Okay, so today I decided to tackle something totally new – making a crossword puzzle based on the Chinese Book of Divination, you know, the I Ching. Sounds kinda wild, right? But I was curious, and hey, why not?
First things first, I needed to brush up on my I Ching knowledge. I mean, I’ve dabbled before, thrown the coins a few times, but I’m no expert. So, I spent a good chunk of the morning reading through different interpretations of the hexagrams. Lots of deep stuff about yin and yang, changing lines, and all that.
Then came the hard part – figuring out how to turn all this complex stuff into crossword clues. It’s not like you can just say “Hexagram 1: The Creative” and expect people to know it, you know? I needed to find a way to make it both understandable and, well, clue-like.
I started by listing out all 64 hexagrams, because obviously, I needed them all. Then, beside each one, I jotted down some keywords and phrases that seemed important. This was kinda messy, just a big brainstorm on paper.
Getting into the Grid
Next, I grabbed some graph paper – old school, I know! – and started to sketch out a grid. I wasn’t aiming for anything fancy, just a basic square. I figured a smaller puzzle would be easier for my first attempt, so I went with a 15×15 grid.
- Choosing the words was tricky! I wanted a mix of easier clues (like maybe “Yin ___ Yang”) and some harder ones that really made you think about the I Ching’s meanings.
- I kept going back and forth, erasing words, rewriting clues, trying to make everything fit. It’s like a puzzle within a puzzle!
- It takes time to find a balance.
The “Aha!” Moment
The real “aha!” moment came when I realized I could use the trigrams (those three-line symbols that make up the hexagrams) as clues. Like, I could say “Top trigram of Hexagram 5” and the answer would be “Water” (or Kan, if you’re feeling fancy). That opened up a whole bunch of possibilities!
After a few hours of tinkering, I finally had something that looked like a crossword. It wasn’t perfect, and I’m sure some I Ching purists would have some notes, but it was mine. And it was actually kinda fun to solve!
I haven’t put this thing that created into digital or anything,it’s still all on paper for * there has online tools can help me do it,I will find it next time.
So, yeah, that was my day. From ancient Chinese wisdom to a homemade crossword puzzle. Who knew?
