I Made a Crossword Puzzle
Hop in, we're goin' cruciverballin'!
You just really never know what you're gonna end up finding in your inbox when you sign up for The Action Cookbook Newsletter, huh?
I mean, okay–my Fridays are predictable. Every Friday morning, you get experiments in food and drink, carefully-curated recommendations in music, books and more, plus lively discussion and a parade of adorable pets.
The rest of this newsletter, though? It's a mystery box!
That's by design, though. The whole purpose of me doing this newsletter is to have an outlet, a place where I can try new things out.
Sometimes that's writing about food...
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... or sports...
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... or my experiences as a parent.
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Sometimes, it's experimenting with short fiction...
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... getting my feelings out on the state of the world...
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... or remembering a dear friend.
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The only real through-line, though, is "trying stuff out".
In that spirit, I made a crossword puzzle.
I love crossword puzzles.
I do one every single day, and I have for years. It's probably the most consistent thing in my life, and usually the last thing I do before I go to bed each night. I do them on work trips, on vacation, out in the woods, in other countries, in sickness and health and richer and poorer and–
–you get the idea.
I'm really good at them, too!
I don't think that qualifies as bragging, because it's too nerdy a thing for anyone to brag about, but I can knock a puzzle out fast–under 15 minutes for the New York Times Sunday Crossword, and usually less than four minutes for a Monday or a Tuesday puzzle. I know all the linguistic tricks, all the clever misdirections, all the ways a constructor can mention ISSA RAE or EPEES or RITA ORA.
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But I've never tried to make one.
That's ridiculous, frankly. How can I make this thing such a consistent part of my life without at least taking a stab at it myself?
Well, that changes today.
Like Rob at the end of High Fidelity–and yes I understand you're not supposed to identify with him, he's a dope, whatever, it's a good book and movie–I'm going from critic to creator today, rolling out the very first Action Cookbook Newsletter Crossword. (#ACBNXW?)
I will concede up front: it was harder than I thought!
I had a clear idea in mind, and I had to scrap it and restart from zero three or four times before I got even close to finishing. Also–full disclosure–there's two or three absolutely crap clues in there. Mea culpa, caveat emptor, etc. and so on–I'm not giving the New York Times a run for their money just yet, but I don't employ Bret Stephens either, so who's really the winner here? Overall, I think it's a charming puzzle, despite its flaws.
("Charming, but with obvious flaws that I hope you'll look past" has been my aspirational vibe for years, really.)
Anyways, here it is:
You can download a PDF below for print use, or play online at Crossworthy.
I'll make the answer key available for download in Friday's newsletter.
Of course, that's not all I'll have on Friday!
This week, I'm cracking into my cookbooks to try out a delicious new recipe, reverse-engineering a drink from a fancy cocktail bar, blasting some loud music, cracking open a fun new book, and more!
Look, I'll even tease the drink:
(It was good!)
That's all for paying subscribers, of course–if you're not one, the best time to sign up was six years ago, but the second best time is now:
When you buy a subscription to The Action Cookbook Newsletter you technically become a patron of the arts. You're like three clicks away from being a Medici.
(But only the good parts.)
Thanks for reading, and (I hope!) thanks for playing today. I'll see you Friday.
–Scott Hines (@actioncookbook)
I relish comments on the newsletter and welcome them today as always, but if you have any specific comments, questions or complaints regarding clues in the puzzle, please yell at me via email instead, so as to not spoil anything for others.
(You can reply directly to this email, or to scott at action cookbook dot com.)
