Alpha Sleuth®: How It's Made

Alpha Sleuth®: How It's Made

by Dan Meinking

The idea for this article stems from the Discovery Channel show, "How It's Made". When someone buys a product (a toaster, dog leash, radio, etc.) they rarely get to know about the work that went into producing it. Like the TV show, this essay aims to give you that behind-the-scenes look into how Alpha Sleuth® publications are made.

We don't have a production line, space-age equipment or fancy gadgetry. But we do have a very talented team. And some state-of-the-art computing tools, as you'll see shortly.

This website, of course, is an integral part of our printed offerings. Our Web guru, Jennifer Meinking, has put in extensive hours creating and developing the infrastructure, as well as the general "look and feel" of www.alphasleuth.com. She's also put her SEO (Search Engine Optimization) skills to good use, helping our site attract attention from near and far. If you've enjoyed your stay, visit her personal website, Fingerprints Boutique, and let her know!

The printed product would not be possible but for the tremendous development work by Dave Brown. Dave is our "fonts and graphics" wizard. Thanks to his creative drive, we're able to produce a very professionally made journal with relative ease. His graphics add fun and flare to the publication and the website. Just ask Einstein!

Of course, the physical magazine requires an eye-grabbing cover. Enter Colleen Meinking! Her artistic design earned some great feedback via our Guest Book and Testimonials pages. Colleen is also our primary business liaison, tracking down vendor leads, delivery arrangements, etc. She also located our printer -- Deerfield Press -- who produces the finished product:

All puzzles (books, website, or newspapers) are recorded and printed using the Alpha Sleuth® Composing Tool (or "ASCT"), developed by Dan Meinking. The ASCT provides a number of features during the puzzle composing process that ensure the highest quality product:

verifies that the entire letter-set is used
verifies that all words in the grid and phrase are valid
verifies proper numbering and hidden-letter combinations
assigns cell-numbers based on user-selected algorithm

When recorded and 'finalized' in the ASCT, our 10/14/2007 Solving Contest puzzle looks like this:

Notice how the numbered 'cells' are assigned (automatically) in the phrase and grid. Grid cells that will be given as clues (exposed letters) in the diagram are also revealed on ASCT. The composer can set the background-, letter-, and number-cell color combinations to his or her liking -- ten colors to choose from for each, thanks to Dave's graphics! (When completed, our Solving Tool will give the solver the same flexibility.)

Creating a finished puzzle is the final step in the composing process. But first, the composer must create a solution! In the ASCT, the 10/14/2008 Solving Contest puzzle appears like this:

The composer can flip back-and-forth between 'Puzzle Mode' and 'Solution Mode' until the puzzle is just right.

Once a complete set of puzzles is ready (i.e. composed, recorded, and finalized within the Composing Tool), the next step is to select and arrange them. Since puzzles appear two per page, and solutions side-by-side (six to a page), we try to organize them so they're in 'relative order' (lowest to highest Levels), and so that they'll pair together well when printed. This process is made fairly easy by the ASCT's 'File Manager' function -- a separate interactive menu.

As part of the 'management' step, we also check for duplicate words used throughout the puzzle-set. If needed, we may make a few last-minute alterations to minimize the number of reused words. Another quick round of re-arranging puzzles should be all that's needed. Now, with everything recorded and arranged appropriately, we move to the printing stage.

Thanks to Dave's font series, the Composing Tool can convert a puzzle-set into viewable, printable puzzles and solutions in seconds! The ASCT also generates the Hints and Word List sections in a flash. These generated print images are combined, tweaked, and enhanced by the addition of graphics, text boxes, etc. This 'polishing' may take a few hours.

By utilizing the Font Series and Composing Tool in this way -- our 'production line', if you will -- we can virtually guarantee that the finished product will be error-free. Once we're satisfied with the end-product, Deerfield Press takes over. We spend a few days proofreading printed samples, make any necessary adjustments, then off to the presses!

To sum up, the process to produce Alpha Sleuth® publications is:

compose the puzzles (this is about 90% of the work)
select the puzzles we want
check each puzzle for originality
arrange them for good print pairings
adjust per overall word usage
generate the print images
combine, format and polish the print images
proofread the draft copies
make any last-minute adjustments
print the full order

We hope this article was informative and entertaining!

Feel free to contact us with any comments or suggestions.