Jul 12, 2026
We chat with Brooke Husic (Puzzmo, New Yorker, A24) about creating, stewarding, and showrunning a daily crossword for the web-based puzzle phenomenon, Puzzmo. Our discussion covers Puzzmo's first 1,000 days, Brooke’s prolific career as a constructor, the impact of cultural biases on crosswords, the early-2020s indie-puzzle development boom, the need to care for both solvers and setters during revisions, the interconnectedness of difficulty and context, the relationship between constructor and venue, and so! much! more! Also: Don’t forget to check out today’s Puzzmo midi crossword, its 1,001th, a special collaboration between two names that will be familiar to listeners of this episode.
Audio edited by Dylan Shumway
Discussed in this episode:
Puzzmo
https://www.puzzmo.com/today/
Today’s Brooke and Rob collab puzzle, “Time to get up!”
https://www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2026-07-12/crossword
Puzzmo Data Initiative
https://data.puzzmo.com/
Brooke’s 30-day Crossword Tutorial Mini-series
https://www.brookehusic.com/puzzminis/
Brooke’s puzzle blog
https://xwordsbyaladee.blogspot.com/
Rob’s Puzzmo crossword debut, “Baker’s Corner”
https://www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2024-05-10/crossword
Lollapuzzoola
https://bemoresmarter.com/
American Values Club (AVCX)
https://avxwords.com/about-us/
Ingrid
https://ingrid.cx/
Brooke on Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/xws.bsky.social