From the "Crossword Industrial Complex" News Desk
- La Liz Liz
- Jun 24
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 4
Greetings friends. It's been a minute or two since my last post and I'm hoping that all of you are doing well and enjoying the summer days. What's happening with me? Since closing down the subscription series last year, I've been writing a new book of crosswords devoted to my passion -- music. Specifically, classical music.
Having started violin studies at age 9, music has been a cornerstone of my life, and an inspiration for many crosswords. Crosswords for Classical Music Lovers is the book I've wanted to write for many years. I'm super-excited about this collection, with hopes that it will hit all the right notes. We'll share more details soon -- including appearances and book-signing events in the NYC area. Stay tuned!
Natan Last's New Book On The Crossword World
And speaking of books, a few months ago I had the pleasure of attending the book launch of friend and New Yorker colleague, Natan Last. His new book on the history (and mystery) of crosswords -- Across the Universe: The Past, Present and Future of the Crossword Puzzle -- has been embraced by the crossword community, as well as solvers and puzzle fans from all corners of the solving grid. Natan writes from a unique perspective of an insider -- having published his first New York Times puzzle as a teen; and then, serving as Will Shortz's intern at The New York Times.
Years ago, I first met Natan at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Connecticut. We couldn't have been more different -- I was in my 30s when my first NYT puzzle was published. Natan was already in the NYT as a teen. Yet we talked "crossword" shop and forged a good friendship that continues to this day.
On my book shelf, I keep Natan's book next to Stefan Fatsis's scrabble-rousing masterpiece Word Freak - as the two books represent passionate, first-person deep dives into the worlds of word games. I'm glad that the crossword world has Across the Universe in its corner and urge crossword fans to read it once, twice and a third time -- to absorb the richness of the content. I learned a lot about crossword history from his book (and I thought I knew a thing or two about the industry!).
AI, AI, -- OH!
Lately, at publishing conferences and crossword klatches, I've been fielding questions about AI, including the big one: "Will AI kill off the crossword industry?" I guess we'll be pivoting and adapting and trying not to go the way of the MOA. But in the end, the power lies with the gatekeepers -- do they believe that human-made products (like crosswords) will best serve their customer base? That's the key issue. If folks at the top commit to a buy-in for custom, human-made material, then puzzle writers will continue to ply their trade. This I know for sure -- solvers can detect software-generated puzzles; such products have been around for decades. Customers won't return to a website if the puzzles are obviously churned out by a bot. We have only one chance to make a first impression with our customers. The human touch sells puzzles.
Disclaimer: Of course, I'm a supporter of responsible AI use, especially in the areas of medicine, architecture and engineering. It's a tool that empowers and enhances one's creativity.
Finally, and very anecdotally: I had an interesting late-night interaction with AI recently. I wrote a blog essay from scratch, using my brain only. It was stream-of-consciousness stuff -- no fact-checking, no Googling, no research. Just me writing from brain to keyboard. I loaded the essay into an AI platform and was promptly informed that my essay was "79% generated by AI." Supposedly my weirdo, totally-original writing patterns corresponded with the statistical predictability of AI-generated content.
Wha?
Almost immediately thereafter, I was prompted to upgrade to a more expensive version of the AI app. So . . .
Was I just upsold by AI? Sneaky devil.
This and That
Live music. I had the pleasure of performing with the BBE again this year, and our viola section is like a second family. It was a season of Haydn, Koussevitzky, Esmail, Korngold, Vaughan Williams and Bach. I'm looking forward to seeing these friends and colleagues when the new season kicks off in the fall.
Coda
"Chopin is the greatest of them all, for with the piano alone he discovered everything" ~Claude Debussy
These sultry days prompted some travel memories: during a trip to Warsaw, my father's home town, I had a chance to hear Frederic Chopin performed at the famed open air summer concerts at the Royal Łazienki. It's an experience I will never forget and I would like to return and hear those concerts again. I'm not sure if I can reproduce the out-of-body feeling I had while listening to Chopin in this setting. Specifically, I remember his "Raindrop" prelude, which was, and will always be -- sublime.
Cruciverbally yours,
Liz
