Today the Visual Thesaurus launches an exciting new feature for you, our fine subscribers: Our very own -- original -- Visual Thesaurus crossword puzzles! And not just any puzzles, but crosswords conjured up by Brendan Quigley, a veteran puzzlemaster who contributes regularly to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Onion. We're very excited to have Brendan create custom puzzles for the Visual Thesaurus community. How does he do it? In our conversation below, Brendan cracks the mystery. Well, sort of...  Continue reading...

I recently spent an entire Saturday listening to a bunch of 16-year-olds argue with each other. And then I graded their efforts to help determine a winner. Sounds odd, I know. But that's the world of competitive debating. And what works for these high schoolers on the podium, can work for your writing, too.

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Sparrow, a pundit poet from Phoenicia, New York, graciously contributed the following column.

Nouns are becoming verbs faster than ever before. I've been "journaling" on this phenomenon, and here's my report:

In the Old Days, every new invention did not immediately become a verb. No one said: "I must electric canopener this tuna," or "Well, it's time to dishwasher." But ever since the Fall of Communism, new consumer items have been verbified. We do say: "I'll fax you that receipt," "Can you e-mail me the final figures?" "Let's microwave the taco," and "Shh! I'm text-messaging!" (In fact, "text-messaging" is giving way to the more direct "texting.")

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Hal Sirowitz's special education students in the New York City public school system were doubly lucky: Their devoted teacher was also an award-winning poet. Now retired after 25 years as an educator, Hal is the author of four books of poetry including Mother Said and Father Said -- delicious dry humor based on his parents' harping. From 2001 to 2003 the borough of Queens honored Hal by naming him their "Poet Laureate." We spoke to him about his poetry and how he incorporated it into his teaching.

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Are you old enough to remember TV cartoons from the 1960s? If so (or if you're a 'toon fan), you may recall a miniature devil, complete with pitchfork, who sat on the shoulder of many a main character. This little devil whispered bad advice and spiteful ideas into the character's ear -- egging him on to do the wrong or rotten thing. Believe it or not, you too have a devil sitting on your shoulder. And he can really mess up your writing.

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Sometimes you read a journalist's account of a place, person or situation that draws you in so deep you forget you're reading "news." They're more than just stories: The real-life scenes immerse you in a way that not only sticks, sometimes forever, but gives you meaning. To your humble editor, the absolute lion of this kind of journalism -- literary journalism -- was a legendary Polish reporter named Ryszard Kapuscinski, who sadly passed away last month. He was a hero, too, to a Canadian journalist named Deborah Campbell. Besides writing about the Middle East, Cuba and Russia and other places for leading publications, Deborah teaches literary journalism at the University of British Columbia. We had a fascinating conversation with her about this genre:

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The Visual Thesaurus is very excited to support WNYC New York Public Radio's The Leonard Lopate Show, part of our commitment to sponsor public radio across the country. For those of you outside of Gotham, Leonard Lopate is a radio legend, a masterful interviewer who holds captivating on-air conversations with eclectic guests -- actors, writers, artists, sports heroes, chefs, even ex-presidents. We thought it would be fascinating to turn the tables on Leonard: Interview him about the art of interviewing. Here's our conversation:

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