people who like cluing with people who like gritting and call it a day.
00:11:36
Speaker
Totally. And that's why this is not to suggest that Rebecca Goldstein is bad at gritting, but she loves cluing. She's also very good at gritting, obviously. But I love collaborating with her because I get to drive on the grid and she'll drive on the ideas for the clues. Yeah, that's, that's a great partnership. And I remember reading in one of your constructor notes that you sometimes will split the clues 50 50, one of you taking the down and the other doing the across.
00:12:04
Speaker
Yeah, that's almost exclusively how Rebecca and I i do it. i I'll take all the downs and she'll take all the acrosses, which but works out well when you're both in the same Google spreadsheet. You don't have to worry about writing over someone else's clue by accident. And I don't know if we ever decided that that was how we were going to do it or if it just kind of happened that way once. And we were like, I guess this is just what we do now. Yeah, that's our process. And then what tools or software do you use?
00:12:30
Speaker
I use Crossfire for American style puzzles. I do use Ingrid when I'm making barred cryptics because Crossfire doesn't support bars, but Ingrid does. Interestingly, you use different software for different styles. I haven't heard that before actually. And how long would you estimate on average it takes you to make a themed puzzle?
00:12:51
Speaker
Oh man, I think it's pretty puzzle dependent. And and it's also venue dependent, right? So if I'm making a a pretty simple, seamless puzzle for like USA Today, their word count limit is 78. So you can get pretty clean fill pretty quickly. Whereas if I'm trying to make a 66 word seamless for the times, that can take hours and hours and hours. So I think it really depends on the type of puzzle you're making and who you're making it for.
00:13:19
Speaker
What's the longest you've ever spent on a puzzle? Easily a hundred hours. Okay. And what's the shortest? Like 20 minutes. 20 minutes? Don't tell Amanda Raskin that. But yeah, these USA Today puzzles, they're so easy to make because the word count's so high. Does that include cluing too? No, that would just be grid. I think with cluing, maybe add another 10 minutes hour to it. And then how do you know when a puzzle is ready for submission?
00:13:49
Speaker
I do rely on my friends a lot for test solving, so I'll send a grid. that I have clued to Rebecca or to Claire or some other friends and just saying, Hey, can you, can you just solve this real quick and give me a gut check? And if they go through it, they're like, yeah, it looks okay. Then I'll send it in. Or if they're like, you have the word for in here, like three times, it's not just a dupe. That's like a triplet. That's helpful to hear too, because sometimes you just miss that when you get so in the weeds with your own puzzle. yeah So I find test solving to be a really good way to look for that.
00:14:19
Speaker
Do you ever run themes by people? Here's my theme set. And do you think this is worth creating a puzzle for? Yeah, constantly. And yeah, again, not to make this the Rebecca Goldstein show, but she and I have a text thread that we call, is this anything?
00:14:36
Speaker
where we'll send each other like two or three things that could potentially be part of a theme and then help each other round it out into a set of four or five. And that's part of our sort of collaborative process is like starting from one or two ideas and building it out into a full theme set together.
00:14:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think I saw in your description of your September 20th, 2022 puzzle, the cha-cha-cha one. You said, Rebecca, stop tweeting out theme ideas. You're giving them away.
00:15:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. She's like a theme machine. Her brain just works different, so i and I am the beneficiary because she'll send me these ideas. and like Once the idea is there, I'm a good thought partner for expanding it, but she's the the real brains behind a lot of our themes.
00:15:24
Speaker
I do think that themes for me are the biggest challenge and typically where a crossword constructor will trip up because if your theme isn't strong enough to pass, then everything else kind of doesn't matter at that point.
00:15:38
Speaker
Totally. Yeah, and I think that that's something that new constructors struggle with the most as well, is just understanding what makes something a theme, right? Just because these entries have something in common that doesn't make it a theme, the concept of tightness, how tight is your theme, can be really hard to wrap your head around when you're just starting out. Tightness being like, how exclusive is your set? Is it something that like there are 400 things that could fit this theme?
00:16:04
Speaker
Because that's not as exciting as when there are maybe five entries in the whole world that could possibly match this theme. That's hard to learn without just doing it over and over again. And also when there's five, you really don't have room for error. You really need those five to work or you're out of a luck. Right. And you have to really hope they're symmetrical or that you're very good at left-right symmetry.
