Millions of people around the world love doing puzzles, and since the pandemic they’ve become even more popular. From complex sudoku grids to cryptic clues in crosswords, and recent viral sensations like Wordle, we have long been intrigued by them and make time to pursue them in our daily or weekly routines.

But, for some, puzzles are much more than a pastime. What’s it like to solve sudoku competitively or create crosswords for a living? And can puzzles be a space for feminist expression? Kim Chakanetsa speaks to two women to find out.

Tantan Dai from China is one of the world’s fastest sudoku solvers. What was once just an elective taken at school swiftly developed into a professional undertaking. She twice won gold in the under 18 category at the World Sudoku Championship. She’s currently based in the USA, where she’s studying mathematics.

Anna Shechtman from the United States had her first crossword published in the New York Times at the age of 19 and is now a crossword compiler for The New Yorker. She is also a Klarman Fellow at Cornell University and will begin as an assistant professor in the Department of Literatures in English in 2024.

Produced by Emily Naylor and Alice Gioia.

(IMAGE: (L), Anna Shechtman, courtesy of Emily Shechtman. (R), Tantan Dai, courtesy of Tantan Dai)