Alright, let’s talk about this “academia nickname crossword” thing I messed around with. It was a fun little side project, nothing too serious, but I learned a few things along the way.
So, it all started when I was bored, plain and simple. I was thinking about all the goofy nicknames profs get, you know, the kind that only students use behind their backs. “Dr. Doom,” “The Hammer,” stuff like that. I thought, “Hey, wouldn’t it be funny to make a crossword puzzle out of these?”
First thing I did was brainstorm a list of potential nicknames. I started with profs I actually had, then moved onto stories I’d heard from friends in other departments. I ended up with a list of about 30 or so, ranging from the pretty tame to the downright savage. Had to cull some of those, obviously.
Next up was figuring out how to actually make the crossword. I could’ve done it by hand, but that sounded like way too much work. I poked around online and found a few free crossword generator websites. Most of them were kinda clunky, but one called “Crossword Puzzle Maker” seemed decent enough.
I started plugging in my nicknames and their corresponding “clues.” This is where it got tricky. The clues had to be vague enough that only someone who knew the nickname would get it, but also specific enough that it wasn’t totally impossible. It was a delicate balancing act.
For example, for “Dr. Doom,” I went with something like “This professor’s exams are notoriously difficult.” For “The Hammer,” I used “Known for their strict grading policies.” You get the idea.
The crossword generator wasn’t perfect. It kept rejecting certain words because they didn’t fit the grid, or the clues were too long. I had to tweak things a bunch of times, swapping out nicknames, rewording clues, until I finally got a grid that worked.
Here’s where things got interesting. I exported the crossword as a PDF and printed it out. Then I gave it to a few friends to test. The results were…mixed. Some of the nicknames were too obscure, even for people who knew the profs in question. Other clues were too easy.
I went back to the drawing board and made some revisions. I swapped out a few of the more obscure nicknames for more well-known ones. I also made some of the clues harder, adding in some red herrings and double meanings.
After another round of testing, the crossword was finally in a pretty good place. It was challenging, but not impossible. Funny, but not offensive.
Ultimately, it was just a dumb little project, but it was a good way to kill some time and exercise my brain. And hey, maybe someone out there will actually get a kick out of solving it.
