tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78679625150424854572024-03-12T19:21:45.018-07:00The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle ProjectBRINGING OLD NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORDS INTO THE DIGITAL AGEUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger193125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-23235510378395885822019-07-25T08:23:00.003-07:002022-05-09T10:47:23.431-07:00Interview with Half-Century Constructor Lou SabinToday I'm delighted to publish an interview with Lou Sabin, a prolific <i>New York Times</i> crossword constructor of at least 137 puzzles, 108 during the pre-Shortz era and 29 under Will Shortz's editorship. Lou is also one of the few constructors to have published in <i>The Times</i> for more than 50 years! To read the interview, click <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html">here</a> or on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews tab above, then scroll down. If you'd like to read more about Lou, see <a href="https://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/flame/">this 2009 <i>Wordplay</i> article</a> by <i>XWord Info</i>'s Jim Horne and <a href="https://patch.com/new-jersey/eastbrunswick/the-puzzling-pastime-of-creating-crosswords">this 2011 profile by John Saccenti, "The Puzzling Pastime of Creating Crosswords."</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-37382176890256593602019-07-04T17:03:00.002-07:002022-05-09T10:47:48.077-07:00Alfio Micci, Virtuoso Violinist and ConstructorHappy Fourth of July! To celebrate, here are two wonderful new reminiscences of Alfio Micci, a virtuoso violinist and constructor whom I've written about <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/search/label/Alfio%20Micci">several times before</a>. For many years, Alfio played in the First Violin Section of the New York Philharmonic; he also published at least 91 <i>Times</i> crosswords in the pre-Shortz era and 11 under Will Shortz's editorship.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alfio Micci</i></td></tr>
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In early May this year, the following comment appeared on this blog beneath the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2012/12/over-6000-reminiscences-of-alfio-micci.html">December 22, 2012, post containing Al Weeks's tribute to Alfio</a>:<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Hello! I'm Alfio's grandson, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate reading this article. I think Alfio's approach to writing puzzles connects to his whole personality. He was the most loving grandpa a boy could hope for, and he supported his family unceasingly. I remember the off-white plastic frame he used to construct puzzles and the bookshelf of reference materials he used to solve them (including the first copy of Ulysses I ever saw). Also, few know this but he wrote lyrics (Grandma wrote music) to a musical for the local school to perform entitled "Bearin' Camp." It was about a bear in a camp. The artistic and intellectual legacy lives on with me and my son, Lennon.</i></span><br />
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I was thrilled to see the comment and asked the anonymous author to contact me if he'd be willing to be interviewed for the blog. A few weeks later, I received a response from Christian Recca, who said he was interested and mentioned that his uncles, Alfio's sons, might be as well. There was a brief delay in getting the interview under way while I was finishing school, but shortly after graduation, I sent Christian a list of questions. His answers are below. One of Christian's uncles, Ronald (Ron) Micci, was also interested, and he sent his reminiscences too, along with the photos that appear below.<br />
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<b>Interview with Christian Recca, Alfio Micci's Grandson</b></div>
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<i>What was Alfio's early life like?</i><br />
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Alfio was born in America but emigrated to his family's homeland of Italy for a few years, then returned to America when he was very young—less than five, I'm guessing.<br />
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<i>Were there any signs in his youth that he would become a musician and crossword constructor?</i><br />
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I'm not sure what sparked his interest in music (one of many questions I'd like to ask the man himself), but by the time he was a teenager he was supposedly practicing an impressive number of hours a day. At this time, he lived in Chicago Heights. He also had an avid interest in theatre, even aspiring to be a playwright at one point (he envied the life of being able to lounge around in your PJs and write as much or as little as you felt like—how many lived that life, I don't know).<br />
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<i>Many musicians and crossword constructors have a talent for and interest in math and/or engineering. Was this true for Alfio, and if so, how?</i><br />
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I'm not sure how Gramps did in school, but our whole family is very intelligent, so I don't doubt it.<br />
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<i>Alfio's puzzles suggest he had a great sense of humor—was that the case, and do you have any memories of him that speak to that?</i><br />
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Yes, Gramps had a great sense of humor! We used to spend a lot of time in the ol' backyard pool, and he would deliver a lot of one-liners. One of his was, "It's a wonderful day for an auto-da-fe." I had no idea what that meant at the time. If you don't know, I won't spoil it. A quick Google search will be worth the time. "What's black and white and read all over?" was a favorite riddle. I also recall we played a lot of that party game called "Ghost," sort of an oral crossword puzzle in itself.<br />
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<i>Alfio reportedly disliked puzzle-editing styles that involved stumping and frustrating solvers with obscure trivia. What might he think of today's puzzles, which, within the constraints grids sometimes impose, focus much more on accessible clues and entries?</i><br />
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Given my knowledge of Gramps' musical opinions, I'm thinking he probably would have felt that increased accessibility led to a "dumbing down" of the crossword genre. That said, he was also very interested in teaching the new generation to love music and language, so who knows? His grumpiness may have been a product of advanced age.<br />
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<i>Many of today's puzzle editors also eschew "politically incorrect" or "triggering" entries, such as GAL FRIDAY or NAZI; sometimes doing so means rejecting an otherwise excellent puzzle. What might Alfio's views on this have been—would he, for instance, have viewed such entries as part of our cultural and/or historical past and, therefore, as fair game for inclusion in puzzles?</i><br />
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Well, I'm not sure about that one. Gramps was more progressive than others of his generation: He respected Dr. Kevorkian and was friends with plenty of gay men. That said, he was also sort of old-fashioned in his view of racism/sexism/homophobia. That is, while he condemned overt expressions of hate and promoted equality generally, his view of these issues was limited. Today, we see the importance of microaggressions and systemic racism. He may have been impatient with those claims, I'm not sure. So, all in all, I think he would have thought it was a shame that a whole puzzle would be rejected for one or two "inappropriate" answers. And yeah, he would find it harmless to have "Gal Friday" as an answer.<br />
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<i>Is there anything else you remember or would like to say about Alfio's life, career, and/or puzzle constructing?</i><br />
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Gramps loved his family so dearly, and he put his money where his mouth was—literally and figuratively. His kids fell on hard times, and he took them in. His daughter wasn't the best at housekeeping, so he would come over and clean up. When she needed to go out of town, he came over and watched us.<br />
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He kept up the theatrical pursuits and even collaborated on a musical for his kids' school called "Bearin' Camp" (note the pun).<br />
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<b>Reminiscences of Ronald Micci, Alfio Micci's Son</b></div>
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First, I've attached a number of photographs of Dad, including an interview he did for the <i>South Bergenite</i> in Rutherford a year or two before he passed away [<i>Ed.: see below</i>].<br />
He was a very humble, self-effacing person, and many of the things I learned about him were only revealed later in his life. He was rather secretive, would never have bragged about them and been forthcoming without being asked.<br />
He was born March 3, 1918, in Chicago Heights. He and his mother attended the opera, but he was the only one in his family with musical talent. His sister, Eda, was not musical. His mother was a seamstress; his father was a factory worker. His father was very rotund and remote and his English was still somewhat shaky in his 80s. His mother (Rose Pirani—Pirani from the Pyrenees) was the sweetest, dearest woman, an absolutely wonderful cook, and remained active well into her old age. I believe his father hailed from Ancona on the Adriatic, albeit my own 23andMe profile identified about half a dozen Italian areas of origin.<br />
My father began violin studies at the age of eleven, and within two years he was giving recitals.<br />
He was the valedictorian of his high school class (Bloom Township High School), earned a full scholarship to the Eastman School of Music. I understand he was also offered a scholarship in drama to a college in Illinois, though I don't know any of the particulars of his dramatic background in high school. I know there is a plaque in his high school celebrating notable Bloom High graduates. The only reason I know this is that a woman accosted me at his wake, said she had gone to his school with him, and that such a plaque existed.<br />
