Refreshingly, however, most of the papers I’ve worked with have been supportive, and have understood the long game of developing a relationship between puzzle editor and solvers, which is all about sowing trust. At times, working with alt-weeklies has been a lesson in the mercenary politics of a journalistic sector on the brink. (Kanye still hasn’t published a New York Times puzzle, by the way-it’s been remarkable to see our careers go in different directions.) My run at the Voice ended unceremoniously after six months, when the paper was purchased by libertarian disrupters who fired everyone and cut everything. The issue in which I debuted had my name on the cover, near a picture of Kanye West. In 2005, no client seemed more impressive than the Village Voice, both because of their reputation and because I lived in New York and could grab a copy of the paper each week-sometimes I could even catch a stranger on the train solving the puzzle. Some of the bigger catches included Washington City Paper and the Chicago Reader, both of whom have remained clients for all 10 years, and whose staff are remarkably sharp-minded and professional. From a boxy PC on a cubicle desk, I pitched a hipster crossword to the San Francisco Bay Guardian and, once they signed on, used their name to convince other clients to come aboard. Ink Well, the name of my outgoing puzzle feature, began as a moonshot idea stoked by the bad vibes of menial employment. There are a few reasons for that, most of them maudlin this is my chance to tell you why our weird relationship, as cohabitants of the house now slated for demolition, has been special. The decision was so organic that I couldn’t deny its correctness-I start a full-time job as a professor of music in the fall, plus childcare-but the physical act of clicking the mouse remained stubbornly painful. By July 2014, I decided, the weekly crossword feature I’ve been writing for just under 10 years would need to be disassembled. I remembered crafting each part as they fell to the earth. The Annapolis Bay Weekly the eaves, Cincinnati City Paper the moldings, Chicago Reader the foundation itself. Look for a new puzzle in Washington City Paper starting next week by Brendan Emmett Quigley.Įach pressing of “send” felt like tearing down a beautiful and still very livable home. Here’s a farewell essay from Ben Tausig, its author. This week’s Ink Well crossword puzzle is the final one.
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