The Crossword Constructor Fellowship
The editors are gearing up for the New York Times Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship, a program designed to mentor budding constructors and help them get published in the Times. This will be the fifth year of the program. Each of the editors has sorted through over 100 applications and handpicked someone to work with, one on one, for three months this fall. Besides the one-on-one sessions, we also lead a series of seminars on making a mini crossword, developing a crossword theme, making a grid and writing clues. Those seminars are open to a class of about 25 of the applicants who stood out, but didn’t end up being anyone’s top pick. Some of the students from the class could end up being chosen a fellow down the road; several of our fellows have participated in past class cohorts. The fellowship program is one of my favorite parts of my job, and I always look forward to picking a fellow and getting to know them. Mentorship is a huge part of the crossword community; a large percentage of published constructors got their start by working with an experienced constructor in the community. My own crossword journey began with the mentorship of Ross Trudeau, Amanda Chung and Jeff Chen, and their help inspired me to want to help other new constructors get started. I began mentoring new constructors fairly early in my career, and it has helped me grow as a constructor as well. We don’t have strict requirements about what qualifies as “diverse,” but candidates all wrote about what the term meant to them. We had applicants from around the world, including Iceland, India and Brazil. Some spoke about wanting to see more crosswords from people who shared their cultural background. Many spoke of immigrant parents, or of being immigrants themselves. We had candidates who grew up with economic hardships, who have physical disabilities and who have felt like outsiders because of their identity. The applicants this year ranged in age from teenagers to retirees. I’m confident that this next group of fellows will bring a lot to the table, and look forward to seeing the puzzles they create!
Solve Friday’s Crossword on Easy Mode!
For expert hints on today’s puzzle, read the Wordplay column. Today at 1 p.m. Eastern time, editors Christina Iverson and Tracy Bennett will be popping into the Strands Sidekick comment section for our monthly forum Q&A series. Submit your questions here. Were you able to solve the Friday puzzle with Easy Mode? We want your input! Share your experience with us by email. Easy vs. HardIn today’s daily Friday puzzle, 38-Across has the clue [Flame proof?]. This is kind of a classic misdirect clue, but still a favorite! You’ll need to interpret it as the proof that there has been a flame, rather than something that’s resistant to fire. For Easy Mode, I went with [Cool shade of blond].
How are we doing? Thanks for playing! Subscribe to New York Times Games. If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can sign up to receive it regularly here. P.S. The answer to Easy vs. Hard is ASH.
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