He was also valedictorian of his Eastman class. And he earned a master's degree from Eastman as well. (I actually still have his thesis somewhere in the closet.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Honorary Music Symphony at Eastman,<br />1940 (image courtesy of Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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He was concertmaster of the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra (this I'm gleaning from his college yearbook photos, attached) and of the Little Symphony.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eastman School yearbook, 1940 (image courtesy of<br />Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, 1941 (image courtesy<br />of Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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He also played with the Rochester Philharmonic, a paid gig. (Doriot Anthony, who later became the first flutist with the Boston Symphony, is also somewhere in the photo. They knew each other from Eastman. Ironically, they were both from Illinois but she was a few years younger, so they had not crossed paths before.)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alfio and Martha Micci (image<br />courtesy of Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alfio and Martha Micci's wedding day (image courtesy of<br />Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alfio and Martha Micci (images courtesy of Ronald Micci)</i></td></tr>
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During the war he was a soloist with the Navy Band in Washington, D.C.<br />
He came to New York, played with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, then auditioned for the New York Philharmonic. There were two openings, and about two hundred people auditioned for them. He spent thirty-one years with the Philharmonic, including the Bernstein years, and rose to the third stand of the first violins. (Bernstein complimented him at some point on his sight-reading ability. I only know this through my mother.)<br />
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After he retired, he played for several jingle companies in Manhattan, and on occasional movie scores. (Indeed, my brother and I still receive a very small amount of yearly royalties from his movie gigs from the Film Musicians Union in California.)<br />
Yes, he had a great passion for solving and constructing crossword puzzles. Up until a few days before he passed away, he was still sitting upright in bed with a little clipboard solving them. His mind, I'm happy to say, was very sharp up until the end. <br />
He was really a dear person, and every time I would criticize something or someone, he would retort, "He only says nice things about you."<br />
My father played a Joseph Gagliano violin (Naples 1784).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Images courtesy of Ronald Micci and </i>South Bergenite.</td></tr>
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Thanks so much again, Christian, for contacting me about your grandfather and shedding new light on his life and thoughts. And thanks so much too, Ron, for your illuminating reminiscences and photos of your father's amazing life!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-79698502986109183962018-07-29T14:55:00.001-07:002022-05-09T10:48:17.482-07:00In Memoriam: Mel Rosen, 1941–2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another crossword great passed away a few days ago, and his death, though not unexpected, came as a particularly heavy blow. I had been in touch with him recently about a puzzle he'd submitted to <a href="http://uclick.iwin.com/game/word/psc-crossword">The Puzzle Society Crossword</a>, and when I accepted it, I realized it might end up being his last. I bumped it up to the soonest date I could, scheduling it for August 7—but that turned out to be too late.<br />
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Mel's life and importance to the crossword community has been eulogized elsewhere by others who knew him better than I, most notably <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/crosswords/mel-rosen-1941-2018.html">Will Shortz</a>. But I will always think of him as one of the most generous constructors I had the pleasure of interacting with, albeit at a distance, in creating this blog. He responded at length to the many questions I, a high school sophomore, asked via email about his cruciverbal life; his answers became the 2013 interview that can be read <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html#melrosen">here</a>. A 2010 <i>L.A. Times Crossword Corner</i> interview by C.C. Burnikel appears <a href="https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/interview-with-mel-rosen.html">here</a>, and a 1994 profile by Alex Vaughn in <i>Crossw_rd Magazine</i> is available on the pspuzzles Scribd site <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906543/A-Compleat-Cruciverbalist-Mel-Rosen-by-Alex-Vaughn">here</a>.<br />
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Author of the classic <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Random-House-Puzzlemakers-Handbook-Crosswords/dp/0812925440/">Random House Puzzlemaker's Handbook</a></i> and former editor of The Crosswords Club, Mel published at least 24 pre-Shortzian puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> and 14 in the Shortz era. As editor of the former OCRossword, I published two puzzles by Mel in <i>The Orange County Register</i>. One was what he called a Dilemma Crossword. The grid had bars instead of black squares, and it was split into two identically structured 8x15 halves. Each clue was actually two different clues separated by a slash. The catch was that the solver had to figure out which answer was to be entered into which half, since the order of the clues was scrambled! Mel needed to have one entry joining the two halves, and he aptly chose TWO SIDES OF A COIN. Easily one of the most memorable puzzles I ran in the <i>Register</i>.<br />
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Mel's creativity and originality were surpassed only by his character. Earlier this year, I had approved what would have been the second of his ideas for The Puzzle Society Crossword. He sent along an initial grid, complete with clues, and I responded by asking him to make a handful of changes. In his usual positive, cheerful manner, Mel said he'd get to work on a revision. A few days later, he told me he'd discovered a <i>New York Times</i> puzzle with a similar theme that we'd both overlooked. Mel didn't want to put me in a pickle, so he dropped the idea altogether, no questions asked. Considering how much work he'd put into that puzzle, his decision was truly admirable.<br />
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The August 7 Puzzle Society Crossword will be the last Mel Rosen puzzle I'll have the honor of publishing. As per usual with Mel's puzzles, the theme is exceptionally clever, so be sure to mark your calendar! Thanks so much again, Mel—rest in peace.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-72158466923337071732018-01-02T09:21:00.001-08:002022-05-09T10:49:46.471-07:00In Memoriam: Maura Jacobson, 1926–2017<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<i style="font-size: 19.2px;">Photo copyright 1993, 2018, Megalo </i></div>
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<i style="font-size: 19.2px;">Media, Inc. Reprinted by permission of </i></div>
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<i style="font-size: 19.2px;">Stan Chess and CROSSW-RD Magazine.</i></div>
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Very sad news for the start of the new year: Another crossword legend, Maura Jacobson, recently passed away. I was on vacation when I first learned of the news on Facebook. Although I never met Maura, I remember signing a large get well card for her at my first <a href="http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2012/">American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 2012</a>. She wasn't able to attend that year, and I was disappointed that I wouldn't be able to meet her. Later, I hoped to have a chance to talk to her about crosswords and perhaps interview her for this blog, but by then she was too ill. For more on Maura, see Will Shortz's moving tribute, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/crosswords/remembering-maura-jacobson.html">Remembering Maura Jacobson</a>," and this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/01/crosswords/maura-jacobson-crosswords-dies.html">obituary in <i>The Times</i></a>, or click <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/search/label/Maura%20Jacobson">here</a> and <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/search/label/Maura%20B.%20Jacobson">here</a> and scroll down. Rest in peace, Maura.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-2917945286772878312017-09-22T13:32:00.000-07:002017-09-22T13:41:36.668-07:00In Memoriam: Charles Gersch, Will Weng's Submission Guidelines, Robert Guilbert Update, and More<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In Memoriam: Charles Gersch, 1930–2017</span></b></h2>
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It is with great sadness that I report the recent passing of another crossword great, Charles Gersch. His son Jonathan, also a <i>Times</i> crossword constructor, contacted me with this news in August. Charles was the beloved husband of Marianna and devoted father of Alan, Jonathan, and Jennifer.<br />
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I was honored to <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html#charlesgersch">interview Charles four years ago for this blog</a>; he published 47 puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> and continued his impressive constructing by hand, even after computer software became available.<br />
