Lonnie Burton author page

This is my first-ever puzzle in The New York Times. I am so excited and honored. You see, I am a 51-year-old man without a computer, who has submitted at least 75 other puzzles to Will since 2008. Frankly, I lost count! I make all my crosswords by hand, then send them by snail mail to my good friend and partner, Nadine Anderton, who serves as my sounding board, personal editor, and conduit to crossword editors.

I am in prison in Washington State, and have been for 26 years. I did some pretty bad things in my youth, but now am dedicated to changing my life, seeking redemption and forgiveness, and making amends for my actions. In addition to making crosswords, I am a contributing writer for Prison Legal News, a national publication focusing on issues relating to the criminal justice system.

I came up with the idea for this 007 puzzle while talking to another prisoner who was interested in how I made crosswords. I was showing him how to number (by hand, of course) another puzzle when I screwed up on 7-Down. It ended up a mess and looked a bit like "007," which we thought was funny. So the idea was sparked. I took out my crossword dictionary and found that the James Bond role had been played by more people than I had thought. Everything worked fine symmetrically, except for the 10-letter ROGER MOORE. My solution, as you see, was to break that up in the middle. Thank God he has two five-letter names! In honor of how I got the idea, I decided 7-Down should be 007-Down, and the "Bond" entry there would be what ties the puzzle together.

I've long been fascinated by crosswords. In 2008 I saw the documentary "Wordplay" on PBS. In it Merl Reagle showed how to make a puzzle from scratch. I paid close attention. When the show was over, I set out to make my first crossword, sure I would sell it for thousands of dollars! It took me several weeks and a lot of trips to the prison library to have the staff librarian look up words I needed to complete the puzzle. It sucked, and it still sits in my crossword folder.

For filling grids, The Million Word Crossword Answer Book, by Stanley Newman and Daniel Stark, has been my mainstay. It's what I use to make all my puzzles. I used to draw my grids by hand, but later took a class where the teacher was cool and made me some blank grids on her computer. Since then I keep making copies of that. When I get an idea for a puzzle, I use a crossword dictionary to help me come up with and verify theme entries. I then sit down with a pencil, pen, eraser, and my Crossword Answer Book, and start my grid. I am told that most crossword builders use computers these days to make their puzzles. I can't even imagine that.

Once the grid is made and it complies with all the rules, I do what is the most fun part for me — the fill. I'm to the point now where I can fill a 15x in 60-90 minutes on a good day, and 3-4 hours if I really box myself in. My biggest issues are obscurities and the fact that the Crossword Answer Book only goes to seven-letter words. After that it's just my "imagination."

For clueing I use an unabridged dictionary, a crossword dictionary, a Scrabble dictionary, and the back of the Crossword Answer Book. For anything I still can't clue I turn to Nadine, who has access to the Cruciverb database. Then I take out my manual typewriter, type up the clues, take a Sharpie and make the black squares on the grid, type in the numbers, and finally neatly write in the words with two sharpened pencils. I pop it in the mail to Nadine with instructions on where I want to submit it. She enters it into Crossword Compiler, fixes my mistakes, and makes suggestions for improvements. Once we agree, she sends if off and we cross our fingers.

I love making crosswords, but I thought I'd never reach the top of the mountain by joining the New York Times club. My life hasn't been easy, and I've done many things that have hurt others, but that is in my past. I don't know what the future holds, but I am determined to be a good and productive member of society. The modest income I receive from selling puzzles will someday help me successfully reintegrate back into society.