Whether it is a birthday, anniversary, family reunion, or any of an abundance of other reasons ( click here ), a crossword puzzle, personalized for the event, tells the person, couple or group how much they are thought of – and immortalizes the special event in a fun way.
Whether you want to have Personalized Crossword Puzzles create your puzzle for you or you plan to do it yourself, you need to have a list of words and clues as the foundation for the puzzle.
If you know the person, couple or group well, it may be relatively easy to pull the list of words and clues together. You may find, however, that the particulars you know and are sure of aren’t as many as you would like to include. One way to come up with ideas is to ask others who can add to the list. If this is the case, you can add to the fun of building the word-and-clue list by gathering with a group over coffee or a pizza party, for example, to produce a complete list of interesting words and clues.
To get you started, here are some categories to keep in mind as you think of ideas for words and clues.
FAVORITES
Music: Song, type of music, band, singer, concert, etc.
Movies: Film or TV show, genre, actor or actress, theatre, director, etc.
Sports: Team, sporting event, athlete, ball park or arena, coach, etc.
Vehicles: year, make and/or model of car, type of car (sedan, convertible, etc.), motorcycle or boat, etc.
Personal preferences: color, food, restaurant, drink, dessert, method of travel, type of pet, etc.
(You also might consider any of the above in terms of things they dislike or even hate.)
FACTS
Personal facts: Age, month/day/year of birth, hospital born in, hometown, schools attended, nicknames, sibling names, friends’ names, pets names, job/career, military background, etc.
Family: marital status (if married, details about their spouse), children, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, etc.
Physical characteristics: color of hair/eyes, short/tall, heavy/skinny/muscular, left/right handed, piercings, hairstyle, tattoos, etc.
Personality traits: shy/outgoing, caring, decisive, devoted, polite, friendly, generous, lazy, kind, etc.
Talents: singing, playing a musical instrument(s), juggling, skating, dancing, painting, etc.
Collections: Coins, music boxes, kaleidoscopes, toys, books, buttons, etc.
Activities: Gardening, stamp collecting, skiing, hiking, knitting, volunteering, baking, traveling, cycling, tennis, golf, etc.
Past times: Reading, watching TV, listening to music, napping, doing crossword puzzles, surfing the net, talking politics, etc.
Style of clothing: hip, mod, chic, retro, casual, revival, etc.
Employers: first employer, current employer, best/worst boss, best/worst job, co-workers, etc.
You might find additional help online by visiting various sites, like: ‘a dictionary of…’ or “a glossary of…’ that may give you additional clues particularly if you need help with references to activities or interests that you are not familiar with.
GROUPS OR TEAMS
Purpose: What is your mission or goal?
Location: Where do you meet and/or practice?
When: What days/times do you meet? How often?
Identifiers: What are your “colors”, mascot, insignia, nickname, uniforms?
Membership: Who is the founding member, oldest member, most recent member?
Affiliations: What larger organization(s) are the group or team part of or sanctioned by?
Number: How many in the group or on the team?
Roles: Which members have certain roles, parts or responsibilities?
Attendance: Who is always on time, always late or never missed?
Sponsorship: Who sponsors the group/team? Who does the group/team sponsor?
Dues/fees: How much does it cost to be a member?
Events: What special meetings or events are connected with the group?
Awards/recognition: What special recognition or awards has the group or team earned?
(For business applications, categories can include: employee of the month, anniversaries, departments, events, customers, milestones, company colors, products/services, initiatives, themes, seasonal references, competition, etc. click here for more information)
SOME ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS…
Most personalized puzzles are intended to have fun – and sometimes even “poke fun” at the honored individual or group; however, it may be easy to offend either the honoree or someone else doing the puzzle, so please be considerate when choosing the words and clues for the puzzle. This is especially true when the puzzle might be used by companies and corporations.
Most often, personalized puzzles are not intended to stump the puzzle-doers. Generally, the words and clues are selected to recollect certain highlights, rather than make the puzzle difficult to complete.