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On August 21, Will Shortz posted the below reminiscence on <i>Cruciverb.com</i>:<br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Passing of Charles E. Gersch</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jonathan Gersch, the son of Charles E. Gersch, has asked me to post the sad news of his father's passing.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Younger constructors may not know, but Charles was one of the greats in crossword history. His first puzzle appeared in the old New York Herald Tribune on Feb. 21, 1944, when he was just 13 years 6 months of age. This made him the youngest known crossword constructor for a major newspaper in history — until that record was broken, narrowly, earlier this year in the Times.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I published 17 of Charles' puzzles between 1994 and 2010. He had 30 more under my predecessors, going back to 1953, and many more in other venues, including the Herald Tribune, Newsday, Simon & Schuster books, Games magazine, Crossworder's Own Newsletter, etc.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In one memorable 1996 Times puzzle, Charles had GEORGE BURNS and GRACIE ALLEN stacked near the top, OH GOD BOOK II and CENTENARIAN stacked near the bottom, THE SUNSHINE BOYS running across the middle, and CIGAR SMOKER and COMEDY TEAMS reading down, crossing the central entry — all in a pretty solid construction. That's fancy puzzlemaking. It ran, appropriately, around Burns' 100th birthday.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">David Steinberg published an interview with Charles <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html#charlesgersch">here</a> (scroll down to Aug. 23, 2013).</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My condolences to Jonathan and everyone who knew his father.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">—Will Shortz</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Although Charles is no longer with us, he and his puzzles will continue to have a celebrated place in crossword history.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Will Weng's Submission Guidelines</span></b></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This summer while helping Will Shortz with crossword submissions, I came across a page of guidelines for constructors written by none other than former <i>New York Times</i> crossword editor Will Weng! There were no other pages, but this one was a copy, which Will Shortz let me keep (thanks again, Will!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Crossword Puzzle Information Sheet" (see below) was sent to a constructor and has this handwritten note by Weng at the top: "Your puzzle looks pretty good. But— please follow the format." An arrow points to details on "Mechanics in general" and "Particulars."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps the most interesting thing about these guidelines is Weng's philosophy on what puzzles should be. He preferred their difficulty to come from clever clues and lively words and phrases, rather than from obscurity. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This philosophy was ahead of its time and foreshadowed the </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/10/arts/puzzle-makers-exchange-cross-words.html" style="font-family: inherit;">"new wave"</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> and today's "golden age of crosswords."</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Robert Guilbert Update: The Crossword Puzzle Hall of Fame</span></b></h2>
Several weeks ago I received an email from Jon Guilbert, whose older brother, Rob, had written to him about following up on previous coverage on their father, Robert, in this blog. Beginning in 1988, Robert Guilbert spearheaded an effort to create a Crossword Puzzle Hall of Fame. (For more details, see the posts of <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2014/11/american-crossword-puzzle-academy.html">November 21, 2014</a>; <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2014/12/mark-diehl-american-crossword-puzzle-academy-treasures.html">December 5, 2014</a>; <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2014/12/10000-puzzles-jane-flowerree-crossword-academy.html">December 19, 2014</a>; and <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/05/margaret-farrar-robert-guilbert-two-letter-entries.html">May 22, 2015</a>.) Jon had written previously about his father in a blog comment, which you can read <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2014/11/american-crossword-puzzle-academy.html?showComment=1479821567051#c6224695755171563470">here</a>, and offered more details about this enterprise and his father's fascinating life:<br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He was a remarkable man—as are all/most fathers I would think—and this was his last "big project and idea" before his death in October of 1990. In the [below] photo he can be seen working on a puzzle that he designed as a "Moebius Strip"—an "Infinity Crossword Puzzle"—a puzzle without a beginning and an end. He was going to have this game manufactured and marketed under the name "Pago Pago," I believe. I also think his work on this crossword game of his was the genesis for his wanting to create an institution recognizing and honoring the "greats" within the crossword world. . . . </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">[O]ur Dad . . . was also the original "Don Winslow of the Navy" playing the lead character in the late 1930s NBC coast-to-coast radio thriller and an advertising executive with J. Walter Thompson. The luncheon meeting—the first and last of the Institute—was held at the Harvard Club in NYC. Dad had made a connection with one of the members of the Club, who offered it as a meeting place. I know Dad was very pleased to have this "blue ribbon" venue [in which] to gather.</span><br />
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Thanks so much again, Jon and Rob! I wish I could have met your father.<span class="s1"></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Joli Quentin Kansil, aka Joel Dennis Gaines: Another "Unknown" Constructor Found</span></b></h2>
Recently Will Shortz received an email from Joli Quentin Kansil, who had published six crosswords in the <i>Times</i> during the 1970s under two names: Joel Dennis Gaines, for the earlier puzzles; and Joli Quentin Kansil, for the later ones.<br />
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Will asked Joli for the dates of those puzzles, and with that information, Jim Horne of <i>XWord Info</i> and I were able to add names to some of the previously "Unknown" constructors in our databases.<br />
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Joli mentioned that he'd also designed three word games—Knock-on-Word, Montage, and What's My Word—and that Joli's first boss, Albert H. Morehead, was the <i>Times</i>'s first bridge editor and an early designer of puns and anagrams puzzles.<br />
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We're grateful to Joli for this valuable update and hopeful that more currently anonymous pre-Shortzian constructors surface in the future.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jim Page's Puzzle Count</span></b></h2>
Some time ago renowned constructor Jim Page sent me a copy of an email he'd sent to Jeff Chen at <i>XWord Info</i>. Because there were two pre-Shortzian constructors with the last name of Page—Jim and Christopher—and many bylines in what records we do have list only the constructor's last name, determining which puzzles were built by Jim has been difficult. (And, as I've often mentioned, thousands of daily puzzles remain anonymous, with no record of their constructors.) Here's what Jim wrote:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I'm currently working on puzzle number 1,232. That 1,232 total number includes puzzles published in The New York Times, NY Post, NY Daily News, NY Sun, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, LA Times, Newsday, Chicago Tribune Syndicate, Crossword Puzzle Club, USA Today, Simon & Schuster. That 1,232 figure includes puzzles accepted for publication, some works in progress and some puzzles rejected. Some lost to history, as well.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's the NY Times breakdown on published puzzles:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Will Weng</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">19 dailies (uncredited) 2 Sundays (credited) total 21</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Gene Maleska</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">48 dailies (uncredited) 23 Sundays (credited) total 71 </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Will Shortz</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">68 dailies (credited) 10 Sundays (credited) total 78</span></div>
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He added:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[T]his is as accurate as I'm able to be, give or take some puzzles lost to history. I've credited myself with 3 Maleska Sunday puzzles that Gene had accepted for publication in the Times and that Shortz rejected upon his appointment as editor. Those 3 puzzles got published elsewhere.</span><br />
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Thanks so much, Jim—at least we have this information now, which is more than what exists on many other pre-Shortzian puzzles whose authors will likely remain anonymous.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">More Todd Gross Finds: Audrey Joy Koch, Bob Lubbers, Melvin Kenworthy, and Robert Doll </span></b></h2>
This summer I received an email from crossword constructor and historian Todd Gross informing me of an <a href="http://obituaries.mysuburbanlife.com/obituaries/chicagosuburbannews/obituary.aspx?n=audrey-joy-koch&pid=151120575">obituary of Audrey Joy Koch</a>. Koch passed away in 2011 at the age of 91 and published at least five crosswords in <i>The New York Times</i>. To read more about Audrey, click <a href="http://obituaries.mysuburbanlife.com/obituaries/chicagosuburbannews/obituary.aspx?n=audrey-joy-koch&pid=151120575">here</a>.<br />
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A couple of weeks later, Todd found an <a href="https://www.afterlife.co/us/obituary-manhasset-robert-b-lubbers-4551720">obituary of cartoonist and <i>New York Times</i> crossword constructor Bob Lubbers</a>, who'd recently passed away. Lubbers, who published at least one pre-Shortzian puzzle in the <i>Times</i> and four Shortz-era puzzles. According to this obituary, Bob won an award for the best Sunday crossword in 1995, which was reportedly his first constructing attempt. This 1995 date, though, may be a mistake, since Lubbers's <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=4/13/1975">earliest published puzzle in <i>The Times</i></a> was published on April 13, 1975, and was his only Sunday publication there. To read more about Bob, click <a href="https://www.afterlife.co/us/obituary-manhasset-robert-b-lubbers-4551720">here</a>.<br />
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Todd emailed me again about other finds: an <a href="https://memorials.andersonstributecenter.com/melvin-kenworthy/192956/obituary.php">obituary of Melvin Kenworthy</a>, who published at least 23 pre-Shortzian puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i>; and an <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/louisville/obituary.aspx?n=robert-a-doll-bob&pid=155019492">obituary of Robert Doll</a>, who published 6 Shortz-era crosswords in the <i>Times</i>. Todd noted that although Doll passed away in 2011, his final <i>Times</i> puzzle didn't appear until 2013.<br />
