Filling in a grid requires a huge data base of words and phrases, which puzzle constructors usually gather from existing lists like dictionaries or reference works, while contributing their own favorites. Finally, the computer numbers the grid. In all but the simplest puzzles, the writer will then create the clues. Crossword magazines took to computers first, partly because their less-complicated puzzles are easier to mass produce, and partly to satisfy a large and growing audience. While the number of titles has not changed recently, many now publish 16 issues a year, up from 12, Ms. McMann said.
Publishers are circumspect about how much of their product actually comes from computers.
When I started working at Penny Press in 1983 we had five titles, and now there are 32. All told, Penny Press and Dell publish 62 titles a year. Doug Heller, a crossword constructor in Flourtown, Pa., said he supervised the development of a computer program in 1988 for Kappa Publishing Group Inc. of Fort Washington, Pa., that helped the publisher increase its number of annual issues of puzzle magazines to about 800 from 200. Heller's latest version, which he developed for his own use, creates about 30 relatively simple puzzles a second. Nevertheless, this same assembly line potential has aficionados worried.