Author: Jim Horne

Constructor photos & notes

A constructor ponders how to comment on her work.

XWord Info is no longer actively soliciting constructor photos and notes, but if you have an upcoming NYT crossword and would like to include your picture and commentary, I’m happy to add them to the website. There’s an email link on the home page. Photos is one of the best-liked features, and your comments can… Continue reading Constructor photos & notes

Will Shortz, Constructor

If you believe XWord Info, an up-and-coming constructor named Will Shortz had two crosswords published in 1975, and then nothing until an oddly shaped Variety puzzle this year. You can see his author page here. Sure, he’s edited over 11,000 daily crosswords for the Times, and thousands more Variety and bonus puzzles of various kinds,… Continue reading Will Shortz, Constructor

Hackers

I made a couple of changes to try to mitigate the hack attacks that were crippling XWord Info. If either of these affect you and you’re not an evil hacker, let me know, and I’ll make sure you regain access.

Odd Characters

TL:DR: Click the “More…” button on the XWord Info Finder page to see new “Words with digits” and “Words with symbols” buttons. In a recent Crossword Fiend post, blogger (and constructor) Zachary David Levy (not necessarily an odd character himself) mistakenly insisted that, while ampersands were used in several pre-Shortz puzzles, they had never appeared… Continue reading Odd Characters

Hex’s Bookshelf

Photo by Hanife Altan on Pexels.com

What makes a great acrostic quote? Where do most quotes come from? Which authors are the most quoted? At its basic level, XWord Info is simply a database of crossword information, and many (many!) pages that filter, sort and display that data in different ways. No matter how many pages I add, and no matter… Continue reading Hex’s Bookshelf

How hard could it be?

Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels.com

I get mail wondering why I can’t promise to keep updating XWord Info. “It can’t be that hard,” is a typical comment. Usually followed by, “if you need someone to upload puzzle files, I’d be happy to do that.” Great! I’ll hand things over to you today. Just so you have a handle on things,… Continue reading How hard could it be?