Do you love words and puzzles? Are you good at spotting
clever ways to place words together? If so, you might have
what it takes to become a cruciverbalist, also known as a
person who creates crosswords. The term "cruciverbalist" is
likely an 80s creation using a "Latin backformation" in
which the Latin words for cross and word have been
combined.[1] Whether you want to be a cruciverbalist for fun
or for career purposes, there are a number of things you can
do increase your skills.
!! Steps !!
Enjoy doing crosswords. The initial point is a love of crosswords
and a thrill at doing them yourself. Knowing the ins and outs of
crossword puzzle solving is an important part of becoming a
cruciverbalist because it helps you to understand what works and
does not work in a crossword, and what makes the challenge more
interesting. It is important to be across different styles of
crossword puzzles too, including plain and easy styles, large
styles, and cryptic crosswords. Other word puzzle knowledge is a
bonus because it's very likely that if you are employed to create
crosswords, you'll also be expected to create other types of word
puzzles.
* Know how to spot easy to very challenging word puzzles. You should
be able to work this out without being told by the puzzle creator.
* Read How to be good at crosswords, How to finish a crossword
puzzle, and How to solve a cryptic crossword puzzle for more some
help.
Expand your vocabulary. You may already have an incredibly wide
range of vocabulary but even then, it is important to keep expanding
it.
* Read How to build your vocabulary and Enrich Your English Language
Vocabulary for lots of ideas on the fun ways you can use to expand
your vocabulary.
Scrabble Use word games to increase your flexibility with words and
to learn how to link words together. There is a range of good games
that use words in an interlocking way but the most famous one is
Scrabble™. Playing Scrabble™ will give you a lot of ideas on how
to intersect words for the best value, including using the trickier
letters such as X, Q, and Z.
* Other word games include ones in which the last letter of a
sentence or word has to be taken to create the next sentence or
word, etc. A lot of car and camping games have this structure.
* Brush up on your spelling. You must be a good speller to produce
crossword puzzles, as mistakes can spoil the whole puzzle. Also,
if you're a speaker of British English living in the USA, or vice
versa, be very careful to use the right English spellings
depending on the audience targeted.
Note the symmetry Learn the basic crossword construction rules.
These help to temper your enthusiasm to add words willy nilly to a
puzzle without aesthetic or challenging effect. The rules behind the
creation of crosswords will inform your methodology and word usage.
For crossword puzzles in the United States, the rules are based on
Simon and Schuster, and some of the basics are as follows:[2]
* Fit the puzzle into one of five sizes of grid: 15×15, 17×17,
19×19, 21×21 and 23×23.
* Note that some publications will accept 13x13 but the standard
size is considered to be 15x15, so get comfortable with that one
first.
* Diagonal symmetry is required for the black squares – for
example, black squares in one top corner must reflect black
squares in the bottom diagonal corner. Horizontal symmetry is
usually not accepted. Look at existing crossword puzzles to see
what is achieved by current crossword generators.
* Do not use two-letter words as they're not permitted. Three letter
words should be used sparingly as they're not particularly
challenging.
* Interlock every letter square as part of both an Across and a Down
word; letters that are not interlocked are forbidden.
* Don't use words more than once in the same crossword.
Start practicing with a grid. Print off a number of blank grids (you
can either make your own on a program like Word or look for free
grids online) to practice adding words to. In doing so, select one
of the grid sizes suggested above, bearing in mind that the most
commonly purchased crosswords for newspapers and magazines will be
15x15 grids. Start by deciding a theme or idea for your crossword
puzzle and preparing a list of all the relevant theme words you
think would be appropriate for it. Be fully aware that it usually
takes several hours to produce a quality crossword puzzle, so allow
yourself a good space of time for each practice session.
* Words are placed horizontally and vertically. Start placing your
theme or listed words on the grid to see how they fit in. If you
find any problems, such as the creation of 2 letter words, etc.,
then continue rearranging until words fit more appropriately.
* Add black squares that cover the words already added. Keep in mind
the symmetry of black squares and be aware that some publishers
limit the amount of black squares that can be used in a crossword
puzzle. Sam Bellotto recommends that having around one sixth black
squares is appropriate.[3]
* Once you've added the words on your list, return and fill in the
rest of the spaces as appropriate using appropriate words and
phrases, and appropriate black squares. Make adjustments to the
crossword puzzle as needed as you go, keeping the symmetry in
place.
