It’s all puzzles all the time around here right now. Not a bad way to spend a day, eh?

I am creating puzzles for the Sports Illustrated for Kids 2009 Year in Sports. No, I’m not predicting the future, and I don’t know who will win the 2009 World Series, etc. The contents of the book cover late-2007 and early-2008. You can check out the 2008 Year in Sports here.

I’ve done puzzles for the magazine and for a couple of special projects, but having puzzles in the annual book is a new thing. A brilliant addition, don’t you think? Yay! I need to make spectacular puzzles so they’ll want to have them in future editions as well.

The hardest part is finding and choosing the facts to highlight. For instance, I’m doing one puzzle on tennis. So what one fact should I build the puzzle around? Do I go with one of the year’s most amazing feats, or something more obscure? Should I highlight the US Open or the Australian Open? A record, a person, or a group of people with something in common? So many choices!

Today I discovered that I have too many facts and potential puzzles starring male athletes. Women are under-represented. Is that a cliche or what? I hate being cliche.

When I need a break from sports puzzles, I shift my focus to Alaska natural history puzzles. No kidding. I’m working on a couple of puzzle books for Taku Graphics and Alaska Geographic.