Editing Crossword (section)

=== Female crossword constructors ===
Women editors such as [[Margaret Farrar]] were influential in the first few decades of puzzle-making, and women constructors such as [[Bernice Gordon]] and [[Elizabeth Gorski]] have each contributed hundreds of puzzles to ''The New York Times''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Elizabeth+C.+Gorski|title=Elizabeth C. Gorski|website=xwordinfo.com|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> However, in recent years the number of women constructors has declined. During the years that [[Will Weng]] and [[Eugene Thomas Maleska|Eugene Maleska]] edited the [[The New York Times crossword puzzle|New York Times crossword]] (1969–1993), women constructors accounted for 35% of puzzles,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://theamericanreader.com/puzzle-trouble-women-and-crosswords-in-the-age-of-autofill/|title=Puzzle Trouble: Women and Crosswords in the Age of Autofill|last=Shechtman|first=Anna|date=2014|website=The American Reader|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/|title=The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project|last=Steinberg|first=David|access-date=17 January 2014}}</ref> while during the editorship of [[Will Shortz]] (1993–present), this percentage has gone down, with women constructors (including collaborations) accounting for only 15% of puzzles in both 2014 and 2015, 17% of puzzles published in 2016, 13%—the lowest in the "Shortz Era"—in 2017, and 16% in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.xwordinfo.com/Women|title=Women constructors in the Shortz Era|website=xwordinfo.com|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/puzzling-women/|title=Puzzling Women: Where are the female constructors?|last1=Kosman|first1=Joshua|last2=Picciotto|first2=Henry|date=2014|website=thenation.com|access-date=18 January 2017|archive-date=2 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202074502/https://www.thenation.com/article/puzzling-women/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Several reasons have been given for the decline in women constructors. One explanation is that the gender imbalance in crossword construction is similar to that in related fields, such as [[Women in journalism|journalism]], and that more [[Freelancer|freelance]] male constructors than females submit puzzles on spec to ''The New York Times'' and other outlets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tausig |first=Ben |date=21 August 2013 |title=The Crossword Puzzle: Where'd the Women Go? |url=https://thehairpin.com/the-crossword-puzzle-whered-the-women-go-c25dee229b3f |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422010202/https://thehairpin.com/the-crossword-puzzle-whered-the-women-go-c25dee229b3f#.ufszwy6ib |archive-date=22 April 2017 |access-date=17 January 2017 |website=[[The Hairpin]]}}</ref> Another explanation is that computer-assisted construction and the increased influence of computational approaches in generating word lists may be making crossword construction more like [[Women in STEM fields|STEM fields in which women are underrepresented for a number of factors]].<ref name=":0" /> However, it has also been argued that this explanation risks propagating myths about gender and technology.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ravishly.com/ladies-we-love/elizabeth-gorski-new-york-times-crossword-creator|title=Elizabeth Gorski: New York Times Crossword Creator|date=2014|website=Ravishly.com|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref> Some have argued that the relative absence of women constructors and editors has had an influence on the content of the puzzles themselves, and that clues and entries can be insensitive regarding language related to gender and race.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/06/28/the_new_york_times_crossword_can_be_clueless_about_race_and_gender.html|title=Why Is the New York Times Crossword So Clueless About Race and Gender?|last=Graham|first=Ruth|date=2016|website=Slate.com|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theoutline.com/post/1651/the-nyt-crossword-is-old-and-kind-of-racist|title=The NYT Crossword Is Old and Kind Of Racist|last=Jeffries|first=Adrianne|date=2017|website=The Outline|access-date=14 June 2017}}</ref> [[Margaret Irvine]] suggested that lack of confidence was a barrier.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Alan Connor |author1-link=Alan Connor |title=Crossword blog: meet the setter – Nutmeg |url=https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2017/apr/10/crossword-blog-meet-the-setter-nutmeg |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=18 July 2023 |date=10 April 2017}}</ref> Several approaches have been suggested to develop more women in the field, including mentoring novice women constructors and encouraging women constructors to publish their puzzles independently.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://crosswordfiend.com/2014/03/06/women-and-crossword-construction-part-1-why-the-underrepresentation/|title=Women and Crossword Construction, Part 1: Why the underrepresentation?|last=Reynaldo|first=Amy|date=2014|website=Diary of a Crossword Fiend|access-date=17 January 2017}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

Crossword venues other than ''[[New York Times]]'' have recently published higher percentages of women than that puzzle. In the spring of 2018, Patti Varol and Amy Reynaldo organized and edited a pack of 18 puzzles constructed by women called "Women of Letters".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pattivarol.com/women-of-letters|title=Women of Letters|website=Patti Varol}}</ref> Inspired by this, Laura Braunstein and Tracy Bennett launched ''The Inkubator'', a "twice-monthly subscription service that will publish crosswords constructed by cis women, trans women, and woman-aligned constructors."<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Gavin |first1=Hailey |title=The Inkubator Is on a Mission to Publish More Female Crossword Puzzle Constructors |url=https://slate.com/culture/2018/10/inkubator-aims-to-publish-more-female-crossword-constructors.html |website=Slate.com |date=23 October 2018 |publisher=Slate |access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> ''The Inkubator'' raised over $30,000 in its initial Kickstarter campaign,<ref>{{cite web |title=The Inkubator – Kickstarter |url=https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laurabrarian/the-inkubator/description |access-date=16 January 2019}}</ref> and began publishing puzzles on January 17, 2019. A book of 100 puzzles, ''Inkubator Crosswords: 100 Audacious Puzzles by Women and Nonbinary Creators,'' was published in 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inkubator Crosswords |url=https://publishing.andrewsmcmeel.com/book/inkubator-crosswords-tracy-bennett/ |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Andrews McMeel Publishing |language=en-US}}</ref> On February 8, 2023, they announced to subscribers that 2023 would be their final year as a subscription service.<ref>{{Cite web |title=the following announcement recently went to our subscribers: After much careful thought, the Inkubator team has made the decision that 2023 will be our last year as a subscription service + |url=https://twitter.com/InkubatorXWords/status/1625260056475320326 |access-date=2023-03-25 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref>