DIME, HUMBLEBRAG, JANSPORT, VALLEY GIRL. This list of words sounds like it was taken from Rihanna’s Twitter feed, but in fact, it’s a list of answers from one of Anna Shechtman’s crossword puzzles. The 23-year-old native New Yorker, who published her first crossword in the Times at just 19, has recently been injecting some swag into the traditionally conservative New York Times puzzle as editor Will Shortz’s assistant.
I first saw Anna at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn, when crossword-celeb Shortz summoned his assistant and the constructor of the tournament’s final puzzle onstage. To pretty much everyone’s surprise, out walked a pint-size stunner (or shall we say a dime?) with a refined yet humble vibe. In case you weren’t impressed already, the Swarthmore grad is heading to Yale in the fall for a PhD in English and Film, a program whose only attendee to this date has been James Franco (though we’re betting Anna won’t be spending her spring break in St. Petersburg).
For many, the New York Times crossword puzzle is vaguely known of: a niche hobby, perhaps something that you associate with your grandmother or that weird guy who sat behind you in math class. To others like myself, it’s simply “the puzzle”: the best part of the day. As I told a friend about this article, I explained: “If I had to choose between going out on Friday night or getting the Friday puzzle, I’d choose the puzzle every time.” (Though after six years, I can’t dependably finish a Saturday).
I met up with Anna at Bubby’s in Tribeca (which, she informed me, is open 24 hours and has the best pancakes ever), where we talked about OkCupid, ex-boyfriends, and shtupping––though not in the context of getting down so much as Across vs. Down.
Make sure to check out Anna's puzzle in today's New York Times. But if you're already a puzzler, beware: the following interview includes spoilers!
KATIE BARNWELL: When did you construct your first crossword?
ANNA SHECHTMAN: I constructed my first crossword right after I saw the movie Wordplay. I saw it when I was 14 and I had, I think it’s fair to say, my first moment of cinematic identification, which I probably should have been having with Drew Barrymore or Greta Garbo, but instead I had with Will Shortz and Merl Reagle. I was editing my high school newspaper at the time, so I started constructing puzzles for it. They were pretty bad! They were pretty topical, related to high-school gossip and the midterms that were coming up. I fell madly in love with this very niche pastime.
I first saw your name at the top of Puzzle #7 at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. It was my and my friends’ favorite puzzle by far; we loved JANSPORT, had the standard mixed feelings about the Girls reference, laughed at the OkCupid clue, and wondered what it would be like to be a generation or two older and have to get DIME from the clue, “attractive female, in modern slang.” Tell me about your conversation with Will Shortz about this puzzle.
Yeah, I had the very unique, kind of surreal privilege of constructing this puzzle for the tournament. I came up with a theme and I had total free range in cluing until it was time for us to edit the puzzle together. I did have to sell Will on a few things. I had to sell him for sure on JESSA. With JESSA, I googled her and we watched some YouTube trailers for the upcoming seasons. For DIME, I explained to him the rough etymology; he knows about calling a girl a "ten,"—that’s inscri
I first saw Anna at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn, when crossword-celeb Shortz summoned his assistant and the constructor of the tournament’s final puzzle onstage. To pretty much everyone’s surprise, out walked a pint-size stunner (or shall we say a dime?) with a refined yet humble vibe. In case you weren’t impressed already, the Swarthmore grad is heading to Yale in the fall for a PhD in English and Film, a program whose only attendee to this date has been James Franco (though we’re betting Anna won’t be spending her spring break in St. Petersburg).
For many, the New York Times crossword puzzle is vaguely known of: a niche hobby, perhaps something that you associate with your grandmother or that weird guy who sat behind you in math class. To others like myself, it’s simply “the puzzle”: the best part of the day. As I told a friend about this article, I explained: “If I had to choose between going out on Friday night or getting the Friday puzzle, I’d choose the puzzle every time.” (Though after six years, I can’t dependably finish a Saturday).
I met up with Anna at Bubby’s in Tribeca (which, she informed me, is open 24 hours and has the best pancakes ever), where we talked about OkCupid, ex-boyfriends, and shtupping––though not in the context of getting down so much as Across vs. Down.
Make sure to check out Anna's puzzle in today's New York Times. But if you're already a puzzler, beware: the following interview includes spoilers!
KATIE BARNWELL: When did you construct your first crossword?
ANNA SHECHTMAN: I constructed my first crossword right after I saw the movie Wordplay. I saw it when I was 14 and I had, I think it’s fair to say, my first moment of cinematic identification, which I probably should have been having with Drew Barrymore or Greta Garbo, but instead I had with Will Shortz and Merl Reagle. I was editing my high school newspaper at the time, so I started constructing puzzles for it. They were pretty bad! They were pretty topical, related to high-school gossip and the midterms that were coming up. I fell madly in love with this very niche pastime.
I first saw your name at the top of Puzzle #7 at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. It was my and my friends’ favorite puzzle by far; we loved JANSPORT, had the standard mixed feelings about the Girls reference, laughed at the OkCupid clue, and wondered what it would be like to be a generation or two older and have to get DIME from the clue, “attractive female, in modern slang.” Tell me about your conversation with Will Shortz about this puzzle.
Yeah, I had the very unique, kind of surreal privilege of constructing this puzzle for the tournament. I came up with a theme and I had total free range in cluing until it was time for us to edit the puzzle together. I did have to sell Will on a few things. I had to sell him for sure on JESSA. With JESSA, I googled her and we watched some YouTube trailers for the upcoming seasons. For DIME, I explained to him the rough etymology; he knows about calling a girl a "ten,"—that’s inscri