About Me

 

Hi, I'm Quiara Vasquez. I'm a professional crossword constructor and editor, whose work you've likely seen in such publications as Newsday, USA Today, and The Atlantic, as well as indie publications like Crucinova and the AVCX (two outlets you should totally consider subscribing to).

You can watch me talk about crosswords here; you can see a list of other puzzles I've done for other outlets here; you can occasionally watch me stream crossword speedsolving here; you can see pictures I've created on a Commodore 64 here; you can contact me here.

FAQ (Frequently Asked of Q)

How do you pronounce your name? It's "key-AH-ra." (Alveolar trill optional.)

How old are you? I am in my mid-to-late-20s.

So why all the boomer music references? I had boomer parents.

How often do you publish puzzles? Weekly-ish; the schedule I think I've decided on is every Thursday, more or less, unless it's the close enough to the 1st of the month that I have instead elected to do a monthly puzzle roundup post.

I want to make puzzles but it's kind of intimidating. Where do I start? Well, one surefire way to get started is to see if your favorite constructor has their e-mail address listed somewhere and ask them for advice. (Assuming I am said favorite constructor, I am very open to helping newer constructors; please reach out.)
That being said, some resources that either didn't exist or that I wish I knew existed back when I started: Crosscord, the Discord server dedicated to crossword solving/construction; Matthew Stock's list of every outlet that accepts puzzle submissions; the free online construction software Crosserville; Nam Jin Yoon's .puz to PDF applet.