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Crosswords are big business. The games section of The New York Times alone ¨C which includes daily crosswords, Wordle, Sudoku and other puzzles ¨C was played 11.1 billion times last year after an explosion in popularity in recent years.

But some academics have been involved in creating these daily challenges for much longer. Mark MacLachlan, a professor of chemistry and dean of science at the University of British Columbia, first had a crossword accepted by the Los Angeles Times in 2016 and has created about 75 puzzles since.

MacLachlan told?̽»¨ÊÓƵ?that his scientific background has helped him to come up with new themes for crossword puzzles, and sees a lot of overlap in puzzle solving, creativity, and in the field of science.

¡°Science itself is a creative pursuit, and it requires a lot of puzzle solving to unravel the mysteries that you unveil in the lab. In our chemistry lab, we make some new molecule, and it¡¯s a puzzle to solve how we made it and what it is that we actually form, and so I think that most scientists have got a pretty strong puzzle mind.¡±

Some of his crosswords have been published in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. MacLachlan said he has found juggling his administrative role, his academic role?and his crossword hobby challenging ¨C?but sees creating puzzles as a great source of relaxation.

¡°I do feel that there is more and more work and more stuff that gets downloaded to professors?and more competition as well. I think people are submitting more and more research grants to try and put together a research programme that might have been a lot easier 30 or 40 years ago.

¡°But at the end of the day, I think you need to make time to relax and to let your mind wander. I don¡¯t think there will be an end to that, especially?after a gruelling day; everybody needs to sit down and relax.¡±

George Barany, professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Minnesota, has been creating puzzles for decades and often includes them at the back of exams for students who have finished with time to spare.

Barany, who said most of his good ideas come while daydreaming, said there is a lot of crossover between the creativity skills and work ethic needed to be both an academic and a creator of crosswords.

¡°Many crossword constructors have a background in computers or math or, interestingly enough, in music, where you have to keep multiple things going at the same time. Like anything else, it takes practice. There are no shortcuts, and you just have to do a lot of puzzles.¡±

There is also a social element to it. Since his puzzle hobby was ¡°exposed¡± after 20 years of doing it in secret, MacLachlan said he has had countless people share their enthusiasm for crosswords with him.

Barany said he has a close group of friends who all collaborate and critique each other¡¯s work, giving him a ¡°sense of community¡± that can sometimes be lacking in modern higher education.

¡°These are people with widely different backgrounds, but we have this common interest. A lot of academic life is very solitary ¨C you¡¯re in the lab doing experiments, you have some downtime between experiments, you can do a puzzle for a break or relaxation.

¡°Every time I¡¯ve had a puzzle published, it seems to bring out somebody from the woodwork who I¡¯ve lost track of, 10, 20, even 50 years ago. I¡¯ve reconnected with childhood friends because they saw my name in the newspaper, so that¡¯s been rewarding.¡±

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com