About This Article
This is not an interview we conducted. An earlier version of this page was presented as a Q&A with a constructor, and we could not verify it, so we replaced it. What follows is a guide to how crosswords are built. Every quote comes from a published interview or article, is attributed to the person who said it and links to the original. Where no source is linked, the text is our own general explanation.
The Crossword Team
The editorial team behind TheCrossword.org, which publishes free daily puzzles and solving tools. We write guides for solvers and link to primary sources whenever we quote someone.
For a standard American themed crossword, the usual order is theme, then grid, then fill, then clues. Lehigh University professor Larry Snyder, whose first New York Times crossword ran in February 2024, described that sequence in a Lehigh News profile. He chooses theme entries, builds a grid, adds the fill and writes the clues last.
Step 1: The Idea
Most themed puzzles start with a wordplay observation: a set of phrases that share a hidden pattern, plus a "revealer" entry that explains it. Snyder gave a concrete example:
Larry Snyder, in Lehigh News (March 2024)
"For example, the theme of one of my puzzles was 'phrases whose words can come after DATE or TIME.' The revealer was DATE AND TIME, and the theme entries were phrases like PROM NIGHT (because PROM DATE and NIGHT TIME) and HOT SPRING (HOT DATE and SPRING TIME). I wrote Python code to find entries that would fit this pattern."
Other constructors start by bending the rules of the form. In a 2025 Constructor Spotlight on Daily Crossword Links, New York Times contributor Kareem Ayas said:
Kareem Ayas, Daily Crossword Links (April 2025)
"Usually, I begin by thinking of different ways to break traditional crossword rules. How can I make a puzzle with color or empty squares? How can I make a rebus more interesting? How can I include phrases that change direction or turn corners?"
A theme also has to be new. Editors generally turn down themes that have already been published, so constructors check databases such as XWord Info (which indexes the New York Times crossword) before they spend days on an idea.
Step 2: The Grid and the Software
Once the theme entries are chosen, they go into a grid. Major American outlets expect certain conventions. The New York Times' submission guidelines list a few hard rules: black squares must be symmetrical (usually 180-degree rotational symmetry), the grid must have all-over interlock, every letter must be checked by both an Across and a Down answer, and every answer must be at least three letters long.
Most constructors today use software to place entries and suggest fill. Widely used programs include Crossfire, Crossword Compiler, Ingrid and the free Qxw. Ayas told Daily Crossword Links: "I was a huge Crossfire guy, but Ingrid is just so intuitive."
Software does not remove the craft. It raises the bar. In a 2014 Science Friday feature on computer-age construction, New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz said: "The standards have risen. We expect more because of computer assistance now." In the same piece, constructor Elizabeth Gorski warned against leaning on autofill: "An amateur relies on autofill." Snyder described software in similar terms, saying it is designed to assist, not to build the puzzle.
Not everyone uses a computer. The same Science Friday article profiled Anna Shechtman, who built her puzzles by hand. She said: "I have totally gone halfway through a puzzle, or three-quarters of the way through a puzzle, and found that it doesn't work and basically had to start all over."
Step 3: The Fill
"Fill" means every non-theme answer in the grid. Good fill is made of familiar, lively words and phrases. Bad fill leans on "crosswordese": short, obscure words that appear in crosswords far more often than in real life. Shortz described what he looks for in the Science Friday piece:
Will Shortz, in Science Friday (2014)
"Crosswords, like any art, should reflect life. I'm looking for quality of the vocabulary, for words and phrases that are interesting, lively, [and] generally familiar, [with] as little obscurity and 'crosswordese' as possible."
Snyder said much the same about his own work: "I try to avoid 'crosswordese'—words like EPEE and AGLET that appear a lot in crosswords but not in everyday life." The trade-off is real. Theme entries fix certain letters in place, and those letters limit what can cross them. Constructors often rework whole sections, or swap a theme entry, to get cleaner fill. If you're curious which short words show up again and again, see our list of words that appear most in crosswords.
Step 4: The Clues
Clues are written last, and they're where a constructor's personality shows most. Snyder told Lehigh News: "The constructor makes choices about what words to use, and that's one way the constructor's 'voice' comes through." Editor Ben Tausig, quoted by Science Friday, argued that this part of the job is still human: "[Computers] can't figure out what's funny, [and] they can't be subtle."
A good clue is fair on first reading and rewarding on a second. Ayas named his favorite published clue in the Daily Crossword Links spotlight: [Gin or djinn, e.g.] for SPIRIT. The clue works for both the drink and the supernatural being. For the vocabulary constructors use about clues, such as misdirection, the question-mark convention and "e.g.", see our crossword glossary. Cryptic setters follow a different rulebook, which we cover in our guide to cryptic clue types.
Where to Read Constructors' Own Notes
Many outlets publish the constructor's own comments next to the puzzle. The New York Times' Wordplay column includes constructor notes for each daily puzzle, and XWord Info archives constructor comments for New York Times crosswords. They're the best free way to hear how a specific puzzle was made, straight from the person who made it.
Step 5: Submission and Rejection
At the New York Times, the published guidelines describe a crossword as a collaboration between the constructor and the editing staff, who aim to keep the constructor's voice while making the puzzle as enjoyable as possible for solvers. Editors may rewrite clues or ask for changes to the fill before accepting a puzzle.
Rejection is normal, even for people who later publish regularly. Ayas told Daily Crossword Links that he started submitting to the Times and that "nine (very deserved) rejections later, my THESAURUS puzzle was accepted." Guidelines, response times and pay rates change over time, so check each outlet's current submission page instead of relying on figures quoted in older articles.
Key Takeaway
The pattern is the same across these interviews. Constructors start with a fresh idea, let software help without letting it decide, spend most of their effort on clean fill, and write clues that are fair but surprising. And they expect rejections along the way.
How to Start Constructing
If you want to try making a puzzle, here is a practical path based on the process above. This is our own advice, not a quote from anyone.
- Solve a lot first. Notice how themes are revealed and how the fill changes from Monday to Saturday. Our daily crossword and archive are free places to practice.
- Start small. A 5×5 like our Mini teaches interlock without the demands of a 15×15. Move up to 11×11 or 15×15 once filling a small grid feels comfortable.
- Collect theme ideas. Tools like our anagram solver and word finder can help you brainstorm entries that fit a pattern.
- Fill carefully. Use software suggestions as a starting point, then replace weak entries by hand. A pattern search such as our crossword solver shows you which words fit a given set of letters.
- Check your clues. Look up how an entry has been clued before in our clue database, then write something fresher.
- Get test solvers. Ask a few people to solve the puzzle and tell you where it felt unfair before you submit it anywhere.
Sources and Further Reading
- Creating a New York Times-Worthy Crossword Puzzle, Lehigh News (March 2024), profile of Larry Snyder
- Constructor Spotlight: Kareem Ayas, Daily Crossword Links (April 26, 2025)
- Inside the Box: Crossword Puzzle Constructing in the Computer Age, Julie Leibach, Science Friday (September 19, 2014)
- How to Submit Crossword Puzzles to The New York Times, New York Times submission guidelines
- Construction Resources, Daily Crossword Links
- Constructing Crosswords: Process, CommuniCrossings