Whether it’s brunch (never prepared “over-easy") or killing 45 minutes on the F train, New Yorkers love their crossword puzzles. In the latest issue of Time Out New York, Paul Katz takes David J. Kahn—a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Sun crossword puzzles—to the gridiron for explanations behind his black & white (and sometimes shades of gray) world. An excerpt:

A typical grid can take Kahn 10 to 15 hours to create, and he finds inspiration in everything from books and billboards to talking heads. When Tom Brokaw punned that “Manhattanites define a hard drive as ‘a difficult commute,’ “Kahn went to work on “Technophobe’s Delight,” which eventually became his—and then President Bill Clinton’s—favorite puzzle. Another fan knit Kahn a wall hanging based on one of his more challenging grids. But, Kahn admits, the feedback isn’t always favorable. “I get approached at parties sometimes. Someone will really get into it and start debating the definitions I’ve used.” That aggravation is precisely why this old-fashioned wordsmith needn’t worry about job security in an increasingly high-tech world. “Even if they’re frustrating, crosswords entertain,” says Kahn. “As long as they do that, they’ll never go out of style.”

[Crossword Puzzles: A Master Class with David J. Kahn: 3/1/07]