00:16:28
Speaker
I have many a theme where there's three great entries and not a fourth. And I'm just hoping one day that fourth entry will just magically appear into the lexicon and I can use it. Pulling for you, man. That's the worst situation.
00:16:43
Speaker
And then how do you decide if a theme is worth pursuing? That tightness factor is really important. I just don't think a theme is very interesting if a whole bunch of stuff could fit it.
00:16:55
Speaker
And it depends on the venue, right? So if it's a theme that I'm pursuing, just to kind of like, I'm going to make a puzzle today. It doesn't have to be super tight, but if I'm going to send it to the Times, if it's a puzzle I'm going to dedicate time to, that's a really important feature. What else makes a theme worth pursuing? Again, talking about puzzles that I'm invested in, you want it to be witty. You know, there should be something funny or clever about it. That's not just like, oh yeah, I guess those two words can both come at the end of similar phrases. Something thing a little bit more eye-catching and memorable. Yeah. And one thing I try to think about too is not just that the entry fits the theme, but that the entry itself is interesting. yeah You don't want something that's just, oh, it starts and ends with these letters, but then the entry is kind of blah. Then what's the point? 100%. Yeah.
00:17:44
Speaker
Since you brought up Cryptocrosswords, I did want to talk about that. I am a Cryptocrossword lover, I grew up solving them, I enjoy making them, and I'm hoping more venues will feature them. To date, you've had seven Cryptics published in places like the New Yorker, AVCX, and just recently in a new outlet called Cryptocrossweird. So what attracts you to that format, and what's your process for Cryptocross? Yeah, I've had, I guess, seven. I didn't realize it was seven.
00:18:13
Speaker
It's not that many in the grand scheme of things. i'm pretty I consider myself pretty new to cryptics.
Attraction to Cryptic Crosswords
00:18:18
Speaker
In 2022, actually, I had never solved a cryptic and I made learning how to solve a cryptic my new year's resolution for 2022. So I learned how to solve them by solving them on Twitch.
00:18:31
Speaker
sort publicly with Neville Fogarty and Michael Sharp, aka Rex Barker, and Neville, who is a cryptic genius. Michael's also very good at them, but Neville is just on another level, sort of coached us through solving these cryptics and encouraged me to try making them. And so with a lot of guidance from Neville, I tried my hand at it and got a lot of support from him. I've also had a lot of support from Steve Mossberg, who is another brilliant cryptic setter.
00:19:00
Speaker
To learn how to do it right and so my process is that i will see that i notice an interesting bit of cryptic word play somewhere in the world. that will form my seed. And then because I mostly make borrowed cryptics, as opposed to the blocks, they're very easy to get very clean. So I'll play around in Ingrid until I have a grid that is 100%. Like these are interesting, cool words, because there's not that all over interlock that you have with American style puzzles. There's a lot more unchecked squares. And so you have a lot more flexibility to get
00:19:33
Speaker
Good stuff into it so from the seed I will build out to an entire grid of clean stuff but most of the work of making your cryptic is the clues which again is why it's like not my strong suit again. Cluing a cryptic takes me hours and hours and hours because you just have to stare at a word until it decomposes to its component parts and can be rearranged in your brain.
00:19:56
Speaker
For me, the hardest part of writing a cryptic clue is keeping it relatively brief and tight. If you start trying to break it down too much, you end up with a three line clue. You have that for every entry. It just becomes really unwieldy really fast. I don't know that I've ever written a three line clue. No, maybe it's just my problem then. Well, because no, no, no, I think the thing is that I write super easy cryptic. Oh.
00:20:23
Speaker
I think if they're really easy, you minimize the number of indicator words that you need. If there's only one trick happening in your, or two tricks happening in your cryptic clue, it stays short, right? I don't know how to write hard clues because I'm not good enough at cryptics to write long hard clues.
00:20:41
Speaker
I think the reason I love cluing is that I love to make things as difficult as I can. That's why I love writing Friday and Saturday crosswords. Why I really like writing cryptic clues because for me the fun is how can I add as much wordplay as possible? How many tricks can I add? And it sounds like you have kind of the opposite approach where you want to make it approachable.
00:21:01
Speaker
I think that that is a very generous read. I also think shorter clues are often very elegant. That's always very satisfying when you're able to land on a piece of wordplay that is punchy and short.
00:21:12
Speaker
Yeah, if you can write a cryptic clue in four or five words, that's always impressive to me. And then I wanted to turn to the subject of collaborations. You've had a lot of collaborations over the hundred puzzles you've published. Over 25 of those have been collaborations. So how does your process change when you're working with someone else?
00:21:32
Speaker
I think that the main difference is that I get to double my brain power immediately. you know like and And it halves the work. So often when I'm collaborating, we'll split the gritting, whoever I'm partnering with, we can like send ah partially filled grids back and forth. and you know I said a little bit already about how I get to just take Rebecca's half-formed ideas and make them fully fully formed, which is also very satisfying. And then splitting the cluing is just such a godsend because It takes me a while to clue an entire puzzle. So when I'm able to only have to clue half the puzzle, I feel like I have more motivation also because someone else is depending on me to get my half done. Absolutely. And then how do you connect with the people you've collaborated with? So most of them are just my friends. Back in the old days, we had crossword Twitter and a lot of people found crossword friends in that way, offending people and then being like, Hey, we should make a puzzle together.
00:22:29
Speaker
was just a super normal thing to do in 2020, 2021, 2022. I've also done a lot of mentoring. So people will approach me and say, Hey, like I really enjoy puzzles. I like solving them. I'd like to learn how to construct. I have these ideas. And so we're collaborating in that, in a mentorship model where ah you do a little bit more guiding and teaching through the process has led to some collaborations as well.
00:22:54
Speaker
And that's always very satisfying when a mentee comes into their own as a constructor. It's fun to be. Yeah, I love that. You started out as a mentee and now you're the mentor. It's come full circle. You know, it's just sort of the golden rule. You know, if, if you could not have gotten to where you are without the generosity of other people, you should really pay that generosity forward.
00:23:13
Speaker
Absolutely. And you mentioned back in the day, we had crossword Twitter. If someone were trying to connect with other constructors now, what venue do you think would be the best approach? I understand that there is a cross-court discord next day off of the discord, but I think that that is a place where a lot of people have found connections and and support. Unfortunately, I'm not the best person to explain how that process works. And then what have you learned from your collaborating experiences?
00:23:43
Speaker
Oh my gosh, the main thing I would say is that other people are the best resource in working with Rebecca and working with Claire in working with Brooke Houston and countless other people that I have had the luck to be able to collaborate with. I feel like I learned something from them every time.
00:24:01
Speaker
either like a new cluing angle or a new series of of things that could be filled that I just weren't on my word list or a new approach to symmetry. Like I learned how to do diagonal symmetry from working with Brooke and I'm so grateful to have had these experiences because I think it has made me a better constructor. Yeah, I don't think I've ever done diagonal symmetry. So Brooke, I might be giving you a call. That is a great skill to have. Are there any dream collaborators that you haven't worked with yet?
00:24:29
Speaker
You're going to laugh, but it's Rafa. Oh, Rafa and I are very good friends, but we have never made a puzzle together. And Rafa, every time we talk, we're like, let's make a puzzle. And then it hasn't happened. So putting you on notice, Rafa, we need to make a puzzle.
00:24:46
Speaker
And just to catch everyone up, you're talking here about Rafael Moussa, who was the guest on the first episode of Crosstalk. Yes. I just think that he's so good. He's just, he's just naturally gifted and so fast and his sense, especially on theme lists, although not exclusively on theme lists of like good, voicey entries that are probably not in your work list yet. Cause they just live in Rafa's brain. I love the way that he works and I would love to work with him.
00:25:11
Speaker
I'm just going to say that is also a dream collaboration for me, the two of you working together. I think you came up with great things, so please make that happen. Well, I think now we're going to have to because it's out in the ether. We have it on the record, so we will make sure it happens.
00:25:25
Speaker
I wanted to turn to publishing now. So looking over your list of published crosswords on your website, which by the way, I love that it's formatted like a CV as a former academic. I found that very satisfying to see, but a couple of things stood out to me right away. First, just the sheer number of publications that you've accomplished in the last six years, but then there's also a very wide range of publications. So could you tell us about some of the venues you published in and how you decide where to submit?
