We’re a pretty diverse group here – with lots of different life experiences and interests – aside from our shared passion for the natural world. That’s part of what makes this place this place. And we have a lot of fun while we’re here. So when we saw that one of our Patio + Seasonal Decor team members, Jack Mowat, at only 19-years-old, had created a crossword puzzle published in the Wall Street Journal, it didn’t take long for the whole place to hear about it…and for our excited congratulations to morph into requests for an easier puzzle, “one with a plant theme, please.” So that’s exactly what Jack created, and we’d love to share it with you.
How it All Happened
Jack’s love for crossword puzzles started as a kid while spending time with his grandmother – she was his first mentor of all things word-puzzle related: Scrabble, crosswords, and word searches. And before long, he was off to college, asking his mom to send clippings of puzzles from the New York Times – one of the world’s most esteemed crossword puzzle publishers.
It was around that same time that Jack stumbled upon an article describing how to build a crossword puzzle, and his immediate reaction was “I want to do this.” So he got to work and made his first puzzle, which he submitted to the Wall Street Journal. He claims now that it was bad and understands why it ended up getting rejected.
But with a mission to get published, Jack reached out to Jeff Chen, a well-known crossword builder in Seattle, who would become Jack’s new mentor. Together, the two worked to create another puzzle, which was eventually accepted by the Wall Street Journal and published earlier this month. Since then, Jack has had a second puzzle accepted by the New York Times, which he created on his own and says will be published within the next year. If it comes before his 20th birthday, it’ll put him on the New York Times’ list of teen publishers.
But Jack’s work isn’t stopping there. He and his mentor, Jeff, are currently working on a puzzle for the New York Times Sunday edition – the largest and most difficult puzzle of the week.
A Plant Swap Puzzle
If you’re like most of us, you may think Jack’s puzzle is above your level of expertise. Many of us started with tons of ambition, only to realize we were in over our heads. So Jack agreed to create a new, easier puzzle for us – inspired by our recent Plant Swap event.
As Jack explains, in a themed puzzle, it’s the longest answers that follow the theme. They also tend to be a little more clever or interesting, while the others are known as “filler.” In talking with Jack, we’ve learned a lot about the art and science behind building a crossword puzzle – did you know there’s such a thing as a “Scrabble score” for crosswords? Or that there’s a database that keeps track of things like which answers are debuting for the first time in the New York Times. We didn’t, but we’ve learned a lot, and we’ve had a lot of fun completing Jack’s Plant Swap puzzle. We hope you do too! In Jack’s words, “Seeing everyone excited and having fun with this thing I made has been pretty amazing to see, and it’s confirmed that this is something I really love doing.”
