David Balton author page

Autobiography from Jane Stewart and David Balton:

We started making acrostics long ago, by hand. On our first wedding anniversary, many moons ago, we even surprised each other with homemade acrostics. Needless to say, we were devoted fans of HEX all throughout their storied run with the NYT.

About 15 years ago, Dave began a tradition of constructing acrostics for our family's amusement on Christmas Eve, tailored to the interests and aptitudes of family members. Dave and Jane have created acrostics for friends and family more generally. Dave also submitted a crossword or two to the NYT over the years — including one constructed partly while on a work trip to the South Pole — without success.

We have Will Shortz to thank for our connection to Henry and Emily. When Dave was in need of better acrostics software, he wrote to Will, who kindly referred him to HEX. Henry and Emily were very generous with advice; the four of us became friendly correspondents.

When we learned that the HEX era at the NYT was ending, we composed three acrostics and sent them to Will, not knowing what to expect. He ultimately decided to publish one of them on June 18 of this year, the puzzle based on the hilarious quote from Bill Bryson about parking in Rome. Will also encouraged us to send him more …

The day our first acrostic ran in the NYT turned out to be special in several ways. On the Sunday morning in question, we bought a hard copy of the NYT and showed our names in print to visiting friends, to their considerable amazement. We also told them a story from more than 40 years earlier. A dad of one of Dave's college friends had published a crossword in the NYT in the early 1980s. That dad told Dave of the morning when he rode a commuter train into New York City and watched with glee as seemingly everyone in the train car was solving his puzzle. Dave thought then, "Some day ...".

On the day our puzzle appeared, we went to a Washington Nationals baseball game with a large gathering, where our friends passed out copies of the puzzle that they had procured for all to do between innings.

Our approach to constructing acrostics starts with finding pithy quotes that meet all the format requirements — no mean feat. We try to vary the quotes by topic and author, sometimes with a view to a particular upcoming holiday or anniversary. We offer the possible quotes to Will first to get his blessing. Once that is achieved, Dave creates an initial word list (answers) — it's like playing a large and highly structured game of Bananagrams.

Next, Jane generates clues for each answer, finding her best inspiration in the shower or while driving, neither ideal conditions for jotting down her ideas. Sometimes, the clue-writing phase leads us to revisit the word list. We like to incorporate many answers and clues that link to the theme(s) of the quote. After some back-and-forth, we sent a beta version of the puzzle to our adult daughter, Becca, for her to solve and to provide feedback. When we have incorporated Becca's suggestions, we ship the acrostic off to Will.

To say that this gig has come as a surprise to us would be a serious understatement. Although we love doing puzzles and playing word games, we each have careers that immerse us in very different pursuits. Jane plays first violin with the National Symphony Orchestra and does some copyediting work. Dave spent most of his career as a lawyer and diplomat for the U.S. State Department and now works in the White House.