I have been constructing twice-monthly crostic puzzles on Vermont themes for the Times Argus and Rutland Herald since 2006. I also have constructed film-themed crostics for the Green Mountain Film Festival program, and Yiddish literature-themed crostics for Living Traditions’ “KlezKamp” for six years.

A crostic (or “acrostic” or “double crostic”) is a type of word puzzle, related somewhat to crossword puzzles, that typically consists of two parts. The first part is a set of lettered clues, each of which has numbered blanks representing the letters of the answer. The second part is a grid consisting of numbered blanks and spaces, representing a quotation, into which the answers for the clues fit. In most forms of the puzzle, the first letters of each correct clue answer, read in order from clue A on down the list, will spell out the author of the quote and the title of the work it is taken from. Here is a sample. Here are puzzles I’ve done for the Times-Argus since 2006. And here is a link to more crostics about Arts and Entertainment, Philosophical Musings, Literature, Social and Political Themes, and The Natural World.