ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS FRIDAY]
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]
PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS FRIDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]
And when I rank it Hard, I really mean it.
Anyway, it turns out, David's my new neighbor. He's just wrapped up a stint out west studying math. "Mostly abstract algebra, real/complex analysis, and elliptic curves," he tells me, as if I'm supposed to know what any of that means. Sure, I read books about math written for the math-illiterate like me, but that doesn't mean I understand any of them. Whatever, that's him up above with his dog Roxie. Let's do this interview:
BEQ: What have you been up to lately?
David: For the past two years I've been working on my masters in pure math at the University of Utah in Salt Lake. This is one reason I haven't produced much lately - well, that and I'm finally focusing on having a social life. In August I moved to Boston to work at my dream school: Roxbury Latin, so this keeps me pretty busy now.
BEQ: Is there any link between puzzling and teaching?
David: To do either well requires a from-the-gut love of knowledge.
BEQ: You're predominantly a themeless guy, what's up with that?
David: I'm sure I would have little trouble reproducing one of the fifty or so regularly occurring themes in the New York Times (i.e. one phrase that means three different themes or the ban/ben/bin/bon/bun idea), but these don't excite me. If I ever think of something that's never been done before, then I do it (like my empty square rebus from years ago). I feel like 95% of themed puzzles are rehashes, which I refuse to do, so you should expect me to do these very rarely.
BEQ: What's the problem with crosswords nowadays?
David: The biggest problem in themed puzzles is boring reuse of the same tired ideas. In themeless puzzles, it is the obsession with low word-count grids and stacks of 15-letter entries. These Always Lead To Boring Phrases And Disgusting Crosses. I don't know how many more overly inflected white square chunks (-ER, -ERS, -ANT, -ING, RE-, etc.) I can take. I simply won't solve the puzzles of certain constructors anymore.
BEQ: How'd you get started making puzzles?
David: In college, a roommate and I started solving the NYT as much as we could. After a few years, I had done enough puzzles to see the same themes recur, and one day as a senior, frustrated by yet another cookie-cutter puzzle, I decided I could make one better. My first theme was very strange and too academic to ever be accepted: extending classical composers last names to create wacky anti-musical ideas. The only theme entry I can recall is RACHMANINOFFKEY.
BEQ: I remember years ago when we made a puzzle for the Times, you were hell bent on putting in NHL DRAFT. It didn't make the cut. Like there's anybody who cares about hockey. I guess you do, so: who's winning the Stanley Cup?
David: The Bruins. To say otherwise is sacrilege.
Brendan Emmett Quigley creates custom-made puzzles for all occasions: birthdays and bar mitzvahs, anniversaries and retirements. You name it. Need a puzzle for your website or your publication? He can do that, too.
Brendan's custom work clients have included The American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, BeerAdvocate, Boston Magazine, De Beers, The Decemberists, ESPN, The Improper Bostonian, Lollapuzzoola, McSweeney's, Phish, Reflexive, The Smithsonian Magazine, St. Martin's Press, Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, and Andrew Weil.
Call (617) 2-999-BEQ or click 
