Alright, so I got this idea today – a crossword puzzle. But not just any crossword, one about legendary Brazilian midfielders. Yeah, I’m a huge football fan, always have been. Brazil’s got some of the best midfielders ever, so I thought, why not make a fun little game about them?
First, I jotted down all the Brazilian midfielders I could think of. You know, the big names like Zico, Socrates, Kaka, and Ronaldinho. Man, just thinking about those guys gets me pumped up! I also included some lesser-known but still awesome players, just to make it a bit more challenging.
Then, I started sketching out a grid. It’s way harder than it looks! I tried fitting the names in, making sure they intersected properly. It was like a real brain teaser, moving names around, trying different combinations. I must’ve redone the grid like ten times, no joke.
- First draft: Too many short names clumped together.
- Second draft: Couldn’t fit in Rivaldo, my favorite! Back to square one.
- Third draft: Looked okay, but felt kinda boring.
- And so on… I lost count, to be honest.
After the grid was finally sorted, I moved on to the clues. This part was fun. I wanted the clues to be a mix of easy and hard, some obvious, some that would make you really think. I did some digging online to find interesting facts and trivia about each player.
For example, for Zico, I wrote something like, “The ‘White Pele’ who dazzled in the 80s.” For Kaka, I went with, “Ballon d’Or winner known for his elegant style.” You get the idea.
Finally, I put everything together. I used some simple design software to make it look nice, nothing fancy. I’m no graphic designer, haha. The whole thing took me most of the afternoon, but it was totally worth it. It’s not perfect, of course, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
I even tested it out on my brother, he’s a big football fan too. He struggled with a few clues, but he got most of them. He said it was “challenging but fun,” which is exactly what I was going for.
What I learned today
Making a crossword puzzle is way harder than it seems. It requires not only knowledge but also logic and a fair bit of planning. But it’s also super rewarding to see the finished product. Might make more of these in the future, who knows?
