At some point, I just thought "I wonder if I could make a puzzle." So I did. (The early results were pretty bad.) Editing is a lot like constructing, asking "How could this puzzle or clue be better?"

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Get a copy of Patrick Berry's Crossword Constructor’s Handbook from his website. And look for the Facebook groups for new constructors.

If I consider it crosswordese, I'd be happy to never see it again. My current top nonfavorite word is STYE.

I solve a few crosswords. I do Matt Gaffney's Weekly Crossword Contest puzzles, and Peter Gordon's Fireball crosswords. I solve the Times puzzle sometimes, especially the unthemed Saturdays.

Many of them are. The key to making a good computer-generated crossword is to spend a lot of time tweaking the word list. And even after that, the computer can't write good, clever clues.

I'm not sure I have an absolute favorite. One of my favorite Friday contest puzzles was "Rainbow Connection." (I won't spoil it in case you can find it on the WSJ site.)

The first step is coming up with a theme, and finding theme answers of good lengths that balance each other. Then I place them in a grid, decide where black squares look promising, and then fill in the restof the words. Clues come last.

Have you every put any kind of hidden messaging into puzzle? Say with a certain collection or sequence of words?

Are there words you're sick of using, but they are convenient for connections, like 'ewe'?

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When are you going to have other constructors other than you and Matt Gaffney create the Friday meta puzzles?

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Gotta be Yoko Ono or Brian Eno

I've never seen the word abecedarian in NYT puzzles. I always thought it would be an excellent addition to the game. Are there words that you would love to include but can't (or won't) for some reason or another?

Are you and Will Shortz friends, enemies, or frenemies?

Do your worry your job won't be around much longer? Have you given any thought to what you'd do if crossword editor wasn't a thing anymore?

Who's your favorite crossword-famous person? Yma Sumac? Erle Stanley Gardner?

Did you grow up wanting to work in crosswords?

What are some of your favorite clues that you made up during your career?

How did you manage the transition from being a crossword solver to a crossword constructor in terms of how you approached puzzles? In the same vein, how did you manage the transition from constructing puzzles to mostly editing them at the WSJ?

Any tips for someone who'd like to give creating puzzles a try?

What are some bits of crosswordese you'd be happy to never see again?

Do you solve crosswords in other publications (NYT, USA Today, LA Times, etc)? Or, since crosswords are your work, do you avoid them as a hobby (i.e. like a professional chef who doesn't want to cook at home)?

Are computer-generated crosswords kinda of crummy?