Guest crossword by Will Nediger

ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ WHAT'S IN A NAME?] 
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]

PROGRAM: [Java]

PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ WHAT'S IN A NAME?]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]

Will Nediger's puzzles, especially his themeless work, seemingly always have at least one entry that makes me stop what I'm doing and go, "Damn, I wish I'd thought of that one." (FWIW: that would be 12-Down 11-Down in today's guest puzzle, which I'm happy to share with y'all. ) It's no surprise that the grids pop considering Will's a linguistics student up at the University of Western Ontario. He says his major "seems like the obvious thing, although I'm pretty sure there are more mathematicians than linguists in the crossword community. I mean, Noam Elkies regularly comments on Rex's blog, but as far as I know Noam Chomsky doesn't."

The guy up above who doesn't look like Tommy Chong is Will. Say "hey," everybody. And without further ado, let's do this interview:

BEQ: Your puzzles are so name- and crazy-letter-heavy; tell me how do you go about making crosswords.

Will: I'm a trivia guy, and names are great fodder for trivia. So sometimes I overestimate the number of people who know, say, the highest mountain in Australia. I'm also a Scrabble player, which could explain why I like to use Scrabbly letters. Like most constructors, I try to find seed entries that are interesting and Scrabbly - all those names just seem to work themselves in there somehow.

BEQ: How did you get into puzzle making in the first place?

Will: I think I started when I was like 10. I did crosswords, and I figured how hard could it be to make them? Turns out: very hard. I did it all by hand, and it took a few years to get the hang of it. Obviously my first puzzles were terrible. I'm pretty sure I once used MITSU and clued it as "Half a car company."

BEQ: Does linguistics classes help or hinder you in the puzzle writing process?

Will: Studying linguistics makes you really pay attention to interesting facets of the language around you, which is very helpful when it comes to coming up with themes, or just in-the-language phrases for themelesses.

BEQ: Your Facebook page says you speak three languages, surely that's gotta help?

Will: It doesn't really help, actually. ETRE and ESO are one thing, but when you speak Spanish, you are always tempted to use stuff like MANZANA or something to bail you out in a tricky corner, and if you give in to that temptation, it's just bad for everyone concerned.

BEQ: Do you ever solve crosswords in other languages?

Will: I once tried my hand at a book of crosswords from Germany, and let me tell you, it did not go well. I do solve French crosswords on occasion, but there's no way I could construct them. Knowing a language is one thing, and being attuned to its letter patterns is another.

BEQ: You and I seem to be cut from the same indie rock dork cloth, but we sure aren't going to agree over the merits of Joanna Newsom. So I ask you, if she holds a concert in my home town, and I don't go, does she still make a noise?

Will: C'mon, you're a PBR drinker, can't you bow to Pitchfork on this one? Hmm, that gets me thinking, maybe I should write a tribute crossword to Joanna Newsom. It's too bad [her breakthrough album] "Ys" is only two letters.