Charley Orbison, co-creator of the Texas Crossword, spends his free time riding the Texas Hill Country on his Harley Davidson Screamin’ Eagle Road King. He often rides with other men and women from the Grapevine, Keller and Trophy Club area. (Photo Courtesy of Charley Orbison)

by DAVID WHITE

Charley and Guy Orbison were both born and bred Texas proud and it shows in their cooperative brainchild known as the Texas Crossword Puzzle. Many of our readers may already be familiar with the Texas Crossword and just a couple of weeks ago the brothers passed their 1000th crossword milestone.

Older brother Charley thought up the idea. “Texans are proud of anything and everything Texan, so I thought the idea would be well received. And then there’s the famous shape of the state that seemed to be a natural eye-catcher for a new crossword puzzle,” Charley said. Charley’s brother Guy instantly saw the potential for the unique puzzle and became a driving force behind the business venture. “Had my brother not joined the effort, it probably never would have gotten done.”

The Orbison brothers first pitched their idea for syndication 19-plus years ago when they sent out a sample of the crossword and a cover letter to every newspaper in Texas. They got 16 takers right off the bat, including the Hays Free Press. That number grew steadily to 94 newspapers, but the economic downturn has hurt their subscription sales. “Today we have around 79 papers,” Charley says. “As the economy continues to improve, we expect the number of our clients will too.”

The Orbisons have many resources for their clues. “At the start, we bought dozens of books about Texas,” Charley says. “From these books, we created a database of Texas words and phrases that actually go into the puzzle. After the words go in the puzzle, the clue writing begins. Texas is so big and diverse, I really believe that if space were not an issue we could write a Texas clue for just about any word you could come up with.”

Charley admits that they’ll occasionally hear from a reader correcting them on their clues. “With the thousands of clues we write, it’s probably impossible not to make a few mistakes along the way. When a reader takes the time to write to tell us we got something wrong, we always write back to thank them, particularly when we find out they’re right!”

“We try to keep the Texas Crossword very positive, but sometimes a person might get offended by the way we express something from history, or the fact that we used a certain word at all. For example, the KKK was a part of Texas history, even though some people might not want to be reminded of that.”

“I remember the letter y’all (the Hays Free Press) got about ‘Yid’ (slang for Jew). We were not trying to be offensive, and in fact, we tried to write the clue in an inoffensive manner. But the word is in the dictionary and we should not be afraid of it. Maybe the clue should have been ‘A word that should never appear in a crossword’” Charley said jokingly.

For the Orbisons, the crossword puzzle is more of a labor of love than money. They do it because it brings enjoyment to Texans and it helps “foster the great traditions of the greatest state in the Union.” Also, it gives them something to do when they retire.

Charley and Guy each have full-time careers and each graduated from Abilene Christian University. Charley’s been a television journalist, a college teacher and spent 11 years serving as an Assistant District Attorney for Denton County, Texas. In 2009 he was promoted to Chief of the Appellate Division of the Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

Guy graduated from Abilene Christian Universtiy with three degrees and followed in his father’s footsteps by becoming a preacher. He lives in Colorado and is a minister of the Durango Church of Christ. He is also the director of a preacher training school and conducts lectures and programs throughout the United States. Now that Guy is in Colorado, the brothers do most of their crossword collaboration through email.

Another passion the brothers share is an affinity for the open road and the toys that take them there. “In the rare moments when I have some free time, I’m usually riding my motorcycle,” Charley said. And Guy’s ride? A 1973 Corvette Stingray that he restored and enjoys taking road trips in.