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Thanks again, Todd, for all this great research! <br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">George Rose Smith</span></b></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Solver Nick Harvey wrote to me some time ago about George Rose Smith, constructor of at least 10 pre-Shortzian puzzles published in the <i>Times</i>. Nick had been working his way through the Sunday puzzles from 1969 to the present and noted, "This allows me to watch the evolution of the NYT puzzle unfold as I go through the Weng, Maleska, and early Shortz eras." He became curious about George Rose Smith and wrote the following:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I had finally thrown in the towel after finishing most of the November 2, 1980, puzzle, "Nickname Dropping," but not being able to get that last themer figured out. Try this puzzle—it has quite a tricky theme, especially for its time. Similar "substitution" themes have appeared in the Maleska and early Shortz period of the 80s/90s, but this is one of the earliest, and I would imagine that solvers back in 1980 could have had a lot of trouble with this. I still appreciate the genius into coming up with this theme, and finding ten examples to work symmetrically into the grid—not an easy thing to do in a time when very few people had access to a computer (and probably not even a VCR or microwave oven—vinyl was still the main format for recorded music). Weng and Maleska really rolled the dice on trying out some groundbreaking theme ideas on the solving public, and Shortz has of course continued on that tradition.</span><br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anyway, I found this on Mr. Smith. It turns out that, just like Victor Fleming today, he was a judge in Arkansas. One wonders if he was the one who got Mr. Fleming into solving (and ultimately constructing) the NYT crossword puzzle. I can certainly imagine that Justice Smith and Justice Fleming may have been colleagues at one time, serving together for Arkansas's judicial system.</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">George Rose Smith passed away in 1992, during a period in the early '90s that saw an unusually high number of deaths in the top echelon of puzzlemaking (Luzzatto, Lutwiniak, Maleska, and Weng, to name a few). I can only hope that the constructors who have moved on from this world, are looking down on me from Heaven and watching me whenever I am working on one of their creations. :-)</span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Links:</span></div>
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<span class="s2" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://lrculturevulture.com/tag/judge-vic-fleming/">http://lrculturevulture.com/tag/judge-vic-fleming/</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Constructors of the past may be long gone, but they are immortalized by the legacy of their puzzles to be enjoyed by generations to come.</span><br />
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<span class="s1">Very interesting stuff, Nick—thanks for sending this, and happy solving!</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Judson G. [Gordon] Trent, aka Gordon S. Trick?</span></b></h2>
A while back I received an email from Julie (Trick) Munsterman, who'd been doing genealogical research and come to the conclusion that pre-Shortzian constructor Judson G. Trent—possibly Judson Gordon Trick/Trent—was her great-uncle. Julie noted that census documents suggest he was born Gordon S. Trick, which might explain some of the difficulty in tracking down his history online. She added that Trick's father was a Presbyterian minister and suggested that this could explain the theological studies.<br />
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Thanks for this genealogical sleuthing, Julie—this seems like an especially "tricky" trail!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wrap-up</span></h2>
That does it for the time being, since school is about to start up again. But I do have some other interesting things to go through that I hope to write about at some point in the future!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-25882562632983558372017-06-29T14:43:00.001-07:002017-06-30T20:36:37.868-07:00Stan Newman Finds William Lutwiniak NSA Interview; Constructor Regina M. Heil Identified<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stan Newman Finds William Lutwiniak NSA Interview</span></b></h2>
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Some time ago I received an email from <i>Newsday</i> crossword editor Stan Newman, who'd discovered a long piece about William Lutwiniak, one of the most prolific <i>New York Times</i> crossword constructors ever. Lutwiniak, a former cryptologist for the National Security Agency (NSA), published at least <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=William+Lutwiniak">304 pre-Shortz puzzles</a> in <i>The Times</i>, which are available <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=William+Lutwiniak">here</a> on <i>XWord Info</i>. Stan's find is a long, formerly top-secret but now declassified <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/oral-history-interviews/assets/files/nsa-oh-10-81-lutwiniak.pdf">interview by Robert Farley of the NSA</a> on October 18, 1981. Here's Lutwiniak discussing his background:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kEE97grmfho/WVVFVIf6D9I/AAAAAAAAE3Y/sYNQd8MITBg-ifkaytYXOxpa0UqE4xFNQCLcBGAs/s1600/Lutwiniak%2BNSA.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="717" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kEE97grmfho/WVVFVIf6D9I/AAAAAAAAE3Y/sYNQd8MITBg-ifkaytYXOxpa0UqE4xFNQCLcBGAs/s640/Lutwiniak%2BNSA.png" width="533" /></a></div>
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To read the full interview, click <a href="https://www.nsa.gov/news-features/declassified-documents/oral-history-interviews/assets/files/nsa-oh-10-81-lutwiniak.pdf">here</a>. (And for more on William Lutwiniak, see <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/search/label/William%20Lutwiniak">other links on this blog</a>, including on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructors.html">Pre-Shortzian Constructors page</a>; <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/253543066/And-the-Wynner-Is-William-Lutwiniak-by-Helene-Hovanec">this <i>CROSSW_RD Magazine</i> profile by Helene Hovanec</a>; and, as Stan suggested, links that come up when Googling "Lutwiniak NSA," such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lutwiniak">this <i>Wikipedia</i> entry</a>.) Thanks so much again, Stan, for this great discovery!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Constructor Regina M. Heil Identified</span></b></h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YiwYUmvB5wg/WVVntB4cJGI/AAAAAAAAE3o/6gCpnfEmDbsH7hleseMPoJNd-hrP9PQeACLcBGAs/s1600/Regina%2BM%2BHeil%2Bheadshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="601" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YiwYUmvB5wg/WVVntB4cJGI/AAAAAAAAE3o/6gCpnfEmDbsH7hleseMPoJNd-hrP9PQeACLcBGAs/s400/Regina%2BM%2BHeil%2Bheadshot.jpg" width="340" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Regina M. Heil. Photo courtesy of Bill Heil.</i></td></tr>
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In mid-April, Thomas Heil emailed <i>The New York Times</i> about his mother, Regina M. Heil, who'd built a daily crossword puzzle edited by Will Weng. The puzzle was published on January 29, 1973. Tom wondered whether <i>The Times</i> had a copy in its archives or wanted one for its files.<br />
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The email made its way to <i>Times</i> crossword editor Will Shortz, who sent Tom a copy of the puzzle, which our records at the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project (and now on <i><a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i>) had previously listed as being by "Unknown." Tom confirmed that this was indeed the puzzle his mother had constructed; he also mentioned that he recalled her having submitted two other puzzles to Will Weng before this one was published. "Mr. Weng put my mother through Goldilocks editing," Tom noted. "The first puzzle was too hard, the second too easy and the third was just right." She received $10 for the puzzle. Tom added that his mother "never missed a day of the puzzle, all while raising nine kids. She was pretty amazing." At the time, she lived on Thomas Road in Wayne, Penn.<br />
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Will suggested that Tom send a headshot of his mother, if he had one, to Jim Horne at <i>XWord Info</i> so it could appear with <a href="https://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Regina+M.+Heil">her puzzle</a>. I emailed Tom too asking if we could write about her on this blog and encouraging him to send along any further information or photos.<br />
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I then received an email from Bill Heil, Tom's brother, along with this photo and the one above:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMa5ZT9vwQo/WVVqQbzQKcI/AAAAAAAAE30/YZFN6LXS2yYcEbxBhATIBlvH5LMpovdcQCLcBGAs/s1600/Regina%2BM%2BHall%2Bfull.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="441" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GMa5ZT9vwQo/WVVqQbzQKcI/AAAAAAAAE30/YZFN6LXS2yYcEbxBhATIBlvH5LMpovdcQCLcBGAs/s1600/Regina%2BM%2BHall%2Bfull.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Regina M. Heil. Photo courtesy of Bill Heil.</i></td></tr>
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Bill wrote that their sister, Mary Colleen, had reiterated Tom's "Goldilocks" comment. In a follow-up email, Bill reported that he'd asked Regina's 81-year-old brother, Brian Torsney, for more information, and Brian had written:<br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My father used to sit in the den and do the NY Times Sunday puzzle. My father could do at least 3/4's of the puzzle and when he was stumped, he would get your mother and I to brainstorm. I still do the NY Times crossword puzzles. They appear in the Desert Sun (the Palm Springs paper) daily and Sunday. I can complete the Sunday puzzle in one sitting about 1/2 the time, and completely at least 90% of the time. I run into trouble when they use rap music stars, current movie/TV stars or new movies as clues.</span></div>
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And Tom, who'd originally contacted <i>The Times</i>, added:<br />
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<span class="s1" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Did I mention that I also do the puzzles every day but Sunday. Sundays Bobbie [<i>Ed.: Tom's wife</i>], who does at least a puzzle a day, and I work on the puzzle together. It's good for the marriage — 28 years now.</span></div>
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Thanks so much again, Tom, Bill, Mary Colleen, and Brian, for helping us identify and get to know the long-lost constructor of this puzzle! It's also wonderful to see how an interest in puzzles was passed down over three generations—from Regina's father, to Regina and Brian, to Tom himself.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-83448123052794895452017-01-07T16:40:00.000-08:002017-01-07T16:45:12.792-08:00Crossw_rd Magazine Cornucopia, Barry Silk's Jack Luzzatto Find, and More from Todd GrossHappy New Year, everyone—as promised, here are a few cruciverbal treats to start the year off right!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Crossw_rd Magazine </i>Cornucopia</span></b></h2>
Some of you may have read the previous articles I've posted on Scribd from <i>Crossw_rd Magazine</i>. I still have a treasure trove of them left that I've been meaning to put up for some time. One of my New Year's resolutions was to post them all, and since things will get busy once school starts up again, I've done it in one fell swoop—enjoy!<br />
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<b>Mike Shenk</b><br />
First up is legendary constructor and editor Mike Shenk, whose <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335889135/From-the-Bottom-Up-Mike-Shenk-by-Marilynn-Huret">1996 profile</a> was written by Marilynn Huret—click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335889135/From-the-Bottom-Up-Mike-Shenk-by-Marilynn-Huret">here</a> to read it. Mike, now crossword editor of <i>The Wall Street Journal</i>, was then editor of <i>Games Magazine</i>. Mike has published at least one pre-Shortzian puzzle in <i>The New York Times</i> and seven Shortz-era puzzles.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_-OICtuSobc/WG_K63JzGZI/AAAAAAAAEws/pvclMK3sD6Me8q3D9LkzPWN4eXUqeIWpgCLcB/s1600/Mike%2BShenk.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_-OICtuSobc/WG_K63JzGZI/AAAAAAAAEws/pvclMK3sD6Me8q3D9LkzPWN4eXUqeIWpgCLcB/s400/Mike%2BShenk.png" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Mike Shenk. Photo copyright 1996,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted<br />by permission of Stan Chess and<br />CROSSW-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For a more recent profile of Mike, see this <a href="http://news.psu.edu/story/339493/2014/12/27/arts-and-entertainment/enigmatic-career-math-alum-wall-street-journals">2014 article in <i>Penn State News</i></a>.<br />
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<b>Mel Rosen</b><br />
Crossword luminary Mel Rosen is profiled by Alex Vaughn in <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906543/A-Compleat-Cruciverbalist-Mel-Rosen-by-Alex-Vaughn">this 1994 article</a>, which you can read by clicking <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906543/A-Compleat-Cruciverbalist-Mel-Rosen-by-Alex-Vaughn">here</a>. Author of the classic <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Random-House-Puzzlemakers-Handbook-Crosswords/dp/0812925440/">Random House Puzzlemaker's Handbook</a></i><i> </i>and former editor of The Crosswords Club, Mel has published at least 24 pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> puzzles and 14 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B7mvwh0xkos/WHCUEGtE0YI/AAAAAAAAExc/ybOvBE5LwBIkkPKGptuNKTc2FnNlpJFCQCLcB/s1600/Mel%2BRosen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B7mvwh0xkos/WHCUEGtE0YI/AAAAAAAAExc/ybOvBE5LwBIkkPKGptuNKTc2FnNlpJFCQCLcB/s400/Mel%2BRosen.png" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Mel Rosen. Photo copyright 1994,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted<br />by permission of Stan Chess and<br />CROSSW-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For more on Mel, see this <a href="https://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2010/04/interview-with-mel-rosen.html">2010 <i>L.A. Times Crossword Corner</i> interview</a> and this <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html#melrosen">2013 one that appeared on this site</a>.<br />
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<b>Manny Nosowsky</b><br />
Manny Nosowsky, one of the most prolific constructors ever, is profiled by Alex Vaughn in <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906282/Postdoctoral-Work-Manny-Nosowsky-by-Alex-Vaughn">this 1994 piece</a>—click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906282/Postdoctoral-Work-Manny-Nosowsky-by-Alex-Vaughn">here</a> to read it. Manny, whose first career was as a urologist, has published at least 8 pre-Shortzian <i>New York Times</i> puzzles and 246 Shortz-era puzzles.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLFhhi6Z7bY/WHCULyksgdI/AAAAAAAAExg/4rk12nQVz5EOtZteG8Em7YRHahCn_yZEQCLcB/s1600/Manny%2BNosowsky.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLFhhi6Z7bY/WHCULyksgdI/AAAAAAAAExg/4rk12nQVz5EOtZteG8Em7YRHahCn_yZEQCLcB/s400/Manny%2BNosowsky.png" width="313" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Manny Nosowsky. Photo copyright 1994,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted by<br />permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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To read more about Manny, see this <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html#mannynosowsky">2012 Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project interview</a>.<br />
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<b>Randolph Ross</b><br />
Randolph (or Randy) Ross, another prolific constructor, is profiled by Helene Hovanec in this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335912501/God-Bless-the-Franklin-Randolph-Ross-by-Helene-Hovanec">1993 article</a>, which you can see <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335912501/God-Bless-the-Franklin-Randolph-Ross-by-Helene-Hovanec">here</a>. Randy, also a longtime high school principal, has published at least 2 pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> puzzles and 101 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BFjT2aHgMGE/WHCUSe-dR3I/AAAAAAAAExk/uvySb4AYwi0tf-Oh-7WIPPRtmOlsaOMlgCLcB/s1600/Randolph%2BRoss.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BFjT2aHgMGE/WHCUSe-dR3I/AAAAAAAAExk/uvySb4AYwi0tf-Oh-7WIPPRtmOlsaOMlgCLcB/s400/Randolph%2BRoss.png" width="331" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Randolph Ross. Photo copyright 1993,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted by<br />permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For more on Randy, see <i>XWord Info</i> creator Jim Horne's <a href="http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/15/me/?_r=0">2009 interview on <i>Wordplay</i></a>.<br />
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<b>Maura Jacobson</b><br />
Celebrated crossword constructor and editor Maura Jacobson is profiled by Helene Hovanec in this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906425/The-Queen-of-Puns-Maura-Jacobson-by-Helene-Hovanec">1993 article</a>—to read it, click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906425/The-Queen-of-Puns-Maura-Jacobson-by-Helene-Hovanec">here</a>. Maura, who was honored with the <a href="http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/a-c-p-t-2016-missing-merl-reagle-and-going-into-the-finals/">first MERL Memorial Award in 2016 for lifetime achievement</a>, published at least 63 pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> crosswords and 3 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ggfKcqWF9nQ/WHCUYRLb0tI/AAAAAAAAExo/6obo7w6Q5TES9QU7EvpZpH_xzeXoys9sgCLcB/s1600/Maura%2BJacobson.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ggfKcqWF9nQ/WHCUYRLb0tI/AAAAAAAAExo/6obo7w6Q5TES9QU7EvpZpH_xzeXoys9sgCLcB/s400/Maura%2BJacobson.png" width="327" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Maura Jacobson. Photo copyright 1993,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted by<br />permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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For more on Maura, see this <a href="http://nymag.com/nymag/letters/maura-jacobson-retiring-2011-5/">2011 article in <i>New York Magazine</i></a>.<br />
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<b>Nancy Nicholson Joline</b><br />
Nancy Nicholson Joline, who had her very first crossword accepted by Eugene T. Maleska, is the subject of this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906721/One-Letter-at-a-Time-Nancy-Nicholson-Joline-by-Marilynn-Huret">1995 profile</a> by Marilynn Huret—click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906721/One-Letter-at-a-Time-Nancy-Nicholson-Joline-by-Marilynn-Huret">here</a> to read it. Nancy published at least 61 pre-Shortzian puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> and 48 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ca7dOrGPCo/WHCUgDlklpI/AAAAAAAAExs/6P5FKQ24P5E9OPn8MWBX7n0GK7L4-ttEwCLcB/s1600/Nancy%2BNicholson%2BJoline.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ca7dOrGPCo/WHCUgDlklpI/AAAAAAAAExs/6P5FKQ24P5E9OPn8MWBX7n0GK7L4-ttEwCLcB/s400/Nancy%2BNicholson%2BJoline.png" width="332" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Nancy Nicholson Joline. Photo copyright<br />1995, 2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted<br />by permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For more on Nancy, see this <a href="http://www.crosswordtournament.com/articles/bmfall08.htm">2008 article on Barnard constructors that originally appeared in <i>Barnard Magazine</i></a>.<br />
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<b>A. J. Santora</b><br />
Another hugely prolific constructor (and, appropriately enough, constructor of homes), A. J. Santora is profiled by Helene Hovanec in this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335904931/Blueprint-for-Success-A-J-Santora-by-Helene-Hovanec">1994 article</a>, which you can read <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335904931/Blueprint-for-Success-A-J-Santora-by-Helene-Hovanec">here</a>. A. J. had at least 185 pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> puzzles published and 68 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d2NI_yh_cig/WHCUofAjxNI/AAAAAAAAExw/MJNiyB-Nr7EuqAPw9rgSZjGKrUUns1QpgCLcB/s1600/A%2BJ%2BSantora.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d2NI_yh_cig/WHCUofAjxNI/AAAAAAAAExw/MJNiyB-Nr7EuqAPw9rgSZjGKrUUns1QpgCLcB/s400/A%2BJ%2BSantora.png" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>A. J. Santora. Photo copyright 1994,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted by<br />permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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<b>Karen Hodge (Karen Young Bonin)</b><br />
Karen Hodge (aka Karen Young Bonin) is the subject of this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906132/Messing-Around-With-Words-Karen-Hodge-by-Helene-Hovanec">1994 profile by Helene Hovanec</a>, which you can read <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335906132/Messing-Around-With-Words-Karen-Hodge-by-Helene-Hovanec">here</a>. A longtime high school French teacher who started the Connecticut Shoreline crossword contest, Karen published at least 2 pre-Shortzian puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> and 11 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-deGscklQG9c/WHCUvNvGbiI/AAAAAAAAEx0/W5SyhODyzGwCjvlicDLqOcYIPoopljvZACLcB/s1600/Karen%2BHodge.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-deGscklQG9c/WHCUvNvGbiI/AAAAAAAAEx0/W5SyhODyzGwCjvlicDLqOcYIPoopljvZACLcB/s400/Karen%2BHodge.png" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Karen Hodge. Photo copyright 1994,<br />2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted<br />by permission of Stan Chess and<br />CROSSW-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For more on Karen, see this <a href="http://articles.courant.com/1999-04-28/news/9904280267_1_puzzle-editor-crossword-puzzles-puzzle-solver">1999 article in the <i>Hartford Courant</i></a>.<br />
