University of Illinois students get crossword published in New York Times

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WLS) -- Did you do the New York Times crossword Tuesday? If so, you did a puzzle created by a trio of University of Illinois students.

Jack Joshi, Jackson Janes and Adam Aaronson started creating a crossword for the Times in 2020. After months of work, they submitted it to the newspaper in November 2020.

In February of 2021, the trio received a call from the paper saying their crossword would be accepted and printed. The puzzle was finally published in Tuesday's paper.

This is the first time they have collaborated on making a crossword puzzle, but the three friends are avid puzzlers and Aaronson has a particular affinity for crosswords. He has had nine other crosswords published in various outlets.