Writer. Programmer. Puzzle Designer.
Photo by Melissa Schneider.
My first sale to Wine Enthusiast didn't go the way I planned.
I pitched an idea for the magazine's back page, a harbor for short features and essays. The managing editor decided not to go with my concept, but sent back a list of the types of pieces he wants for that page.
I laughed when I saw he wanted "clever food and wine-themed puzzles." If you've seen my business card, or noticed my email signature, you've already seen the unusual list of jobs that make up this post's title. I've enjoyed puzzles of various kinds for as long as I can remember and I discovered a decade ago that I have some modest talent as a puzzle designer (very modest, relative to some of my friends in the puzzle community).
I came up with an idea, they bought it, and "The Red-White Blues" (which I called "The Mixed-Case Maze") appears on the back page of the May 2006 issue. Go from Start to Finish, and collect 6 bottles of white and 6 bottles of red; pick up a copy of the magazine to try it out.
I can hear the internal monologue some of you have started: "I'm no good at puzzles." Stop. I strive to design approachable, engaging puzzles. I prefer hearing "Ha! I got it!" to "I give up." I get no satisfaction from making an impossible-to-solve puzzle. (I share a mantra with other puzzle designers: "It's easy to make a hard puzzle, hard to make a good one.") If it makes you more confident, this puzzle has a lower average solving time then I wanted.
The Wine Enthusiast puzzle falls roughly into the "logic mazes" genre, though I prefer the older name "mazes with rules." It's a maze in an abstract sense, but the walls are imposed by rules you have to follow, not by solid lines on the page. Go to the logicmazes.com site to find lots of fascinating examples and links to other designers. Also see Ed Pegg's article on the subject.
We're talking about other puzzle ideas for the back page, and I'm hoping to use this as an entry point for an assignment in the feature well. That would be a "foot in the door" story for the ages. You should, of course, write the managing editor and tell him how much you like the puzzle so that he decides it's worth running more.
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