* Keep practicing because this is a skill that requires lots of
practice, and much of your learning will occur by error. Don't be
put off, just keep trying.
Learn how to generate clues. The style of the clues will depend on
the type of crossword, such as whether it's straightforward or
cryptic, easy or challenging, and you'll need to be across each type
of clue presentation. Every word used in the crossword must be
referenced by using standard dictionaries, atlases, or encyclopedias
or other trusted print sources.[4] There is a little more space for
creativity in theme crosswords, which carry a theme throughout the
whole range of clues, such as focusing on animals, circus life, a
day at the beach, etc. The important thing about clues is that they
must be interesting and as original as possible. If you plan on
doing this for a career, it is vital to prove that you have the
ability to prepare clever and interesting clues.
* Sam Bellotto recommends that one third of clues be straightforward
(for example, "great cat" for "tiger"), one third clever (for
example, "jungle stalker" for "tiger") and the remaining third are
what are known as "fill-ins", such as "ofthe" for "War __
Roses".[5]
* Read How to make an educational crossword puzzle and How to create
a biblical crossword for kids for more ideas on "themed"
approaches.
Extend your word game range. As well as crosswords, try to make
other word puzzles either to stretch your capacity for fun, or to
increase your utility to an employer or syndicate employing your
skills. Word games that can be equally popular include such games
as: anagrams, hidden word search, jumblers, etc. If you like
numbers, try making number puzzles too, such as sudokus.
* Be sure to learn the rules behind each type of word puzzle. Doing
them is very different from making them, even though you do need
to experience of trying them yourself.
Start job-hunting or showcasing your crossword talent. If you want
to develop crosswords for a career, create a portfolio and talk to
newspaper and puzzle syndicates. If you're just keen to show off
your new talent, why not start a crossword blog or website? There
are many ways you can share your crosswords with friends, family,
and the greater world if you'd like to do it just for fun.
* Be aware that many crosswords are purchased via syndicates because
of the intensity of the work involved in creating them and many
newspapers and magazines cannot afford to keep a crossword creator
member of staff. However, where you can become a crossword
generator as part of a newspaper staff, it is probable that you
will be expected to compile more than the daily crossword and that
you'll also be expected to compile special crosswords features for
holiday events, for vacation time, and a range of other word
puzzles.
* If you decide to create a crossword blog or website, be sure to
maintain it regularly with crosswords so that your readers keep
coming back for more.
!! Video !!
!! Tips !!
* Do the crossword puzzles everyday in the newspaper, magazines, and
on websites.
* While doing crosswords daily is said to aid the brain, it's the
process of learning how to do crosswords that actually fires the
brain and inspires creativity rather than routine solving which
soon becomes too easy. Keep challenging yourself by creating
harder crosswords and by learning how to do harder ones too.
* When building a crossword, try to favor more interesting words
over obscure ones.
* Sam Bellotto recommends avoiding the use of trademarks in
crosswords because he believes the advertisers don't need free
advertising![6]
* There is a lot of software that can help you to find words for
crosswords quickly, as well as generate ideas. Indeed, in this day
and age, expert knowledge of the use of software to generate
crosswords is a useful and desirable skill that will set you apart
from people lacking this ability.
* Spend some time talking to existing professional crossword makers
online. There are various forums to meet up in, do a Google search
and look for sites like Cruciverb which have lots of professional
crossword puzzle makers regularly stopping in to talk and inspire
others.
!! Warnings !!
* Being a good crossword producer requires many hours of practice.
!! Things You'll Need !!
* Crossword grids
* Markers
* Crossword generating software (optional but helpful)
* Books on doing crosswords to learn from other cruciverbalist's
experiences
* Internet access, possibly a blog account
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Finish a Crossword Puzzle
* How to Solve a Cryptic Crossword
* How to Find Crossword Puzzle Answers Online
* How to Solve the Wonderword Puzzle
* How to Put Together a Hard Puzzle
* How to Solve a Follow on Puzzle
!! Sources And Citations !!
* http://www.stanxwords.com – research source
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
*
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