UUP member Michael Sharp loves to be stumped, tripped up and otherwise befuddled by crossword clues — especially when the answer is an obscure word or reference or, better yet, includes his favorite letter, the letter k.
Unlike most people, that’s a problem for Sharp. It just doesn’t happen to him that often.
That’s because Sharp, an assistant professor of English at the University of Binghamton, is a crossword-solving superstar, particularly when he sets his sights on the New York Times crossword — which he does daily.
Not only does he solve the puzzle, Sharp shares his success each day with thousands of puzzled puzzlers who log on to his popular crossword blog, “Rex Parker Does the New York Times Crossword Puzzle” for answers.
And has he got answers.
After he solves the puzzles —which can take him anywhere from about three to 20 minutes depending on a crossword’s difficulty level — he posts his completed grid on his blog the same morning it appears in the Times.
Along with his answers, Sharp rates the puzzle based on difficulty (easy, medium, challenging). He critiques the clues and sometimes uses a photo, movie clip or sound clip to illustrate obscure words or pop culture references that delight him.
His readers appreciate his humor and, more importantly, his answers. Since starting the blog (http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com) two years ago, Sharp said he averages 9,000 unique users a day; that number spiked to 13,000 users on a weekend in late March. Will Shortz, the Times’ crossword page editor, and television star Anne Meara are fans.
The blog has also made him the go-to guy for journalists looking to write about crosswording; it has gotten local and national coverage, including stories in New York Sun and Vancouver Sun.
Not bad for a longtime crossword aficionado who hid behind a nom de plume — a “beach name” he made up on vacation with his wife and friends in Hawaii — on the blog to avoid any potential embarrassment. He’s no longer worried about exposure; his true identity became known several months ago.
“Originally, I started doing the blog to see what one would look like to use in class,” said Sharp, a UUPer since 1999. “Crosswords were something that I was authoritative about. I felt I could write short bits and be funny, but I never thought I’d have an audience.
“But I didn’t count on two things: people using Google to find answers and using it again six weeks later when puzzles hit syndication,” he continued. “Gradually, word of mouth about the blog and the Google effect made it grow, and users keep going up. It continues to shock me.”
A crossword fan since college, Sharp — who calls himself the “King of Cross World” — has sharpened his skills to where he routinely blazes through Monday and Tuesday Times puzzles in five minutes or less; the puzzles are easiest on Monday and get progressively harder.
He broke his own personal record March 31, solving a Monday puzzle in two minutes, 48 seconds. According to Shortz, two minutes, six seconds is the fastest anyone has completed a Monday Times puzzle.
“Before the Internet, crosswords were meant as solitary endeavors,” he said. “The idea that you could talk to thousands about things in a puzzle, that’s something only the Internet can do.”
Sharp said he’s received gifts from appreciative readers for his help. Still, he’s not perfect, even though he placed 55th out of 700 contestants in the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in March 2008 in New York City.
“Once a month, I can’t finish a puzzle or I have a mistake,” he said. “It’s a great thing because my readers educate me. They’ll send me to different Web sites for answers.”
And if he’s lucky, the answers will include the letter k.
“I’d write a book about the letter k if I could,” he said, laughing. “That’s the beauty, that k can get lost in a word like ‘know’ but in a crossword can come out in a word, like ‘ewok.’ K words are wacky.”
— Michael Lisi