Science: The Magician and the Crossword | The New York Times
TLDRThe speaker, a passionate wordsmith and magician, shares his unique approach to creating crossword puzzles and blending magic with sophistication. Drawing inspiration from history, he crafts puzzles that challenge and delight, incorporating a magic trick that reveals a selected card, showcasing his lifelong dedication to meticulous research and the art of illusion.
Takeaways
- 🧩 The speaker aims to create a crossword puzzle, incorporating audience suggestions to increase difficulty.
- 🎩 The speaker is a magician with a love for words and magic, blending both in their performances.
- 🏆 The speaker values sophistication and aims to bring back the elegance of the Golden Age of Magic in their shows.
- 🤓 The speaker's meticulous and obsessive personality traits are reflected in their pursuits of crossword puzzles and magic.
- 🎓 A history major with a focus on entertainment history, the speaker was drawn to the world of Vaudeville and magicians from the past.
- 📚 The speaker's interest in crosswords was sparked by a friend's successful puzzle in the New York Times.
- 💼 The speaker's career transitioned from magic to storytelling in Hollywood, working for Dreamworks Animation.
- 🃏 The speaker is proud of their unique crossword puzzle trick, which they believe no one else can perform.
- 🚗 The speaker is currently on their way to perform private magic shows for colleagues and friends.
- 🔍 Creating a crossword puzzle involves meticulous research, starting with a theme and carefully placing entries in the grid.
- 🎉 The speaker's crossword puzzle feat took over a year to develop, drawing from a lifetime of accumulated knowledge.
Q & A
What is the speaker's intention with the puzzle?
-The speaker intends to create a crossword puzzle that is both challenging and interactive, incorporating suggestions from the audience and involving a magic trick element.
How does the speaker describe their personality?
-The speaker describes themselves as very type A with an addictive personality, drawn to crossword puzzles and magic due to the meticulous research and pursuit of perfection involved in both activities.
What is the speaker's background in magic and performance?
-The speaker has a background in magic that emphasizes sophistication and a return to the Golden Age of Magic. They were influenced by the history of entertainment and magicians from the 19th century while studying at Harvard as a history major.
What is unique about the speaker's approach to crossword puzzles?
-The speaker's approach to crossword puzzles is unique because it combines their love for magic and wordplay, resulting in the creation of tricky and devious puzzles that often bend the rules of traditional crossword construction.
How did the speaker's interest in crossword puzzles develop?
-The speaker's interest in crossword puzzles developed after a friend, Kevin, created a puzzle for the New York Times. This experience hooked the speaker, leading them to learn how to make their own puzzles.
What is the speaker's profession and how does it relate to their interests?
-The speaker works in the film industry, specifically for Dreamworks Animation, and they strive to fuse their love for magic with their career in Hollywood. They also continue to perform magic regularly.
What is the significance of the speaker's crossword puzzle trick?
-The significance of the speaker's crossword puzzle trick is that it represents a unique and personal invention that combines their lifelong interests and knowledge, and they believe they are the only person in the world capable of performing it.
How does the speaker feel about the current state of magic?
-The speaker feels that magic has become too focused on the Las Vegas style of performance and has strayed from its more sophisticated and classy roots. They aim to bring magic back to a more elegant era reminiscent of the 19th century.
What role does the speaker's friend, Kevin, play in their crossword puzzle journey?
-Kevin, who created a puzzle for the New York Times, introduced the speaker to the world of crossword puzzle creation. They worked together to develop and submit challenging puzzles.
How does the speaker incorporate their love for magic into their professional life?
-The speaker incorporates their love for magic into their professional life by working in the film industry, particularly in storytelling and animation, which allows them to practice and perform magic regularly.
What is the speaker's view on the role of crossword puzzles in modern society?
-The speaker views crossword puzzles as a return to a time when media and information did not bombard people constantly. They see puzzles as a way to engage the mind actively and challenge it, rather than passively consuming information.
Outlines
🧩 Introducing the Crossword Puzzle Magic
The speaker expresses their desire to create a crossword puzzle, incorporating audience suggestions to add difficulty. They mention their background as a word enthusiast and magician, emphasizing the importance of presentation and sophistication in their work. The speaker draws parallels between their love for magic and crossword puzzles, highlighting the meticulous research and perfectionism involved in both. They share their history as a Harvard history major, fascinated by the Golden Age of Magic and entertainment, which led to their career in the film industry. The speaker prides themselves on inventing a unique crossword trick that combines their passions and knowledge, taking over a year to develop.
🎩 Behind the Scenes of Puzzle Creation and Magic
The speaker delves into the process of creating a crossword puzzle, discussing the placement of theme entries and the strategic use of black boxes to increase difficulty and prestige. They share their appreciation for magic's ability to reveal the workings behind illusions, contrasting it with the joy of being part of a shared experience like crossword puzzles. The speaker also reflects on the value of puzzles in a media-saturated world, offering a challenge rather than passive consumption. They conclude with a nod to the magic trick involved in their puzzle, hinting at the surprise and delight it brings to audiences.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Crossword Puzzle
💡Magic
💡Presentation
💡Addictive Personality
💡Golden Age of Magic
💡Vaudeville
💡Slight of Hand
💡Ricky Jay
💡Dreamworks Animation
💡New York Times Crossword Puzzle
💡Theme Answer
💡Seven of Diamonds
Highlights
The speaker aims to create a crossword puzzle, incorporating audience suggestions and a magic trick.
The magic trick involves the use of words starting with 'G' and the prefix 'gastro', inspired by the speaker's name 'David Quang'.
The speaker emphasizes the importance of presentation in magic, aiming to bring back the sophistication of the 19th-century Golden Age of Magic.
The speaker's crossword puzzle trick is a unique blend of sophistication and magic, reflecting their type A personality and addiction to meticulous research.
The speaker's interest in crossword puzzles and magic began at Harvard, where they were a history major with a focus on entertainment history.
After college, the speaker collaborated with friend Kevin, creating puzzles for the New York Times and pushing the boundaries of traditional crosswords.
The speaker's move to Los Angeles to work with Ricky Jay introduced them to the art of storytelling, leading to a career in the film industry at Dreamworks Animation.
The speaker continues to perform magic in Los Angeles, combining it with their Hollywood career.
Creating new magic tricks and illusions is challenging due to the long history of magic, making the speaker's crossword puzzle trick particularly impressive as an original creation.
The development of the crossword puzzle feat took over a year, but the speaker sees it as a culmination of a lifetime of accumulated knowledge.
The speaker plans to create a New York Times-worthy crossword puzzle with live audience participation and a magic twist.
Crossword puzzles often start with a theme or trick, and the speaker is having difficulty deciding between a red or black theme.
The placement of theme entries in a crossword grid and the strategic use of black boxes contribute to the puzzle's difficulty and prestige.
The speaker enjoys the behind-the-scenes aspect of magic and crossword puzzles, appreciating the process of knowing how things work.
Crossword puzzles offer a return to engagement and problem-solving in a media-saturated world, requiring active participation from the solver.
The magic trick concludes with the revelation of a selected card, the seven of diamonds, showcasing the speaker's unique blend of magic and crossword puzzles.
Transcripts
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