Who's behind the crossword

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 313, 14 November 1989, Page 10

Who's behind the crossword

Have you ever wondered, especially when you're stuck on a clue, just who puts the Bulletin crossword together? It's crossword architect Alan Shuker from his Raumati home. Alan's New Zealand series, which is carried in the Bulletin, appears in about 25 community papers from Northland to Otago. Creating crosswords is not quite a full time job for Alan. He first tried his hand at them about five years ago

when he got tired of doing puzzles with questions about English rivers and American states, and decided to see if he could use New Zealand clues. Then he sold his manufacturing export business, and for the last two and a half years crosswords, and his wife Deborah's parttime job, have been bringing home the bacon. "It was to be a job between jobs, but it's grown." There are five basic grids which Alan uses.

He fills in the New Zealand answers first, then the other surrounding words. The clues come last. Deborah plays an important part in the process. Alan gives her a blank grid with the clues, which she attempts to solve. She _delivers a critique when she's finished, commenting on clues which might be too hard, or obscure. She does not admit to getting a bit tired doing crosswords, but she says the checks are im-

portant so the puzzles don't get too hard, as people should enjoy solving them. The clues have to be neutral - there can't be any racist or sexist language, no "in" words or political comments, and the answers have to be generally understood. "We have to think of all the places it's going to. A clue has got to apply to every one in the country." The whole process takes about five or six hours per crossword,

and Alan says he's done between 400 and 500 all up, which includes his book of extra-large ones for the visually impaired. He'll keep doing them, as he enjoy s the lifestyle, he says. Working from home allows him to spend time with the couple's three children. "I've always enjoyed crosswords. It's mainly a love for the language that's kept me going - the English language is a rich language."