00:25:55
Speaker
I have published in major dailies, The Times, The Least, The LA Times, USA Today, Universal. My current favorite place to send it was Defector. You know, I'm a games nerd. That content really flies at Defector. And I think Defector also really lets you lean in with voice and clues, which I appreciate. So they're getting all my grades right now, but I love working with Patty at the LA Times.
00:26:20
Speaker
Patty Veral, who is an incredible editor, and Katie Hale, who works with her, also very good. And then at USA Today, I love sending puzzles to Amanda because she has a really good eye as well. and And before Amanda, Eric are both supportive and good editors. In terms of how I decide, I think it really depends on what the theme is. So here's 78, we're into a cute theme that'll go to the USA Today, especially if it doesn't need a revealer.
00:26:43
Speaker
If I have a puzzle that is a little bit more complex, so it requires circles or shading, that'll go often to universal because USA Today can't do it or a good revealer. Often USA Today doesn't have revealers, but those LA times and universal will outside of these major dailies. I love you know modern rest in peace. It was a really fun venue. I can think of a few other places that I've sent puzzles over the years, but those are probably where most of them are.
00:27:11
Speaker
One thing you brought up that I just want to highlight for new constructors is it does really make a difference to know the venue and what they do or don't accept, or if there's particular kinds of themes that they technically can't handle. So paying attention to those kinds of details and knowing the right venue can really make the difference between being accepted or rejected. Yeah, and Matthew Stock created an incredible resource, a publication that Google spreadsheet that anyone can access to see venue by by venue. How many words can you have? Can it support circles? Can it support asymmetry? Can it support a 16 wide grid? And it's all laid out and and it says how much they pay you. That spreadsheet, I think it's an incredible resource for all constructors, new and established. I'll admit, I don't know how to link that from the podcast, but I will post the link on my blue sky, which is the crosstalk pod.
00:28:06
Speaker
And then you've also been involved in several fundraising endeavors. I know that As you mentioned, you started out by co-constructing a puzzle in Queer Crosswords 2 with Finn, which raised funds for LGBTQ plus organizations.
Fundraising Through Crosswords
00:28:21
Speaker
And then you had another in Grids for Good, which raised funds for COVID relief organizations. And you also started these puzzles fund abortion, which has had four puzzle packs so far. And I'm happy to report there's a fifth on the way. And that has raised over $320,000 to date, which is amazing. Thank you. So what's inspired you to combine crosswords and supporting social causes? Just seeing Queer Crosswords exist is what inspired me. Seeing the work that Nate Cardin put into creating Queer Crosswords and and the fact that it was successful in raising money for Queer Causes taught me. and And there have been other charity packs. You mentioned Grits for Good. There were some that even predated Queer Crosswords. Women of Letters was one. There's another led by Michael Sharp, Raised Money for the Red Cross, I believe.
00:29:11
Speaker
So it's ah it's a format that has existed. But the main reason I do these puzzles from the abortion, I'm a bioethics professor by day. And a lot of my scholarship is in the realm of reproductive justice. And often as an academic, you write a journal article, he goes into some journal and then no one ever reads it. And so it felt important to me to sort of take these theoretical commitments that I have to reproductive justice and access to affordable abortion care for anyone who needs it or wants it.
00:29:40
Speaker
and turn it into a material thing as a form of praxis. And so I started with just one puzzle in 2020. I made a puzzle for my friend who was the president of the Baltimore abortion fund at the time and made a thousand dollars, like people donated and got this one puzzle. And the next year she came back and said, Hey, can you do that again? And I said, actually, I think, I think I can get a lot of people to make puzzles and we can raise more money. And we did. So with the first full pack of these puzzles fund abortion, we raised $30,000.
00:30:10
Speaker
And then at that point, it was like, well, I guess we're doing this forever because the needs not going away. And it's really about taking this weird niche skill that we have. We can't, or at least I certainly can't provide abortions and I can't donate $320,000 myself, but I can take this weird thing that I know how to do and turn it into money for a cause that I care about.
00:30:33
Speaker
That's sort of the story there. And yeah, as you mentioned, the fifth pack, these puzzles fund abortion five is coming this spring. We're hoping, fingers crossed, it will be available for presale in mid February and will become available on March 1st, 2025. And people would find it on abortionpuzzles.com. So they can go to abortionpuzzles.com to find the history of the pack and information about past packs.
