‘Puzzle King’ got his start at the Sonoma Index-Tribune

People who love words are called many things: grammarians, vocabulists, linguists, teacher’s pet. They tend to be bookish and nearsighted.

People who love crosswords enjoy language, too, but they take it droll, with a bit of whimsy on the side.

Myles Mellor, 68, is just such a person. He makes his living writing word puzzles. For more than a decade, his crosswords have anchored page two of the Index-Tribune, since he stumbled into the gig in 2006.

“Your paper was the turning point in my career, in a way,” Mellor said. “A gentleman named Bill Lynch (former owner and editor of the Index-Tribune) called me up and said ‘I’m paying way too much for my crossword puzzles. Can you provide them to me?”

Mellor agreed, and after some trial and error, came up with a general-knowledge crossword that more than met expectations.

“Lynch was also the president of the California Newspaper Publishers Association at the time, so that was a very big deal,” Mellor said. “I suddenly felt I might be able to get into more papers. Make it pay, make it a real business.”

Today, Mellor’s puzzles are syndicated in nearly 120 newspapers, and appear in more than 600 magazines. He writes custom puzzles on a wide range of topics: sailing, engineering, even puzzles for individuals for anniversaries and whatnot. He recently mailed his 15,000th invoice, and has now published 45 word puzzle books.

Starting out, his wife begged him to hang on to his day job as a researcher for a real-estate company. Now, Mellor – known as the “Puzzle King” – riddles full-time from his home base in Carlsbad, California.

A proper newspaper crossword complies with a set of conditions, regulations cruciverbalists take very seriously. First, the puzzle must be 15 squares by 15 squares, except when it’s the New York Times Sunday puzzle, and then it’s 21 squares long and wide. Next, the puzzle must have something called “rotational symmetry,” with its black and white squares in the same place when turned upside down. Also, no word can be less than three letters long, and whole phrases are commonly used to convey theme.

Theme is foundational to every good crossword, and it’s the place where Mellor always starts. A good puzzle has three words or phrases linked to the theme, with the top and bottom solutions having an equal number of squares.

“The theme is the hardest part,” Mellor said. “They have to be clever and match together. I try to vary them topically, or have them use a funny play on words.”

Too many black squares in a puzzle is considered inelegant, and off-color words are taboo. As Will Shortz, the New York Times crossword editor and puzzle master, tells freelancers, every clue and answer must pass the “Sunday morning breakfast test.” Anything gross is a no-go.

Mellor uses a program written by an astrophysicist to write his crosswords. “It’s called ‘Crossword Compiler.’ It’s a terrific program,” he said. He has an extensive library to cull ideas from as well, on the unlikely chance he may need an assist.

Once Mellor has established the theme of the puzzle, he puts in some black squares, including a “Utah,” the large-ish cluster of black squares that resembles the state. Then Mellor begins filling in the puzzle with shorter words. Finally, when the puzzle is filled in, Mellor rewinds to begin writing the clues. The process is exactly backward from what most people think.

Mellor’s various clients have individual needs, with each requiring a particular level of difficulty. “There are segments of the West Coast that are a high level of difficulty, and segments of the East Coast with very high levels. A lot of papers wouldn’t do the Sonoma puzzle, for example,” Mellor said. “A lot of papers want something easier.”

Even still, Mellor occasionally gets it wrong. “There was an outcry when one of my L.A. Times Sunday puzzles turned out to be too hard,” Mellor said. “When people can’t figure something out, they get really upset.”

Working a crossword is a pleasure for Mellor, who - naturally - works only in pen. Pencils are a crutch for the timid and meek, and Mellor is not a man prone to self-doubt. “You start from the top and just keep working down. When I know for sure that the answer is right, I put it in. See, people try and guess when they don’t know for sure, and that’s when they get into trouble,” Mellor said. “Solving a crossword requires you to move from certainty, to what is likely.”

Invented by an English journalist named Arthur Wynn in 1913, crosswords are said to be the most popular word game in the world. “Fifty million people solve crossword puzzles regularly,” Mellor said.

In 1913, physicians feared that the frustration of failing at crosswords might endanger the mental health of sensitive types. “Ha! The reverse is the case,” Mellor said. “The Alzheimer’s Society has a whole program to do puzzles. People recognize that they’re actually useful in keeping people mentally active.”

Mellor himself is Exhibit A: an articulate, self-possessed man who does not trip on his tongue. He takes pleasure in knowing countless people at any moment are grappling with his puzzles, and delights in the contentment they feel when they’re mastered. “It’s much better to start on an easier level,” Mellor advised. “People are much happier when they can say ‘it was too easy for me.’ If you’re smart, you’re going to figure the puzzles out. It’s a small thing, but finishing a good puzzle allows people to rejoice.”

Contact Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com.