For the Crossword Enthusiasts : EvolutionBlog

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Jason Rosenhouse received his PhD in mathematics from Dartmouth College in 2000. He subsequently spent three years as a post-doc at Kansas State University. Observing the machinations of the Kansas Board of Education led to his unhealthy obsession with issues related to evolution and creationism. Currently he is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, VA.

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For the Crossword Enthusiasts

Category: Miscellaneous
Posted on: November 3, 2009 6:52 PM, by Jason Rosenhouse

For anyone who has access to a print edition of The New York Times, today's crossword was constructed by my cousin Barry Boone! I believe this is his fourth puzzle for the TImes. It has an election day theme, so go have a look.

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Comments

¡mierda! I wish I had seen this post while there was still time to get to a real news-stand. It would have required a bit of walking owing to the transit strike going on, but it would have been worth it. :-(

On a happier note, I just got your book delivered yesterday. :-)

Posted by: The Science Pundit | November 3, 2009 7:44 PM

I was just about to go downstairs to the lounge and snag a few papers and shoot a few racks of pool...

so here I go!

Posted by: Kevin (NYC) | November 3, 2009 10:48 PM

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until it's into syndication in a few weeks, but I'll definitely look for it.

Out of curiosity, to what kind of goals do crossword constructors aspire? Is it enough just to get into the NYT, or is there a hierarchy of days of the week, i.e., they ultimately want to have a Saturday puzzle published?

Posted by: snoeman | November 3, 2009 11:14 PM

Cousin Barry informs me that while the NYT is certainly a highly-regarded venue forany crossword constructor, the Sunday NYT Magazine is an even bigger prize.

Personally, I think GAMES magazine also routinely publishes some really first rate crosswords.

Posted by: Jason Rosenhouse | November 4, 2009 4:19 PM

yes.. well.. first he will have to work himself off of the monday paper and at least into thursday before he can be considered for the sunday magazine....

Posted by: Kevin (NYC) | November 5, 2009 12:21 AM

I would respectfully suggest that you have your cousin write a guest post describing the process of generating a puzzle. (In broad strokes, without giving away any secrets.) Is it all by computer? I had a student in my modeling and simulation class try to generate crossword puzzles using a genetic algorithm--with less than impressive results.

Posted by: heddle | November 5, 2009 10:05 AM

I must have woken up in an alternate universe: I actually like heddle's idea.

Posted by: The Science Pundit | November 5, 2009 6:30 PM