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<b>Cathy Millhauser (Cathy Allis)</b><br />
Another renowned punster, Cathy Millhauser (aka Cathy Allis) is profiled in this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905125/Or-Hal-Ray-Cluesmith-Cathy-Millhauser-by-Alex-Vaughn">1994 article by Alex Vaughn</a>—to read it, click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905125/Or-Hal-Ray-Cluesmith-Cathy-Millhauser-by-Alex-Vaughn">here</a>. Cathy has published at least 4 pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> puzzles and 84 in the Shortz era.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enU0M_vcPBc/WHCU1qIlzCI/AAAAAAAAEx8/L85p5WznWNQuvoGKvX4aRzB6QDBOTAOOwCLcB/s1600/Cathy%2BMillhauser.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-enU0M_vcPBc/WHCU1qIlzCI/AAAAAAAAEx8/L85p5WznWNQuvoGKvX4aRzB6QDBOTAOOwCLcB/s400/Cathy%2BMillhauser.png" width="311" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Cathy Millhauser. Photo copyright <br />1994, 2017, Megalo Media, Inc. Re-<br />printed by permission of Stan Chess and<br />CROSSW-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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For more on Cathy, see this <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Get-inside-the-mind-of-puzzler-Cathy-Allis-1018749.php">2011 article in the Albany, N.Y., </a><i><a href="http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/article/Get-inside-the-mind-of-puzzler-Cathy-Allis-1018749.php">Times Union</a>.</i><br />
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<b>Obituaries: Will Weng, Eugene T. Maleska, and Jordan S. Lasher</b><br />
Several noteworthy obituaries appeared in <i>CROSSW_ORD Magazine</i>, including <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335912783/Memories-Will-Weng-and-Eugene-T-Maleska-by-Helene-Hovanec">this lengthy joint one on Will Weng and Eugene T. Maleska</a>, who both passed away the same unfortunate year. Written by Helene Hovanec in 1993, it can be read <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335912783/Memories-Will-Weng-and-Eugene-T-Maleska-by-Helene-Hovanec">here</a>.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZfV2zT25Ls/WHCU_y_Vo_I/AAAAAAAAEyA/iygqP1prBEErqo6W81ahRKuPjZbnkc_SACLcB/s1600/Will%2BWeng%2B%2526%2BEugene%2BT.%2BMaleska.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zZfV2zT25Ls/WHCU_y_Vo_I/AAAAAAAAEyA/iygqP1prBEErqo6W81ahRKuPjZbnkc_SACLcB/s400/Will%2BWeng%2B%2526%2BEugene%2BT.%2BMaleska.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Will Weng (left) and Eugene T. Maleska (right).<br />Photo copyright 1993, 2017, Megalo Media, Inc.<br />Reprinted by permission of Stan Chess and CROSS-<br />W-RD Magazine.</i></td></tr>
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Two years later, a short but informative <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905769/In-Memoriam-Jordan-S-Lasher">obituary on Jordan S. Lasher</a> appeared without a byline—to read it, click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905769/In-Memoriam-Jordan-S-Lasher">here</a>. Jordan passed away at an early age (48), having published at least 60 pre-Shortzian puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i>. A chemical engineer, he created the "world's hardest puzzle" for a bookstore contest.<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4uOiA4FO-Y/WHFz1Yr7_TI/AAAAAAAAEyQ/4HHNqbn4C34Ai6qtpZSAt4DVMtkpNZbVwCLcB/s1600/Jordan%2BS.%2BLasher.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n4uOiA4FO-Y/WHFz1Yr7_TI/AAAAAAAAEyQ/4HHNqbn4C34Ai6qtpZSAt4DVMtkpNZbVwCLcB/s1600/Jordan%2BS.%2BLasher.png" /></a></div>
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For more on Jordan, see this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/11/obituaries/jordan-s-lasher-48-an-author-of-innovative-crossword-puzzles.html">1995 obituary in <i>The New York Times</i></a> and other articles listed on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructors.html">Pre-Shortzian Constructors page</a>.<br />
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<b>Eric Albert's Op-ed on Puzzle Tedium</b><br />
I came across this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905594/So-Damn-Dull-by-Eric-Albert">1993 op-ed on puzzle tedium written by <i>New York Times</i> constructor Eric Albert, "So Damn Dull,"</a> and found it most interesting historically—to read it, click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905594/So-Damn-Dull-by-Eric-Albert">here</a>. Clearly crosswords have come a very long way since then!<br />
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<b>Stan Newman on Crosswordese</b><br />
Finally, I can't think of a better way to finish up this crossword cornucopia than with this <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905366/Stan-Newman-on-Crosswordese">four-part crosswordese (and brand name) series by the inimitable Stan Newman</a>, new-wave crusader and <i>Newsday</i> crossword editor—click <a href="https://www.scribd.com/document/335905366/Stan-Newman-on-Crosswordese">here</a> to read it.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Barry Silk's Jack Luzzatto Find</span></b></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Some time ago <i>New York Times</i> constructor and Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project volunteer Barry Silk wrote to me about a great find. He'd been watching some old <i>What's My Line?</i> videos and discovered <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtXb2fZR01Y&list=PLqsaqh5sqUxpPesnBjzR_zsh_gTy8MVVy&index=93">this one</a> with an appearance by Jack Luzzatto, one of the most creative and prolific pre-Shortzian constructors ever. Jack appears at approximately 20:45 in the video; to see it, click on the link above or watch it below. Terrific find—thanks so much again, Barry!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">More from Todd Gross</span></b></h2>
Following up on last week's post, crossword historian Todd Gross just published <a href="http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=12006">this article on pre-Shortzian constructor Helen Pettigrew</a>. Congratulations, Todd!<br />
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Todd also found articles on pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructors <a href="http://www.postandcourier.com/features/piecing-it-together-local-math-professor-makes-crossword-puzzles/article_f537f738-c7a2-11e6-9d94-1fa31b1021c9.html">Derrick Niederman</a> and <a href="http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/02/Floridian/Seduced_by_Sudoku.shtml">Merl Reagle</a> that are now linked to here and on the Pre-Shortzian Constructors page. Thanks, Todd!<br />
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That's it for now—I look forward to seeing many of you at the <a href="http://www.crosswordtournament.com/">ACPT</a> and in the meantime wish everyone a happy and puzzle-filled 2017!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-87702684612773644812016-12-29T11:08:00.000-08:002016-12-29T12:04:58.552-08:00Todd Gross on Alexis P. Boodberg, Patterson Pepple, and Charles B. WaffellNow that I'm on break from college, I've been working on a post I'd been planning to write for a while. Yesterday morning, though, I received an email from crossword historian and litzer Todd Gross, who sent an amazing end-of-year olio on three pre-Shortzian constructors: Alexis P. Boodberg, who published at least four puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> during the pre-Shortz era; Patterson Pepple, who published at least 37; and Charles B. Waffell, who published at least three (and one in the Shortz era). I've decided to publish Todd's findings first as a grand finale to the year and then follow them with another post in a week or so. Enjoy—and thanks so much, Todd!<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alexis P. Boodberg</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I knew nothing about this constructor before I started searching recently. First, I tried entering this name in Google and it suggested Peter Boodberg as an autocomplete, which led to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_A._Boodberg">this Wikipedia page</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So Peter Alexis Boodberg taught in the Oriental Languages department at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1932 until his death in 1972, first as an instructor and then later as a full professor (and department chair). He was born in Vladivostok in 1903 to an aristocratic family from Estonia. Estonia was annexed by Russia in the 18th century, the family became soldiers in the Russian army, and Peter’s father was sent to Vladivostok as commander of the Russian forces there. When World War I started, Peter was attending a military school in St. Petersburg; his father sent him to Harbin in China, and later he returned to Vladivostok and studied at the Oriental Institute there. By 1921, with the Bolsheviks being in control of Russia and the family being aristocrats in imperialist (czarist) Russia, they emigrated to San Francisco (with Peter actually arriving in 1920).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have a fair amount of information on Dr. Boodberg; alas, none of it mentions crosswords. Still, this might at first seem to be our constructor: Not only do the names match (and Boodberg is a rather uncommon surname), but our professor clearly had the sort of mind that could have created such puzzles. Besides his clear intelligence and facility with language(s), he apparently composed verse in English and Russian. Also, VLADIVOSTOK appears in Boodberg’s second <i>New York Times</i> puzzle, "WITH CLUES FROM THE NEWS."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alas, I can’t be 100% sure this is the right person, because there is a Paul Alexis Boodberg (almost certainly Peter’s brother) who was born in Vladivostok and emigrated to San Francisco.</span></div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBKnQMusUxY/WGQl-ldteTI/AAAAAAAAEuo/UeMSwfGKXvc7nq8_gMONdpYzYQHeY_8SwCLcB/s1600/Boodberg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KBKnQMusUxY/WGQl-ldteTI/AAAAAAAAEuo/UeMSwfGKXvc7nq8_gMONdpYzYQHeY_8SwCLcB/s400/Boodberg.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul was born in 1900 and became an Electrical Engineer. I’m also finding an </span><a href="http://texts.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb0w10035d;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00007&toc.depth=1&toc.id=&brand=calisphere" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Alexander Boodberg, who taught Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley, was born in 1906, and passed away in 1952</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And finally there’s also <a href="https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPZ8-N7R">Alexis Paul Boodberg who was born in 1869 and passed away in 1945 in San Francisco</a>. This matches</span><span style="font-family: "\22 arial\22 " , "\22 helvetica\22 " , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "\22 arial\22 " , "\22 helvetica\22 " , sans-serif;">the Wikipedia article’s dates for Peter’s father, Baron Alexis von Budberg, so I’m confident that’s who this is.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, this name fits the <i>New York Times</i> constructor name better than Peter Alexis Boodberg. And Boodberg’s final puzzle was published in 1944, just before Alexis’s death. Also, a lengthy <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/599725?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">obituary for Dr. Peter Boodberg in the <i>Journal of the American Oriental Society</i></a> (thanks, David, for getting a copy for me!) makes no mention of crosswords.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I’m leaning toward Baron von Budberg being the actual author. I thought it would help if I could find out more about him than references as Peter Boodberg’s father (and that very brief obit)—maybe something actually written by him, to see if he was erudite and literate like his son. I was in luck: I found an article written by him not long after he arrived in the United States—and in <i>The New York Times</i>, no less! More specifically, it was in the <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=GrZNAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA221&lpg=PA221&dq=baron+alexis+boodberg&source=bl#v=onepage&q=baron%20alexis%20boodberg&f=false">October 1921–March 1922 issue of <i>Current History</i></a>, a monthly magazine of <i>The New York Times</i>:</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4W7R8U-SFN8/WGVN3Gjv0-I/AAAAAAAAEwc/yOhpEttc-kkn_jkWpl5XqxcB46otKLPNACLcB/s1600/Alexis.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4W7R8U-SFN8/WGVN3Gjv0-I/AAAAAAAAEwc/yOhpEttc-kkn_jkWpl5XqxcB46otKLPNACLcB/s400/Alexis.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So he was already using Alexis P. Boodberg as his name in 1922 and already writing English at a pretty proficient level (though of course, I don’t know how much of that is the editor vs. the author). And Boodberg’s first puzzle (titled "WITH CLUES FROM THE WAR MAPS") is right up the Baron’s alley, with references to Russia and the Asian Pacific. His second puzzle, another Sunday ("WITH CLUES FROM THE NEWS"), is even more telling. Its 1-Across entry is REVAL, clued as [German name for capital of Estonia].</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Peter was born in Russia and lived for a while in China before the family emigrated from Russia to the United States. It’s certainly possible that Peter would know REVAL, given that his family was originally from Mainz and lived for centuries in Estonia. But even if he did, he’d been an educator in the United States for long enough by 1942 to know that most solvers would never have heard of this. It seems far more likely that someone like Baron von Budberg would not just know REVAL but feel comfortable placing it at 1-Across.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So at this point I’m betting that Baron Alexis Paul Boodberg is our constructor.</span></div>
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Patterson Pepple</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2012/08/almost-halfway-through-maleska-era.html">2012 post</a>, David wrote that he thought Patterson Pepple might be an alias for pre-Shortzian editor Eugene T. Maleska; in a <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2012/08/1991-puzzles-up-on-xword-info-now-in.html">later post</a>, he had come to believe that Pepple was a real person. I can confirm there is a real Patterson Pepple and can even show you a picture of him. He began life as Allen Patterson Pepple in 1920 but at some point dropped the Allen.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dKWYvt7Ujuw/WGRV2TawigI/AAAAAAAAEu4/XFJ04b9d8dAIDqXteeSSTvYIcU8jgaZlgCLcB/s1600/Pepple%2Binfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dKWYvt7Ujuw/WGRV2TawigI/AAAAAAAAEu4/XFJ04b9d8dAIDqXteeSSTvYIcU8jgaZlgCLcB/s1600/Pepple%2Binfo.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you can see, he passed away in 1994, at the age of 73. His last <i>New York Times</i> crossword was in 1991, but his first was in 1984 when he was 64 years old! I don’t know why he decided to make crosswords then or even what he did for most of his life. But I did find a picture of Mr. Pepple from the 1938 yearbook of Central Catholic High School in Lima, Ohio:</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PP125IvKAog/WGRXD05iovI/AAAAAAAAEvE/tpO-bpOqTIALfjBSuyHAoQFzElLcqLFqQCLcB/s1600/Patterson%2BPepple.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PP125IvKAog/WGRXD05iovI/AAAAAAAAEvE/tpO-bpOqTIALfjBSuyHAoQFzElLcqLFqQCLcB/s320/Patterson%2BPepple.png" width="248" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Photo courtesy of Lima Central</i></div>
<i>Catholic High School, Lima, Ohio</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also know he got a B.B.A. degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1942, because he was mentioned (in memoriam) in the UT Austin alumni magazine, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Alcalde</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8QS12Po0zQc/WGRYZsky0YI/AAAAAAAAEvQ/PH6-6NqcTJQ6gljrvDbvOPsSf0mmD6fkgCLcB/s1600/Pepple%2Bobit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8QS12Po0zQc/WGRYZsky0YI/AAAAAAAAEvQ/PH6-6NqcTJQ6gljrvDbvOPsSf0mmD6fkgCLcB/s320/Pepple%2Bobit.png" width="313" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note that this shows Mr. Pepple living in Columbus, Ohio, at the time of his passing. I haven’t found an obituary for (Allen) Patterson Pepple, but I have one piece of data that ties the Ohio resident UT graduate to crosswords. It's from <i>Simon & Schuster's Super Crossword Book #8</i>, published in 1994:</span><br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRBQGdJ2678/WGRZLVNfvEI/AAAAAAAAEvY/b1MFfgo9jucxmlxTKNKeo27AOXKqRI1MACLcB/s1600/Pepple%2Bblurb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="37" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vRBQGdJ2678/WGRZLVNfvEI/AAAAAAAAEvY/b1MFfgo9jucxmlxTKNKeo27AOXKqRI1MACLcB/s400/Pepple%2Bblurb.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mystery solved.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charles B. Waffell</span></b></h2>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Here's another example of someone who legally changed his name. Mr. Waffell started out life as Chuck Baker Waffel in Deadwood, South Dakota (yes, that’s where Wild Bill Hickok was shot and killed while holding the famous dead man’s hand).</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9TUQOcBJ4pA/WGRadOMl7dI/AAAAAAAAEvk/YQ5LYruMiZg7FMZp9I3UgKioeQvE0GNNACLcB/s1600/Waffell%2Binfo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9TUQOcBJ4pA/WGRadOMl7dI/AAAAAAAAEvk/YQ5LYruMiZg7FMZp9I3UgKioeQvE0GNNACLcB/s1600/Waffell%2Binfo.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As you can see, Mr. Waffell passed away in 2004 (in Brevard County, Florida, near Melbourne) on his 68th birthday. But he spent a lot of his life in Colorado, including going to high school there. I have two pictures with him from the 1953 Cañon City High School yearbook. (Cañon City is about 40 miles west of Pueblo.) In the first, he’s in the bottom row, second from the left:</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jT3tqdBATNg/WGRbRHOsLtI/AAAAAAAAEvo/A6dgCwyUGRUabWHAHZYrdDOZ9gHa8TVWgCLcB/s1600/Waffell%2Bgroup.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jT3tqdBATNg/WGRbRHOsLtI/AAAAAAAAEvo/A6dgCwyUGRUabWHAHZYrdDOZ9gHa8TVWgCLcB/s400/Waffell%2Bgroup.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Photo courtesy of Ca<span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">ñ</span>on City High School, Colo.</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the second, he’s in the bottom row, third from the left:</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUIDsdK_LmE/WGRcWmAK8uI/AAAAAAAAEv4/c1xOdw9yoZsWz1h9QLFvH3Eaimq7SXiGwCLcB/s1600/Waffell%2Bgroup%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BUIDsdK_LmE/WGRcWmAK8uI/AAAAAAAAEv4/c1xOdw9yoZsWz1h9QLFvH3Eaimq7SXiGwCLcB/s400/Waffell%2Bgroup%2B2.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: inherit;">Photo courtesy of Ca<span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">ñ</span>on City High School, Colo.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Again, I don’t have an obituary for Mr. Waffell, and I don’t have any documents that tie him to crosswords. I do, however, have a record that showed him living in La Jolla, California, in 1994, the year his final </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Times</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> puzzle was published (which is weird, because about six years later I lived in an apartment in La Jolla that was a short walk away from him!). I’m pretty sure he was in Florida by then.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the three pre-Shortzian puzzles were probably constructed while he was living in Denver—he lived a lot of different places, didn’t he?—which means, thanks once again to the fine folks at Simon & Schuster, we can tie our Deadwood-born man to the dead wood paper crosswords he constructed. In this case, <i>Simon & Schuster’s Super Crossword Book 9: The Biggest and the Best</i> (1996).</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mA8Z_-hshto/WGRdM5QY3XI/AAAAAAAAEwA/RjgGcbiKa-A3Z1gmO-YbXXMrEF3C6hxuQCLcB/s1600/Waffell%2Bblurb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="43" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mA8Z_-hshto/WGRdM5QY3XI/AAAAAAAAEwA/RjgGcbiKa-A3Z1gmO-YbXXMrEF3C6hxuQCLcB/s400/Waffell%2Bblurb.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Actually, we can do better than that. While doing this research, I found out that Simon & Schuster sometimes published special forewords to their crossword volumes. One of them says Mr. Waffell was a manager for a Denver gas-and-electric utility. Note that it also mentions other constructors I’ve written about before.</span><br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tt1EkZvHx2k/WGReM1NuIuI/AAAAAAAAEwM/-2-6SsecTJ8ajct7whMKw2Cu9wGYFBRVgCLcB/s1600/Foreword.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tt1EkZvHx2k/WGReM1NuIuI/AAAAAAAAEwM/-2-6SsecTJ8ajct7whMKw2Cu9wGYFBRVgCLcB/s400/Foreword.png" width="360" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I don’t know if I’ll be publishing any more reports on pre-Shortzian constructors . . . but if I do, these forewords might very well help me find some of them.</span><br />
<br />
Thanks so much again, Todd, for all this great research! It's always a fascinating journey into the past and really helps bring long-gone pre-Shortzian constructors back to life.<br />
