Mat Shelden takes us for a ride.
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THURSDAY PUZZLE — The hardest part of making a crossword puzzle is getting through your first submission. It’s the anxiety that gets you.
You spent countless hours trying to make a puzzle that you think people will enjoy solving, got stuck countless times while trying to fill the puzzle, mulled over your clues without knowing exactly how hard they’re supposed to be and now it’s time to send it off to the editors.
You fill out the submission form, attach your puzzle in the format the editors requested and, with palms sweating, you hit “send.” From there, it goes into a black hole, never to be seen again.
Ha-ha, just kidding! That’s how it feels, but, in reality, the puzzle editors receive your creation, and it goes onto the pile of crosswords that have yet to be reviewed. From there, the editors discuss your creation at length and talk about what tweaks will need to be performed on your baby to make it ready for prime time. You try not to picture the puzzle editors laughing at your puzzle.
Submitting crosswords becomes less anxiety-producing as time goes on. Today’s grid reminded me of the stress of the submission process because it is Mat Shelden’s New York Times Crossword debut. In fact, it is his first publication anywhere, but not his first submission, so he’s already been through the anxiety.
“I felt confident in what I made, uncertain in how it would be received and was prepared to wait for an answer,” Mr. Shelden said in an email. “I had received rejections in the past, so my optimism was tempered.
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Source: Elections - nytimes.com
