What does it mean to be assistant puzzles editor for The Times, and how does technology assist you in your daily tasks?

The puzzles I create are all done on my own time. My daily routine involves working with the puzzles editor, Will Shortz, and the digital puzzles editor, Joel Fagliano, with the three of us making up The New York Times Crossword’s editorial team.

All crossword puzzles published in The Times have been accepted through our open submission process. The backbone of my job consists of reviewing puzzle manuscripts that are sent our way, and then corresponding with the puzzle makers to inform them of our decision, as well as offer constructive feedback where appropriate.

Each puzzle is judged holistically, under the same considerations discussed with crossword creation: the interest of the theme, the quality of the surrounding grid and answers, the appropriateness of the clues. If we like a puzzle, we accept it and file it into our queue; its clues will be edited for style and accuracy in the weeks before publication.

At the forefront of this entire process is a need for information, which is now quickly and readily available in the internet era. Sometimes I’ll need to verify an answer unfamiliar to me; Will’s bookshelves are lined with trusted reference works, but a simple web search on a term can be done with the click of a button, and it can sometimes lead me down a rabbit hole that ultimately inspires an interesting clue.

With smartphones in our hands, there are now many ways for people to solve the Times crossword. How has this changed puzzle solving?

There is certainly something to be said for solving a newspaper crossword in pencil, just as there is for holding a physical book to read.