Interview with Dan Naddor

Dan Feyer mentioned in his interview that Dan Naddor is one of his favorite constructors. Barrel of A Pencil and a few other fellow solvers also told me that they are huge fans of Dan Naddor.

Dan is one of the regular contributors to LA Times Crossword. I thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know him better.

I asked Dan a few questions, and I found his answers to be very informative and fascinating.

What's your background? Who inspired you to construct your first crossword?

I grew up in Baltimore as a precocious kid who loved baseball and used to read Time Magazine cover to cover. That triggered a lifelong appreciation for the incredible depth and quirkiness of the English language. I became a dreaded know-it-all and developed a love of wordplay and puns at an early age (to the chagrin of my teachers and classmates). I remember vividly sitting in math class in high school with a problem on the board involving multiple colored dice, four of which were clear. The clear ones were 2, 3, 5 and 6, something like that. So I announced “So, on a clear die you can never see four”, punning on “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”. Dead silence. No one got it. You get the picture – I was quite the geek. When I first heard of “A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL, PANAMA” I was thrilled and astounded. In college, though, I soured a bit on academics but blossomed socially and became better-rounded as a person. Eventually I became an investment real estate dealmaker in Southern California. I’m ashamed to say the only reading I do these days is the newspaper.

In the mid-90’s I began solving crosswords at lunch as something to do. The Los Angeles Times puzzle, in fact, pre-Rich Norris. I’d finish them easily, underwhelmed with their caliber, and then think about how I could improve on them. I didn’t understand why so many had only three or four theme entries. I tried a few NYT puzzles but found my solving skills not nearly up to the challenge. But my interest in construction was piqued.

I've only solved 2 of your puzzles, but I found the state & city (I titled it as "Texas Lolita's Favorite Things) to be very creative. How would you describe your style? What kind of themes/fills are you gravitating to or trying to avoid? And what's your view on low word/low black square counts?

I guess I’d describe my puzzle style as original and theme-laden. My goal is to excite my solvers with clever themes and colorful non-crosswordese fill. And there’s no reason my solver shouldn’t get at least four or five “aha moments”, as Will Shortz describes them. If I’m working on a puzzle idea and can’t come up at least four themers, I punt. But if I can squish seven or eight quality themers in, that’s panacea for me as a constructor. It makes crafting a good fill tougher, to be sure. But it’s like laying out your stuff on the bed for a trip, seeing it’s more than your suitcase can possibly hold, and still managing to squeeze everything in without leaving any items behind. I like that challenge.

First of all, I want my grids to be attractive to the eye. Ideally, I strive for a block arrangement with lots of well-defined, open areas. And I shoot for at least 20 entries of 6 letters or more in my puzzles, the non-themers as colorful as possible. Themewise, I’ll tackle anything that lends itself to humor or wordplay – irony, puns, deleted/added/switched letters, hidden words. I steer clear of tributes and themeless puzzles because I find them lacking in “aha moments”. And I love coming up with punny clues that gently pull my solver’s leg, like “Altar ego” for BRIDE, “Grasshopper’s soda” for NEHI, and “Blow-out merchandise” for CANDLES.

Because of my love of heavy “themage”, most of my puzzles tend to be low word count and high black square count. If I can find ways to lower either without compromising my fill, I do it in a heartbeat. I spend a lot of time up front positioning the theme entries in the grid so that I can create not only an appealing look, but opportunities for enhancing fill by stacking themers wherever possible and finding longish words that can run vertically through the horizontal traffic jam. If I don’t do that, I end up needing more than the allowable 42 black squares. As it is, I spend hours and hours on fill.

Dan Feyer mentioned that you only contribute to LA Times. Is there a special reason for that? How long have been contributing to LA Times and what is it like working with Rich Norris?

I sent Rich Norris ten puzzles in the summer of 2006 before he finally accepted one (probably out of pity because it had 80 words, two over the limit). I’ve had 91 published since then and another 50 or so waiting in queue.

Rich is a remarkably talented, patient editor whose collaborative but disciplined style fits well with my creative, gung-ho approach. I have learned an enormous amount from him about theme tightness, consistency, “quality of fill trumps quantity of theme” and making sure the difficulty of the fill is commensurate with the day of the week for which the theme is suited (e.g. no obscure words for a Monday puzzle). He has rescued many of my more abstract themes with his terrific cluing ability. And when he rejects a submission (it happens over 50% of the time), he gives me a thoughtful explanation of his rationale. So rather than train/endure another editor while learning the craft, I’ve stuck with Rich exclusively. As time goes on I may branch out.

What kind of puzzles do you solve every day? Who are your favorite constructors and why?

To be honest I don’t do much solving at all. I solve the LAT every morning to keep abreast of what others are doing and what Rich is allowing. And I read Amy Reynaldo’s terrific blog daily. But that’s about it. I’d rather be creative with my time. In a way, I think my disdain for obscure words would be dulled if I were a serial solver and looked at them every day.

Patrick Berry is my favorite constructor – great themes and marvelous, uncluttered fill. It’s a real treat for me when he shows up in Amy’s blog.

Besides solving/constructing crosswords, what else do you do for fun? What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Tracie, sons Mike and Alex and daughter Courtney. When I’m not with my family, and not constructing, I love playing competitive golf with my buddies, usually for money. I’m getting a bit older and don’t sink the pressure putts like I used to. Watching the Masters this year was awesome – I’m a big Tiger Woods fan (who inspired a cute puzzle I’m currently working on).

Actually, the thing most people find surprising about me is my prolific puzzle-making. For some reason most people I interact with, including the well-educated ones, aren’t into crosswords. I guess I must keep my intellectual side, born from childhood, under wraps pretty well.

Thanks for inviting me into your domain, CC. It was fun to be asked such insightful questions about my hobby/obsession!

Added later by C.C.:

1) Dan passed away on Dec 28, 2009. He was 53 years old. I felt comforted that his last birthday (Oct 16) was celebrated on our blog and he knew how much he was loved and admired in our community. For those who can't access Dan's Facebook, here are a few of his favorite things:

Favorite music: Yo Yo Ma; Classical; Musical Theatre (West Side Story)

Favorite TV shows: Wild Wild West

Favorite movies: Wizard of Oz; Shawshank Redemption.

Favorite Quotations: Never, Never, Never Give up (Winston Churchill); Always Do the Right Thing (Dan Naddor).

2) Dan Naddor obit in LA Times.

3) His friends called him "Mr. Duck", and he nicknamed himself "Dr. Squish" for "his propensity to crowd theme-related clues into his puzzles".

4) Dan Naddor Wordplay Tribute (March 25, 2010)

5) Here is a summary of all of Dan's LAT puzzles (April 17, 2011)