December 1, 2006
"Hello everyone! It's been quite a while since the last update. Since Matt G. has been the Penn to my Teller on the jonesincrosswords website, I thought I'd finally write something of my own. Sometimes I get asked about what I do, but some of the basic questions have gone unposed. So, without further ado, here are some frequently unasked questions. ( I'd abbreviate that last phrase, but I'm afraid I'd scare the kiddies.)

How do you create the puzzles?
Here's the short answer, because there are a lot of things that go into it.
I mostly stare off into space, maybe out the window, and the themes come directly to me in a Zen-like trance. Then I write it down, and roll a series of random letter dice, hoping the letters spell the right words.

But really, here's what you want to memorize so you don't sound like a buffoon if you run into a puzzle writer at your next social gathering. All puzzlers write in this order: First create the theme, then fill the grid around the theme entries, then write the clues.

Actually, a better question would be: Why?
Because it's something I really enjoy doing. I've always had a love for games, trivia, and words. I've been involved in crosswords since before they were cool. In fact, way back in the day, if you check your crossword history books, puzzles before 1970 would often avoid pop culture and skew toward obscurity.

Are you sure you and Matt G. are not the same person?
Because we both share the same first name, and Jones is a common last name, common enough to be, say, a pseudonym? Hah, you're a riot. It was fortuitous that the two Matts in the world of puzzles happened to work together to bring you Jonesin'. Besides, it would be physically impossible for us to be the same person. Matt G. lives on the East Coast in DC, and I‚m on the West Coast in Portland, OR. And, if you need further proof, here's a picture of me:"
— Matt Jones

 

May 15, 2006
What's up, my Jonesin'-lovin' peeps? No huge news to report except that I got to hang out with Matt Jones a little at the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut in March (rare since he's in Portland, OR and I'm in Washington, DC). Matt J. keeps threatening to write something up for the website...when he does I'll let you know.
—Matt Gaffney, Editor

June 22, 2005
Just returned from the AAN convention in San Diego, where much fun was had by all, especially those of us who went to Tijuana. Got a few new papers to start drinking the Jonesin' Kool-Aid, including the venerable Boston and Providence Phoenixes. New England is now awash with Jonesin' — a lucky region indeed!"

May 3, 2005
Wish JONESIN' CROSSWORDS a happy four-year anniversary on May 8th! Matt J. and I thank all those solvers and papers who've helped make JONESIN' the worldwide juggernaut that it is. And to those papers and solvers who have not helped: you are dead to us. We turn our backs to you and never speak your name.

Speakin' of papers, say hi to seven new JONESIN' alt-weeklies stretching from Texas to Massachusettes. And say goodbye to the two JONESIN' papers that went out of business in the past five months. It wasn't the crossword, we swear.

December 7, 2004
Say chello to the two newest Jonesin' papers, The Lawrencian in Lawrence, Kansas, and Forth Worth Weekly, way down in beautiful Tejas.

Also, November saw publication of "Jonesin' Crosswords, Volume 1" by Random House. Click here to buy it from Amazon. Makes the perfect Christmas gift for people you simply do not like!

October 21, 2004
Say hello to The Front Weekly in Pittsburgh and The Rocky Mountain Bullhorn in Fort Collins, Colorado, the two newest papers suckered into running Jonesin'!

August 24, 2004
MIDWEST MADNESS! Fresh from the San Antonio AAN Convention, three new papers from the Midwest have signed up for Jonesin'. No, San Antonio is not in the Midwest, but Buzz Weekly, Core Weekly, and Athens NEWS are, and they're all about to start running Jonesin'. Actually, maybe Core Weekly isn't really Midwest (Madison, Wisconsin — site of the 2002 AAN Convention). Oh, to hell with this strained construct.

May 26, 2004
New victims!! Welcome the readers of The Wisconsinite, in Madison, WI, the latest paper to pick up Jonesin'.

April 20, 2004
The readers of Palo Alto Weekly are the latest victims of Jonesin' Crosswords — the paper will start running the puzzles in their May 7th issue.

February 11, 2004
Put your grimy hands together for the newest paper to run Jonesin', the Rochester Insider!

January 20, 2004
We'd like to welcome F5 in Wichita, Kansas, to the roster of Jonesin'-lovin' papers.

Nov. 10, 2003: Welcome to the Jonesin' Crosswords news page!
First, we've sold Jonesin' Crosswords, Vol. 1 to Random House, who will be publishing it in November, 2004. Yee-haw, that's quite exciting! Hopefully they'll want to put out a new book every year.

We've also added three new papers to the Jonesin' legions: The Strip in Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Jackson Free Press in Jackson, Mississippi; and a spankin' new startup called CultureWeek in Bloomington, Indiana. Bloomington is way too hip a town to not have an alt-weekly, which it hasn't since the Bloomington Independent (who also used to run Jonesin' — could that have led to their demise?) folded a year or two ago. So go to it with your bad self, CultureWeek.

Matt Gaffney, Editor
Jonesin' Crosswords