00:30:56
Speaker
There will be a separate webpage that we'll link from abortionpuzzles.com when the fundraiser for this year officially launches in February, but that's a good place to learn more about it. Good to know. And then if someone wanted to start a similar fundraising effort, what advice would you give them about doing this?
00:31:13
Speaker
The main thing is that you really can't do it by yourself. You know, trying to do the first puzzle pack with just myself as the editor was really, really challenging. um On top of that, you need to have partners in the the social justice space that you're trying to serve. So these puzzles fund abortion works through the national network of abortion funds, which raises money for all of the abortion funds across the country.
00:31:39
Speaker
And so having that partner organization really helped with the infrastructure. Like we don't have to create our own fundraising page because they have it. They'll make it for us. And having that kind of partnership means I can focus on the thing that I actually know how to do, which is make puzzles. And I work with co-editors and with really gifted constructors and really helpful, generous test solvers. It's a huge effort and being able to call on your friends, call on your community is so important. And I think in.
00:32:09
Speaker
These puzzles fund abortion four, which was last year's puzzle. There were over 50 people involved across editing, constructing and test solving. So it really does take a village. It takes a huge team to make it happen. Yeah. That sounds like a theme in your work is building these networks and learning from other people and helping other people as well. We all have to look out for each other.
00:32:32
Speaker
I agree. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing about the crossword community. I mean, crossword Twitter was a beautiful place. People were making these connections and supporting each other. And I really hope that that kind of community can exist again because we're such nerds and we can be nerds together and share values and share our skills and talents. Yeah. I just, I love the people who are in crosswords and I love working with them.
00:32:57
Speaker
I started a blue sky account for this podcast. I haven't really done anything with it yet, but maybe that's one place where crossword Twitter could move. I don't know that it has its pitfalls as well, but maybe as a more positive space at the moment. We'll have to see. It's a weird time for all of, all of humanity, social media and and digital community. Yeah. that too Then I wanted to turn to the subject of favorites a little bit and ask you a couple of questions related to that. So first, do you have a favorite day of the week you like constructing for? I love a Friday. I love a Friday. I love solving a Friday. I love making a Friday. I find theme-less is really satisfying to make again, because you don't have the constraints of a theme. You really can just keep iterating until your grid is shiny and perfect.
00:33:47
Speaker
It's a subtle difference between ah a Friday and a Saturday, but a Friday just feels more approachable both as a constructor and as a solver. I don't have to strain myself coming up with the world's cleverest clue. I can come up with like a, Hey, that was clever and cute, but it didn't break your brain kind of clue. And that's, that's my sweet spot. I like it. Yeah. Friday. That does fit with what you've been saying. And then do you have a favorite puzzle or some favorite puzzles among those that you've constructed?
00:34:15
Speaker
told you I would have an answer for this and I need to look over at my crossword CV. How about I tell you some of my recent favorites? Yeah. Yeah, that works. So one recent favorite. This was in the a 2499 TV crosswords book. So it's unfortunately not. Oh, actually, you know what? I think it might've run on a website. So it might exist somewhere out there. And it was a puzzle that I collaborated with, with Kate Hawkins, who I adore. And we were paired in creating this puzzle with a celebrity.
00:34:45
Speaker
So, because it's TV crosswords and it was created by A24, the film studio, they paired us with J. Smith Cameron, who is the actress who stars in Succession. Mm-hmm. Jerry from Succession love her. Yes, exactly. And so we got to make a puzzle with her. We met with her on Zoom and talked to her about what she likes and what she doesn't like and came up with a puzzle that matched her interests, which was a puzzle that had grid art in the shape of a martini because Jerry on Succession loves martinis, but also Jay Smith Cameron loves martinis.
00:35:17
Speaker
And it was just such a cool process. I also have really in my six years constructing done a total 180 on grid art. When I started, I thought it was, I don't know, I didn't like it for whatever reason, but i I love grid art. Now, if you can make a cool shape in your grid, it's neat. So that, that was ah a recent favorite.
