NYT interview- "60 Seconds with Elise Corbin"

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I've been making crosswords since 2019, and though writing clues is fun, my favorite part of constructing is definitely coming up with original themes. Some say there are no "new" themes left; I couldn’t disagree more. I love to push the boundaries of this narrow-mindedness— thinking outside the box, if you will— by making puzzles that rotate, fold, scrunch, and bring a bit of extra imagination to the experience.

 

I really enjoy making puzzles to illustrate interesting concepts, especially concepts in STEM fields. When I encounter an intriguing idea in Scientific American or in the news, I often try to understand it better by making a puzzle about it. Ultimately, my goal is that people who do my puzzles will learn something cool and have fun in the process.

 

I first tried my hand at self-publishing during the 2020 election season with a gerrymandering-themed puzzle called Election Tampering (electiontampering.com). Recently, I realized that I had a lot of science-themed puzzles sitting around, and instead of sending them off to another round of different editors, I decided to start this blog!

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I'll try to drop a new puzzle every two weeks or so, but that may change depending on how busy I am with real life. Some puzzles will be available digitally; others will be PDF only. Any questions or ideas, please contact me using the form below.

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Published puzzles:

Playing the Numbers- Fireball Crosswords- March 17, 2021

Systematic Solving- FiveThirtyEight- April 30, 2021

A Little Something- Inkubator- September 2, 2021

The Golden State- Crucinova- November 4, 2021

Assorted puzzles- Burning Man Wordplay Cafe- late August 2022

Projections- Crucinova- September 22, 2022

Untitled- NYT- February 2, 2023 (wordplay column xwi writeup)

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Other science-themed puzzles I recommend:

A.I.- Rose Sloan and Alex Boisvert

Love the concept; very timely. My computer science side was excited and my constructor side was slightly terrified...

Untitled- NYT- Bryce Hwang, Rahul Sridhar, and Akshay Ravikumar

Read the writeup on Akshay's blog, the process just about blew my mind. I made some very bad constructing software for an AP Computer Science class a while ago, but forget constructing software, this is next-level.

Untitled- NYT- Malaika Handa

Author of I Fold and 7xwords, both of which I am in awe of

I add to this list. Let me know if there's one I should include!

 

-Elise Corbin