60 Seconds With Christina Iverson

Christina Iverson is the newest editor on the Games editorial team. She filled in for an editor who was on leave at the end of 2022, and did such an excellent job we brought her on full time. As an associate puzzle editor, Christina works on our daily crossword puzzle and is a mentor for our Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship. She is also a prolific puzzle constructor, having published 17 daily and variety crosswords in The New York Times.

What role do crossword puzzles play in your life?

A very big one! I got interested in making crosswords in 2018 because I was a stay-at-home mom with a baby, and I felt like I needed more mental stimulation. As much as I loved reading board books with my son, I needed to exercise my brain a little more. I dove in to the world of crosswords and there was no turning back. Now, besides working full time as a crossword editor, I still try to construct whenever I get a chance. Solving puzzles is the first thing I do when I get up in the morning, and I spend most of my day thinking about crosswords in some capacity.

What’s your puzzle-making process? What turns something from an idea into a theme?

Ideas for themes can come from anywhere. Often they just pop in my head, sometimes because of a funny thing one of my kids says, or a phrase I hear that feels ripe for wordplay. I really like working with collaborators, and so when I have an idea for a theme I often think about who might be fun to work with on that specific idea, and pitch it to them. Most of my collaborations are done over email, with a lot of back-and-forth about the theme, the grid and the clues. My email inbox is full of drafts that are random thoughts I have that might make good puzzles, and I also have a lot of Google Documents with ideas I’ve brainstormed. Many end up being dead ends, but sometimes I come back to a seed of an idea months later with fresh eyes and turn it into a puzzle.

Your most overused word or phrase?

I’m originally from Minnesota, and I think I have a lot of “Minnesota-Nice-isms.” Starting an opinion with “I feel like …” or ending a request with “no worries if not!” are a couple of classic examples.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

I have a 2- and 5-year-old, so most of the funny things that happen to me are my kids saying or doing funny things that are often hard to explain. Recently I solved the mini on my phone, and the little congratulatory song played when I finished. My 5-year-old sighed this really satisfied little sigh and said, “That’s just my favorite song in the whole world.”

What do you do when you’re not making or solving crosswords?

My kids keep me busy when I’m not working or making puzzles. We play a lot of board games together, work on art projects, and love biking around town to various parks and to the library. I spend a lot of time reading, especially classic literature. Roughly once a week I have a panicky feeling that I’ll never have time to read all the books I want to read in my life. Other hobbies include trying to stop my cat from killing my bonsai tree, practicing German and Chinese on Duolingo, and planning international trips that I may or may not take some day.