I love words, and I love learning new words. I try to put into each puzzle a word I'm unfamiliar with. The inspiration for these puzzles comes from Thomas H Middleton's puzzles which I got hooked on forty years ago. Double-crostics, as they were originally called, were invented by Elizabeth S. Kingsley in 1934 for the Saturday Review. Read more about them here.

Writing a Mac program to compose acrostic puzzles was a natural step for my friend Andrew McDaniel and me. All the puzzles on this site were written using that program. I'm responsible for the JavaScript code used to display the puzzles on this site. I'm always trying to improve it, so please let me know if there's anything you think could be better.

By the way, having a quote from a book or publication on this site's puzzles does not mean I endorse the book or publication, or the idea expressed in the quote. It does generally mean that I have read the work and have at least found it interesting.

Many thanks to Robert D. Chapman and intrepid Washington Apple Pi GameSIG members Jeff Stetekluh, Steve Payne, Paul Moore, Andrew McDaniel, and Steven Jablon, who not only worked some of these puzzles but also provided suggestions and ideas for improving the site.

Thanks also to Megan Edwards and Mark Sedenquist who run a great website called RoadTrip America. They were not only instrumental in helping me set up ACROSTICA but they furnished me with a pirate hat for International Talk Like A Pirate Day (Arrrrrr!).

Finally, thank you for visiting ACROSTICA. The computer is great for working these puzzles, since you no longer have to laboriously copy letters back and forth between the words and the grid. Let me know if you like them! Also, check out my other site at BarkAtYourFood.com and my columns on Living-Las-Vegas.

- Michael H. Dickman