While this Hutchins Scholar plans to pursue science (along with African American Studies and English) in college, she won’t be leaving puzzles behind. “I tell them, ‘I’m 17 and I still need to go to college!,’” she said. I won’t Google the exact clue, but I’ll google around it and learn something new.”Ĭrosswords are still a hobby, but Saint-Cyr continues to get Twitter DMs with crossword construction offers. I feel like it gets people talking and thinking,” she said. “I really enjoy working on them when I’m around other people, crowdsourcing the answers. Until then, she will continue to solve and create puzzles, noting that the answers are both a great learning tool and a conversation starter. It was good to flex that muscle at this moment, because things just keep changing.” , there have been a lot of things that we haven’t been able to see through to the very end. The entire process, she said, “was a much needed exercise in perseverance. Naturally, Saint-Cyr now has her sights set on publishing a Friday puzzle. ![]() I am very lucky.”Īs Times’ crossword solvers know, the puzzles become harder as the week goes along. ![]() “Some people submit puzzles for years before they are accepted. “They won’t settle for some sort of mediocrity just because they have to publish a puzzle every day,” Saint-Cyr said. Saint-Cyr found clue writing to be the hardest part of the process, and was impressed by the Times’ exacting standards. “I realized sometimes you actually have to play around with the physical structure of the grid in order to make sure that it is accessible to people – and every time you move one thing, it can mess up another section of the puzzle. “Even though words can fit in places, it doesn't mean that that's the best arrangement of things,” she explained. Once the grid is filled in, there is still tinkering to do. “That type of thing doesn’t really register to a normal reader or solver of puzzles, but it definitely registers with a constructor,” she said. Golfer Ernie Els, Oreo cookies, or words that end with ‘ous give constructors common letters to build from. Learning to construct gave her an insight into why some words appear so often in puzzles. Using a program called CrossFire the Fifth Former spent three weeks creating her puzzle – two weeks to complete the grid of 74 words and another week editing it. “I love seeing clues that don't make crosswords seem like they're only for grandparents.” “It’s kind of surreal,” said Saint-Cyr who, along with Agard and New York Times Crossword Editor Will Shortz, seeks to weave more current events and pop culture references into her puzzles. The rookie puzzle creator is in elite company: USA Today Crossword Editor Erik Agard will also have his puzzle published in the Times the same week. That puzzle was spotted by a Times crossword puzzle editor, who was seeking puzzle makers for its February 2021 Black Constructor’s Week collection. He published Saint-Cyr’s first puzzle (which featured the late actor Chadwick Boseman as its theme) in November. Trudeau - whom she now calls her mentor - posted a puzzle with an outreach note, offering to help underrepresented constructors get their start. A long-time crossword fan, she found a puzzle by Ross Trudeau, a veteran crossword designer, while scrolling through Twitter. “The way I got this gig was Twitter – Twitter has been my best friend,” she joked. ![]() It is only the third puzzle the School President has created – nothing like zooming straight to the top! ![]() 1 edition of the Times - known to crossword aficionados as the most prestigious puzzle publisher. *Update: Read more about Saint-Cyr in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post, and New Jersey 101.5.Ĭlue: The youngest woman ever to have a crossword puzzle published in the New York TimesĪt 17 years old, Soleil Saint-Cyr '21 is the youngest woman ever to have a crossword puzzle selected by the New York Times for publication.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |