Burlingame man inspired to create world-class crosswords

“In 2006, a movie came out, ‘Wordplay,’ a documentary about Will Shortz, the crossword puzzle editor for the New York Times,” said Christian, 56 and a Burlingame resident. “When I saw the movie, they showed Merl Reagle (a crossword puzzle constructor) and they showed him constructing a puzzle. … Before I saw Merl Reagle do it in the movie, it had never occurred to me to do it myself.”

That was it. Christian, who had already developed a love for solving crossword puzzles, set about creating his own. Now some 15 years later, he’s had his puzzles published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, along with the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner, to name a few.

The New York Times is the Mount Everest of crossword puzzles, however. A constructor needs to have the goods to get a puzzles published in the “Gray Lady.”

“The New York Times is the one best known,” Christian.

It took Christian about four years to develop his craft and he got his first puzzle published in the Los Angeles Times in 2010. Three years later, The New York Times used one of his creations.

“Once I got the first one published, I really got hooked,” Christian said. “So I started learning a lot more (about the craft).”

Since then, he’s sold his work to seven media outlets — not including those publications who license the puzzles to other outlets. But just because the Times has used his puzzles before, doesn’t give Christian an inside track. He said the newspaper can get upwards of 150 submissions a week — and the publication takes the best seven puzzles, whether it was submitted by a beginner or a veteran to the crossword scene.

“Now the New York Times knows me because I’ve had a large enough number of puzzles (published by it). … It’s very competitive,” Christian said. “It’s a complete meritocracy. … They don’t go by name or reputation.”

The key to creating a crossword puzzle is to develop a theme, which will represent between three and six of the longest clues in any given puzzle. The rest of the grid is filled out around those key answers. Originally designed on graph paper, software programs are out now that allow constructors to make the puzzles much quicker.

“When I first started making puzzles, I’d use Excel, I would put letters in spaces by hand. That’s a hard way to do it,” Christian said. “But now there is software available. You still have to make the puzzle yourself. [Using software] just makes it easier, better, faster.”

But there is no software to help with the inspiration for a puzzle. Like many creative people, Christian gets a lot of his ideas while going through life.

“There are a lot of things that give me ideas. Listening to the radio, watching TV. Or I get idea from my kids, who are 16 and 18. If I hear them use some slang I haven’t heard before, I’ll try to do something with that,” Christian said. “I just make [a puzzle] if I have an idea. If I get a theme … I send it.”

Christian estimates he solicits for publication his puzzles a couple times a month and if one outlet turns him down, he’ll move on to the next one and the next one.

“Until I get tired,” Christian said.

Crossword construction is that rare endeavor that utilizes both sides of the brain. Christian, who works for a software company, said many math enthusiasts are drawn to crossword puzzles, but so too are musicians, he said.

‘Making puzzles is a creative endeavor. It’s not much different than writing a story or making a song,” Christian said. “You’re starting something from blank and you’re trying to create something someone else will like.”

Christian’s success as a crossword puzzle constructor has made him a mini-celebrity among friends and family. Christian, however, doesn’t see it.

“It’s a very unusual hobby,” said Christian, adding the most money he’s made in a year from selling his puzzles came out to about $2,000. “I’m not famous. I say (to those friends and family), ‘Pretend you had someone who lived next door to you who was a really, really good archer.

“I’m that famous.”