Everyone from singer Carly Rae Jepsen to former US president Bill Clinton are crossword fans. Are you missing out?

Word wizard Will Nediger is the cruciverbalist who oversees our SPYSCAPE puzzles and his journey as a crossword setter is nothing short of an 12-letter word for awe-inspiring. (That’s ‘breathtaking’ for the novices among you.)

Nediger created his first puzzle at the age of 10 and, by 16, he was published in The New York Times - the citadel of crosswords. By age 18, he was in his second year at Western University in London, Ontario, and had an impressive six puzzles accepted by The Times - an exceptional accomplishment considering the publication receives an estimated 75-100 puzzle submissions each week.

Nediger, a Canadian who has a PhD in Linguistics, has always had a fascination with language, wordplay, crosswords, and Scrabble. Even when he’s off the clock, Nediger rearranges letters in his mind to explore different word possibilities.

To date, Nediger's puzzles are thought to have challenged more than half a million digital crossword subscribers as well as traditionalists who solve puzzles in print.

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Puzzling times

Nediger's puzzles are known for their surprises. In addition to overseeing SPYSCAPE puzzles, he finds particular pride in the independent puzzles he designs for his blog, Bewilderingly, which has earned recognition as a top puzzle destination within the virtual puzzle-solving community.

In this digital realm, Nediger enjoys the flexibility of experimenting with different puzzle sizes and structures, a luxury not always possible in traditional print publications. One of his unique creations was shaped like the classic board game Clue: "The names of the people and the words of the weapons were hidden in those rooms. Solvers had to figure out which ones were missing.”

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Diverse solvers

Nediger reveals that constructing the puzzle grid is the part of the process he finds most enjoyable. This step comes before crafting the clues, which can be more challenging due to the interplay between words and their relationships within the grid. The goal is to avoid repetition and approach clues from fresh angles.

Are you ready to give crosswords a go? Our crosswords aim to tease and please. A new spy-themed crossword is available each weekend and you can enter your email to be first to know when each new puzzle goes live.

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