She Puts Words to Work in a Puzzling ProfessionIt's said that everyone's born with a talent. Some of us are born carpenters; others are born dancers.
Gail Marie is a born cruciverbalist.
A cruciverbalist, [kroo-suh-vur-buh-list], is a designer or aficionado of crossword puzzles. Gail Marie is both.
She wrote her first crossword in 1990 as a training tool for cable TV. It bothered her that co-workers would spell cable: C-A-B-E-L, so she developed a puzzle comprised of cable television terminology that couldn't be completed unless you spelled everything correctly. After writing three training crosswords for the company, then getting requests for personalized puzzles, she broke away and started Custom Crosswords.
Her website, customcrosswords.com, was put together in 1991, before dot-com's were taken seriously, and she has been writing customized crossword and word search puzzles ever since ~ still using graph paper and pencil! They are constructed from a list of words all about the individuals, couples, families, businesses, organizations, or corporations. A couple of past technical crosswords include one written for the State of California to train firemen on hazardous materials, and another on gastrointestinal diseases written for Johns Hopkins website. A few of Gail's favorite crosswords are:
A Diamond is a Fan's Best Friend, (baseball terms),
A Frog's Life, and
What Are You Afraid Of? (different phobias).
She brought her business to Las Vegas in 2003, with the trade show industry in mind to produce contest crosswords and word search puzzles. In 2010, she began performing stand-up comedy after trying to get a friend involved, and still does from time to time at Open Mics in and around Las Vegas.
Today Gail Marie enjoys speaking to groups about her fun and games profession, adding humor into her presentations, and likes to share what it was like growing up as a true "word nerd."