00:35:36
Speaker
I recently took my first stab at grid art and it was quite the challenge but I did a Sunday puzzle that I submitted. I'm really hoping they take it because it was quite the struggle but I think it turned out pretty cool and I want to try more grid art in the future. I'm looking over your CV right now too and the other crossword that piqued my interest just from the title is I'll take 35 across for 800 Alex. Could you tell us a little bit about that one?
00:36:04
Speaker
Sure. That's also in the TV book. And that was a Gestalt theme, where it's not really a wordplay theme. It was just kind of a Jeopardy themed puzzle that had two banners, I think, that were common Jeopardy categories. With the TV crossword book, which was edited by Brooke Ussek and Will Mediger, they basically said, anything you want to do that is TV related, pitch us and we'll tell you if we'll take it. And I was like, okay, I just want to do a puzzle that's got Jeopardy stuff in it. And they were like, sure.
00:36:35
Speaker
I love when constructors take parts of their lives and they bring that into the crossword space because it feels unique and individual to them. Yeah, I've been doing kind of a bit with that actually, but my last six or seven USA Today puzzles and also a couple of not USA Today puzzles that I've had have been in one way or another D and&D themed.
00:36:57
Speaker
I'm a big Dungeons and Dragons fan. i I play every week with my friends and sometimes more than that, I'm trying to run a campaign for my family, which is hit or miss. But I've been sneaking D and D content into all of my USA Today puzzles. And Sally Holcher, who writes the the Sally's take on the USA Today has been calling me on it every time. She's like, oh, another D and D puzzle from Rachel.
00:37:23
Speaker
She's got your number. Yeah, she's got me figured out. And now we all know cause you've told us and do you have any favorite entries or clues you've been able to include so far? I probably do off the top of my head. I cannot think of one, but I looked at when, when you sent me these questions, I, and I don't know why this is the only thing that I've ever written that i that I could think of, but one of my first puzzles, if not my very first puzzle that I put on just gridding the crossword blog that I have with Claire, I cleared the entry PBJ as amper sandwich.
00:37:56
Speaker
And now I cannot think of peanut butter and jellies as anything other than amper sandwiches. Let's stick around.
00:38:05
Speaker
That's really good. Well, let me tell you some of the entries you've had in the times that I thought were really fun. So some of the ones you've either debuted or co-debuted that I really like were Cromuland, copy pasta, don't get cute, and the literal worse.
00:38:21
Speaker
The literal worst was definitely a seed. Chromulant was also a seed. That wasn't a puzzle that I made with Christina Iverson. We were trying to decide if we should put chromulant or embiggens into a puzzle. And we liked the grid with chromulant better, but that was a fun one because I think what happened.
00:38:38
Speaker
with that particular puzzle is that I had written in wordplay that an entry that Christina used in a different puzzle was perfectly prominent. And she reached out to me and was like, we should put that in a puzzle. And so that, that was the origin of that particular collaboration. I love that. And then for constructors who are just starting out, what advice would you give them to level up their skillset?
Advice for New Constructors
00:39:01
Speaker
I mean, I think the answer to this is unfortunately very simple, but also time consuming, which is to solve a million zillion puzzles. The more puzzles you solve, the more you will have a sense for the rules of making a puzzle and not just the rules that are like, they must have all over interlock, but like the rules of how you write a clue, how you translate the part of speech from ah an entry to a clue and like the replacement, the one-to-one value of that.
00:39:29
Speaker
And you learn that language through solving. yeah This is the advice that I give to all of the people I mentor as well, that you really can't get better if you're not solving every day. So that's number one. Number two is to make minis or minis. You as a new constructor can get really frustrated trying to fill a 15 by 15 cleanly, right? It's a skill and it takes time to hone. And a good way to hone that is by focusing on smaller grids, working your way up to a full size.
00:39:57
Speaker
That's really good advice. I haven't heard that before. I like that a lot. Are there things you would tell them to avoid? I mean, there are certainly types of themes that they try to tell people to avoid. No one wants to see a quick puzzle. Other than that, don't take it too personally when you get feedback, right? I think it can be, especially when you've spent so much time on something that you're new to, it can feel really personal when someone says, Hey, this wasn't actually, this theme doesn't make sense. Or like, Hey, this corner, like some of this fill is not good.
