William Cobb (the inventor of the CrosScan format) has a varied educational and professional background including music, teaching and sales. CrosScan is his life's passion. He is continually working at refining the complexity and interest of the puzzles.

Susan Tanner Brown (word lists and design) is the owner of Belle Vista Graphics in Sunbury, PA. Her educational background includes language arts and publications design. Her wide range of interests and research skills generate an inexhaustible variety of puzzle themes.

   Birth of a CrosScan Puzzle

1.  We generate a word list. (See the Themes section.) Old tech combines with new ... Wikipedia, dictionary, thesaurus, almanac, observation and brainstorming are all parts of the process. Generating a list can make a long car ride more fun, and it's a nice alternative to counting sheep.

2.  Bill constructs a grid and works from the list, fitting in as many overlapping words as possible. "Red herring" words also pop up during this process.

3.  We brainstorm the definitions, using puns and humor but keeping it accessible (your readers will probably learn a few things but won't have to be chained to a dictionary).

4.  Sue converts Bill's work into camera-ready format, solves the puzzle, and proofreads intensively (many years of printing experience make this second nature.)