By the time I got to figuring out the Ubercross Abecedaria’s “T” theme, it was one of the last ones that needed figuring out.
I had themes I’d already assigned to U, V, W, X, and Z…including some of my favorite wordplay types, types that I could have justified using much sooner. I was doing my best to head off the “abecedarian anticlimax,” the problem that comes when you’re doing an alphabetic thing, use up your best ideas somewhere around S, and then strain to think of good X-words and Z-words while coping with the burnout. An alphabet book is a real test of creative planning! Some end with a flourish, some end with a thud. (Note to self: review the field of alphabet books.)
But “T” is one of the commonest letters to start a word with, so I was spoiled for choice. I considered tall tales and translations, but I soon realized there was one major crossword theme I was overlooking. One the Ubercross Abecedaria would be incomplete without. The irony was, it was the least wordplay-oriented type of crossword I’d come across.
Themeless crossword puzzles would seem to be focused on nothing at all, much less on wordplay. But, in practice, their construction usually involves fitting in words with unusual letter-patterns like ONOMASTICS or QUINJET. Mini crosswords aren’t so showy, but some of them try to fit a little wordplay even into their modest frames.
I’m talking about the trivia crossword. (But you know that. It’s in the title.)
A trivia crossword puts its focus on facts. Here’s an NYT puzzle from Josh Goodman, from late last year. Its theme entries note that TINA TURNER, STEVIE NICKS, and CAROLE KING are the only women inducted twice into the ROCK AND ROLL / HALL OF FAME…once as part of a group or entourage, once as a solo artist.
All three women received their second induction in 2021. Until then, the multiple-inductee club was all men…and twenty-six men hold the honor today.
Unlike trivia games, trivia puzzles usually have a focus, a particular subject of interest. So I started looking for one…and here, too, I had a few options.
The first idea I dismissed was T trivia, an Ubercross about the “T” who is me. There would be precedent for that in this amazing, dense 2009 puzzle by Brendan Emmett Quigley, with clues like “The first song I learned how to play on guitar was ‘___’ (albeit in a very punk rock style)” [I’M A BELIEVER] and "In kindergarten art class, while other boys were drawing things like tanks and dinosaurs, I drew ___” [MAZES].
But the Ubercross Abecedaria kinda feels like it’s a monument to my vanity already. If I managed to come up with a hundred clues or so about my life, I’d feel self-obsessed, and if I couldn’t, I’d feel boring. I don’t need that kinda pressure, thanks!
Tech trivia would have invited reflections on how tech has shaped our world and life. You could define tech as the modern tech industry, or just any invention. Toy trivia would appeal to the child in all of us, and if I’d known how big Barbie was going to get, I might’ve pondered that one longer.
But one of my biggest loves is storytelling. The A puzzle had covered movies, and the F puzzle had covered books, but hell…none of the other puzzles had focused on TV.
Next: How do you find enough interesting facts to fill a 125x125 space? And how do you quantify interestingness, anyway?