Support for KQBD Podcasts comes from Rancho LaPuerta, a wellness resort 45 minutes outside of San Diego.

Summer packages include fitness and mindfulness classes, hiking, live music, and culinary adventures featuring fresh fruits and veggies.

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Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a

true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,

a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an unspeakable crime, it propels them

into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion. The riveting and gloriously

hopeful parade plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th. Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.

From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.

Coming up on forum, Anna Schechtman was 19 when she published her first crossword in the New York Times.

And when longtime puzzle editor Will Shorts then asked her to be his assistant,

she knew she was entering a male-dominated space. But Checkman also knew the evolution of the

beloved interlocking word grid included many women pioneers. And her new book, part history, part memoir,

shares her path to embracing her role in reflecting and defining common knowledge

through the crossword. It's called The Riddles of the Sphinx, inheriting the feminist history

of the crossword puzzle. Join us. Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim. Can you think of a seven-letter word for the crossword clue, complex character, with a question mark at the end? If your mind flows to Oedipus, you're probably comfortable in the wonderfully nerdy world of crossword puzzle fanatics. Anna Schechtman has been making crosswords since she was 15, drawn to the idea that through riddles and puns, a crossword puzzle constructor could access, quote, something foundational about language, a quasi-mathematical code that could be rearranged and manipulated through brainpower alone.

Shuckman now creates puzzles for the New Yorker, and in her new book, The Riddles of the Sphinx, she explores the art, the history, and the politics of crossword making.

Anna Shetman, welcome to forum.

Thank you so much. I'm delighted to be here.

So I want to start by talking about what goes into designing a crossword.

And that crossword clue, the one that you wrote that I shared at the top, seven letters for complex character, is also one of the ones you open your book with.

And I'm wondering if you could break it down for us, what the clue is doing and how someone

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