00:40:27
Speaker
But learning that that's not about you as a person, it's just you have to keep trying, you got to keep practicing and so don't take it personally when you get feedback. And hopefully the people that are giving you feedback are doing so, you know, in good faith and with your best interests at heart.
00:40:41
Speaker
Yeah. And I think it's worth keeping a perspective that a lot of these publications are getting a lot of submissions and the acceptance rate is often quite low. So just because you don't get something accepted doesn't mean it wasn't a good crossword. It just might not have been the best crossword that that editorial board was looking at. Totally. And that there are potentially other venues, right? If if the New York Times says no, that doesn't mean that's the end of that puzzle's life. Send it elsewhere and see if you can get someone to bite there.
00:41:09
Speaker
Absolutely. And then you mentioned that you mentor some people. So I'm curious, if someone were looking for mentorship, how would you recommend that they go about finding someone to help them? Finding people whose puzzles you like is a good start. If you have solved enough that you can identify, Hey, like I keep seeing this Rafa guy every time I solve his puzzles, I really enjoy them.
00:41:33
Speaker
I'm not saying everyone should go out and email Rasa, but I think if I were starting out in the crosswords right now, I might do that. But actually just once you have identified the sort of style that you like, the kind of instructor you think you want to be, find someone who's already doing that and see if even if they're not in a position to necessarily mentor you or give grid by grid feedback, they might still be willing to have a conversation like the one that we are having now about how they got to where they are and pointers.
00:42:01
Speaker
Absolutely. And are there publications you would recommend for someone who's just getting started somewhere they could maybe send a first or second puzzle? During the time period where the USA Today is open to people from outside the roster, I think that's a good place to start again because of that high word count.
00:42:19
Speaker
It is an easier venue to make a clean puzzle for. So USA Today is a really good option. Universal LA Times, like I said, are also very quick. David Steinberg is like the quickest editor in the game. So if he doesn't like your puzzle, you'll hear back within six hours. And if he does like it, you'll hear back within two. Not to put you on the spot, David.
00:42:41
Speaker
There are other off the beaten path places to go that sometimes do mentorship that is structured. So I know PUSMO will do brand new constructor mentorship a couple of times a year. I think they'll open up for submissions to anyone who has never had a published crossword.
00:42:59
Speaker
And then Brooke and the team at PUSMO will work with new constructors who submit. They'll take a selection of them and help them. Will AVCX is similar. They have a structured mentorship program. You have to be accepted, but that's another way to go.
00:43:14
Speaker
You mentioned the submission windows at USA Today and then these mentorships. So I think that's another good point to keep in mind that sometimes you just have to keep track of dates, you know, when people are accepting submissions or when there might be an opportunity on the horizon and just kind of take advantage of it once it's available. And then looking ahead, do you have any crossword goals for the future?
00:43:38
Speaker
I'm going to keep doing these puzzles fund abortion for as long as people will keep donating for them because the need has never been higher. Unfortunately, in terms of my own personal goals, I would like to construct more cryptics. And something that I would really like to learn to do is to create a variety cryptic or that has some sort of meta. And so I've been solving a lot of those by Steve Mossberg, his square pursuit site, which I think is Patreon.
00:44:05
Speaker
So you have to subscribe to these puzzles most of the time. There are sometimes free ones, but I just, I really admire, like, I think that they're very smart and I would like to learn how to do that. So I think that that is my next crossword goal outside of just continuing to keep the the train running for these puzzles when abortion.
00:44:23
Speaker
Yeah, there's something very refreshing about switching from an American style crossword to a cryptic. It's just, it's almost like the ginger in a sushi meal. it It just cleanses your palate, makes you think a different way. It makes you feel kind of refreshed when you're going back to the American style. Oh, that is a perfect metaphor. I love that. It's just refreshing to think differently. So that's everything I had for you today. I wanted to just see if there's anything else you wanted to share with our listeners at this point.
00:44:52
Speaker
Keep your eyes out for these puzzles from the abortion five. And that's all for me. All right. In that case, this is Daniel Grimberg with my special guest, Rachel Fabie. Thanks so much to Rachel for joining me today. And thanks so much to all of you for listening to episode number two. Hit me up with any feedback or ideas you might have at the crosstalkpod at gmail dot.com. And join me again next time for another constructor conversation coming your way soon. Until then, wishing you inspired constructing and happy solving.