wsj
wsj OP t1_j0hkimu wrote
Reply to comment by Dirty_Old_Town in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
I've noticed that too, but it is just coincidence. I don't collaborate with other editors to plant common words. (Though maybe there's a super-meta contest idea in that...)
wsj OP t1_j0hk7de wrote
Reply to comment by Beavshak in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Obviously there's often something hidden in the Friday contest puzzles. Other than those, I've probably hidden messages in puzzles in the past, though nothing comes to mind.
wsj OP t1_j0hjz1p wrote
Reply to comment by dubbsmqt in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Yes, lots of those words that appear so often they're hard to clue in fresh ways. But they do glue the rest of the puzzle together.
wsj OP t1_j0hjt2y wrote
Reply to comment by mrshatnertoyou in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
We have occasionally Friday metas from Patrick Berry and Peter Gordon. But since I need to test-solve every meta to gauge its solvability, I'm need to be picky about those I'll invite.
wsj OP t1_j0hjhhp wrote
Reply to comment by pdxscout in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
The only words I can't include are the really offensive ones, and anything longer than the grid will fit.
wsj OP t1_j0hjbvd wrote
Reply to comment by pancakeNate in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Will and I are friends. We worked together for years at Games Magazine, and I'm a judge every year at his crossword tournament.
wsj OP t1_j0hj6qm wrote
Reply to comment by IndyDude11 in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
I'm not too worried. I've been doing this for decades now, so if it goes away I'll be ready to retire. Though I hope it lasts another decade or two.
wsj OP t1_j0hiyup wrote
Reply to comment by JeffRyan1 in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Yeah, no favorites. Too hard to come up with fresh clues for those folks.
wsj OP t1_j0hiujz wrote
Reply to comment by MicrowaveEye in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
I didn't have those ideas until I got to college, where I made a crossword for the daily student paper. Then I thought it would be great to make a living making puzzles, but I knew that wasn't realistic. Years later, I'm still surprised.
wsj OP t1_j0hiuiz wrote
Reply to comment by wsj in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Hi, Maddie here from the WSJ interrupting for a minute. Here's a link to Rainbow Connection: https://www.wsj.com/puzzles/crossword/20180629/41573/index.html?mod=wsjreddit
wsj OP t1_j0hihbp wrote
Reply to comment by TheBlueSlipper in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
One of my early favorites was "Play with matches" for TENNIS.
wsj OP t1_j0hidxo wrote
Reply to comment by DuronHalix in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
At some point, I just thought "I wonder if I could make a puzzle." So I did. (The early results were pretty bad.) Editing is a lot like constructing, asking "How could this puzzle or clue be better?"
wsj OP t1_j0hi0df wrote
Reply to comment by bewildered_forks in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Get a copy of Patrick Berry's Crossword Constructor’s Handbook from his website. And look for the Facebook groups for new constructors.
wsj OP t1_j0hhyr2 wrote
Reply to comment by bewildered_forks in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
If I consider it crosswordese, I'd be happy to never see it again. My current top nonfavorite word is STYE.
wsj OP t1_j0hhw17 wrote
Reply to comment by PizzaBuffalo in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
I solve a few crosswords. I do Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest puzzles, and Peter Gordon's Fireball crosswords. I solve the Times puzzle sometimes, especially the unthemed Saturdays.
wsj OP t1_j0hhuf0 wrote
Reply to comment by hedgehogsinhats in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Many of them are. The key to making a good computer-generated crossword is to spend a lot of time tweaking the word list. And even after that, the computer can't write good, clever clues.
wsj OP t1_j0hhswm wrote
Reply to comment by bewildered_forks in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
I'm not sure I have an absolute favorite. One of my favorite Friday contest puzzles was "Rainbow Connection." (I won't spoil it in case you can find it on the WSJ site.)
wsj OP t1_j0hhr30 wrote
Reply to comment by Kittystar12 in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
The first step is coming up with a theme, and finding theme answers of good lengths that balance each other. Then I place them in a grid, decide where black squares look promising, and then fill in the restof the words. Clues come last.
wsj OP t1_iy8pm9e wrote
Reply to comment by Bisoromi in Feeling Superior Because the Heat is Still Off? You Might be a New Englander by wsj
This particular story was yesterday's A-Hed, which is our daily quirky human interest story, but we have much more serious reporting on the broader topic as well if that's what you're looking for:
- New England Risks Winter Blackouts as Gas Supplies Tighten
- Heating New England’s Homes Will Be Expensive This Winter
- Prepare for Propane Sticker Shock (more commonly used for heating in rural areas)
Let me know if there's something else you'd like to see! I can poke around more for ya.
-mc
wsj OP t1_iy5oxyo wrote
Reply to comment by Gore-MayCupcake in Feeling Superior Because the Heat is Still Off? You Might be a New Englander by wsj
Oh no! Stay warm out there!
-mc
wsj OP t1_iy5gtlk wrote
Reply to comment by Stoicdadman in Feeling Superior Because the Heat is Still Off? You Might be a New Englander by wsj
I'm not tough enough to stick it out tbh. I like to be cozy! More from the story:
>Donna Sanders, who made it to Dec. 7 last year without heat, is also still going strong in her third year of doing the challenge.
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>The 67-year-old retiree from North Kingstown, R.I., lives in a newly built condo with neighbors and good insulation, which she says definitely helps. “There’s no stopping now,” she says. “I’m going to try and break my record. My family thinks I’m insane.”
Stay warm out there!
-mc
wsj OP t1_iy5g5r0 wrote
Reply to comment by derpbeluga in Feeling Superior Because the Heat is Still Off? You Might be a New Englander by wsj
That's smart on the mold point. I tend to keep my house comfortable too because, well, I like to be comfortable.
-mc
wsj OP t1_iy4mazb wrote
‘To those who called me crazy—you’re right.’ Hi everyone, Maddie here from the WSJ. I thought you all would enjoy our fun story today about New Englanders trying to wait out the cold:
>Brian Chevalier was in bed at his Rhode Island home, worried his pipes might freeze and burst. He had on two pairs of socks, two hats, underwear, pajamas, jeans, two shirts, two vests, two hoodies and fingerless gloves so he could use his iPhone.
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>It was Dec. 19 of last year. The outside temperature was expected to drop to 19 degrees. Finally, at 9 p.m., he caved: He turned on the heat.
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>The date marked a new personal record for a chilling annual challenge—one he hopes to beat this year.
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>Every year, Mr. Chevalier, 36, who works in digital marketing in the automotive industry, refrains for as long as he can from turning on his heat. Being thrifty, of course, factors in. Fuel is expensive this year and many people are cutting back. But beyond that, there is a flinty group that always tries to stare down thermostats come winter.
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>Denying oneself decadent warmth for the noble suffering of being too cold is a proud tradition among austere New Englanders. “Are you a true New Englander? If your heat is already on, the answer is no,” the Boston Globe asked in a recent headline. “No heat before Halloween” could be a regional motto.
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>On Mr. Chevalier’s Facebook and Twitter pages—Weather in RI—he has about 28,000 followers who are now cheering him on and sharing their own attempts to keep the heat off. There are humble brags of shivering through cold nights, shared survival tips and posted photos of thermostats boasting temperatures dipping into the 30s.
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>This year’s challenge is particularly animated in part because of the soaring cost of energy bills. Heating oil, propane and electric rates have increased over the year, and are expected to continue edging up this winter.
Read the full story, free with email registration: https://www.wsj.com/articles/heat-temperature-heating-thermostat-new-england-11669650535?mod=wsjreddit
wsj OP t1_j0hks6k wrote
Reply to comment by PeanutSalsa in I’m Mike Shenk, Crossword Editor for the Wall Street Journal. AMA. by wsj
Filling grids becomes easier--you get to recognize which areas need to be tackled first and what words will fit. Coming up with new themes gets harder, since you feel like you've seen everything.