<br />
I thought Todd's Alexis P. Boodberg findings were especially intriguing because of the difficulty in deciding whether Peter Alexis Boodberg or his likely father, Baron Alexis Paul Boodberg, was the constructor of those four <i>New York Times</i> crosswords. I agree with Todd that it was probably the latter. Not only did Alexis Paul die a year and a half after the last known Boodberg puzzle appeared in the <i>Times</i>, but if his son Peter Alexis had been the constructor, Peter would have lived for 28 more years after that final puzzle's publication, and it seems odd that he wouldn't have published any more puzzles during that time. I also question whether Peter Alexis would have used his father's name instead of his own as his byline, though it's possible he might have if he wanted to keep his cruciverbal publications separate from his academic ones.<br />
<br />
Another piece of evidence that Peter Alexis was indeed Alexis Paul's son is his (Anglicized) middle name, or Russian patronymic. The patronymic also supports the supposition that Paul Alexis was another son of Alexis Paul and the brother of Peter Alexis.<br />
<br />
If anyone has further information corroborating that Baron Alexis Paul Boodberg was the constructor, please comment below or write to me directly.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-76174172093526393662016-05-27T13:15:00.000-07:002016-05-27T13:21:50.345-07:00Todd Gross: Christy Ridley Male, Not Female—Plus a Major Report on Early Female Constructor Helen Pettigrew<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Christy Ridley Male, Not Female</span></b></h2>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0mIYdcs_NYE/V0iH2EAQ_bI/AAAAAAAAEpU/9FIFY5rsIHwaHnAlXrPb9vXYFweka57ygCLcB/s1600/Christy%2BRidley.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0mIYdcs_NYE/V0iH2EAQ_bI/AAAAAAAAEpU/9FIFY5rsIHwaHnAlXrPb9vXYFweka57ygCLcB/s320/Christy%2BRidley.png" width="243" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of Ancestry.com</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Crossword researcher and historian Todd Gross reported a major discovery yesterday: Pre-Shortzian constructor Christy Ridley, who published at least 54 daily puzzles under editor Eugene T. Maleska between 1981 and 1993, was male, not female. Christy was one of several pre-Shortzian constructors with ambiguous first names and about whom we had no additional information. Todd's finding is important both because Christy was originally erroneously coded as female in my files and because of the relatively large number of puzzles involved.<br />
<br />
Two years ago at the <a href="http://www.crosswordtournament.com/2014/index.htm">2014 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament</a>, I reported the results of statistical tests I had done on constructor gender in the pre-Shortz and Shortz eras. That report was a brief summary of my findings, which were detailed in a paper I wrote for a science research course. I ran many statistical tests, some of which involved limited portions of the complete data set. The smaller the data set, the more likely the results are to be skewed by individual data points. Although I have not rerun the tests with this change in one constructor's gender coding, certain tests within the Maleska era would likely turn out differently enough to significantly affect some results—most notably, the proportion of puzzles Maleska published by women would have been less than the proportion published by Will Weng, but probably still not as low as in the Farrar and Shortz eras. It is worth keeping in mind that my data set is incomplete and that the constructor names (and, consequently, genders) of many puzzles are still unknown.<br />
<br />
In addition to the above photo, which Todd found on <i>Ancestry.com</i>, Todd discovered this obituary reprinted on <i>Legacy.com</i>:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HnD-JKvwF0w/V0iHZi1rmhI/AAAAAAAAEpQ/fuWkoF_0HHAi2vsBHuHTgKKSPDCYtB6LgCLcB/s1600/The%2BDaily%2BNews-Journal%252C%2BJanuary%2B10%252C%2B2015.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HnD-JKvwF0w/V0iHZi1rmhI/AAAAAAAAEpQ/fuWkoF_0HHAi2vsBHuHTgKKSPDCYtB6LgCLcB/s1600/The%2BDaily%2BNews-Journal%252C%2BJanuary%2B10%252C%2B2015.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Courtesy of The Daily News-Journal</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Thanks so much again, Todd, for this very important discovery!<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Early Female Constructor Helen Pettigrew</span></b></h2>
<br />
Todd also contacted me recently about his efforts to find out more about pre-Shortzian constructor Helen Pettigrew, who, according to my (incomplete) records, published one puzzle in <i>The New York Times</i>. Here's Todd's report:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Helen Pettigrew was the first constructor I decided to research. I saw the following puzzle,
published in the <i>Los Angeles Times</i> on Sunday, July 15, 1928.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98ednB2edok/Vz5CDhm8sQI/AAAAAAAAEn8/qJ09D-9pl8IFjGmjiAJ3PxilAc2__pKEwCLcB/s1600/Down%2Bin%2BArkansas.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-98ednB2edok/Vz5CDhm8sQI/AAAAAAAAEn8/qJ09D-9pl8IFjGmjiAJ3PxilAc2__pKEwCLcB/s640/Down%2Bin%2BArkansas.png" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of the Los Angeles Times</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The crossword is titled "Down in Arkansas," but there's nothing about Arkansas
in the puzzle. I asked [</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Times</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> constructor] Joe Krozel about it (he'd mentioned an interest in
crossword history); he thought maybe the constructor was from Arkansas.
So I went on </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ancestry.com</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to try to find her . . . and find her I did. And indeed,
she was born and raised, and lived nearly her entire life, in what is now
Charleston in Franklin County, about 25 miles east of Ft. Smith.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ancestry.com</i> has a pretty thorough history for Helen: She was born in 1894 in
what is now Charleston but was unincorporated at the time. In the 1920
Census she's listed as a teacher. But in the 1930 Census she's listed
as a sketch writer for magazines. In the 1940 Census, she's listed with
no occupation . . . but living with her father (now 83) and her mother's
sister (91), so likely taking care of both of them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Alas, I don't have any examples of her work in magazines . . . but I found
some puzzles from the early 1950s published in newspapers. I'm including
two of them here, the first from November 1951; the second from April 1953.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TUSo0h-ffI8/Vz5bfWRBDqI/AAAAAAAAEoM/lvs73NvPeYMRY08MUOTWiuu2D75Mrwl5ACLcB/s1600/Word%2BCharade.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TUSo0h-ffI8/Vz5bfWRBDqI/AAAAAAAAEoM/lvs73NvPeYMRY08MUOTWiuu2D75Mrwl5ACLcB/s400/Word%2BCharade.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of the Lethbridge Herald</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PyKvc1A_3ZQ/Vz5cKoZiHxI/AAAAAAAAEoU/7LGqp6tBXBojiPrAXWxdjAuo-NyCRA1JgCLcB/s1600/Word%2BTick-Tack-Toe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-PyKvc1A_3ZQ/Vz5cKoZiHxI/AAAAAAAAEoU/7LGqp6tBXBojiPrAXWxdjAuo-NyCRA1JgCLcB/s640/Word%2BTick-Tack-Toe.png" width="153" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Image courtesy of the</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><i>I</i><i style="font-style: italic;">ndependent Record </i></span><i></i></div>
<i>
</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also have a couple of her crosswords from the early '70s, which fits
with her one known puzzle in </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The New York Times</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> published April 15, 1974. But I'm pretty
sure she was published in Simon & Schuster in at least the late '20s to
early '30s, and I have a </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Herald Tribune</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> puzzle of hers from Sunday, March 25, 1928 (the </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Los Angeles Times</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> puzzle was syndicated from the </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York World</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She also published several books of Bible-themed crosswords (and other puzzles)
in the 1960s and '70s. Google has links to various books; here is the cover
of one published in (I believe) 1963:</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EemcT-y6Whg/Vz5ewwJVR2I/AAAAAAAAEog/T17Uitf6eCQJ_YoO9NL6yAt7efrD7c-9QCLcB/s1600/Xword-Bible-Pettigrew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EemcT-y6Whg/Vz5ewwJVR2I/AAAAAAAAEog/T17Uitf6eCQJ_YoO9NL6yAt7efrD7c-9QCLcB/s400/Xword-Bible-Pettigrew.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Over the years (I first saw "Down in Arkansas" in 2009), I uncovered a lot of
information about Ms. Pettigrew. But I couldn't answer the question I've
been pondering since I first saw that crossword: What inspired a woman living
in central Arkansas in the 1920s to try her hand at crossword construction,
sending puzzles to editors thousands of miles away in New York?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Last month (April 2016), I decided to try going to Charleston for myself
to see what I could uncover there. I flew to Little Rock for Arkansas
Puzzle Day and made a weeklong trip of it, including visiting Charleston. Helen never married, and I believe there are no living Pettigrews
left there. But I did find the local library, which had a genealogy room. And in that room, I found a book that didn't answer that question . . . but it
did answer another question I'd had since I started: What did Helen look
like?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The book, titled <i>Franklin County (Images of America)</i> was written by Lola
Shropshire and published in 2000. Among images of various people and places
in Franklin County, I found one of Helen Pettigrew, with a nice explanatory
paragraph below. It may not have answered all my questions, but it gave
me nice closure. I took several pictures of the page, to be sure I got
it right. But I needn't have bothered: The book is in Google Books, and
here is the picture of Helen with the accompanying paragraph:</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOugCMBBwKY/Vz5gFxXzrfI/AAAAAAAAEos/VpJ21p49PI0uI5hqzg4TKwsT37FgyUurwCLcB/s1600/Helen%2Bpic%252C%2Bblurb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="381" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nOugCMBBwKY/Vz5gFxXzrfI/AAAAAAAAEos/VpJ21p49PI0uI5hqzg4TKwsT37FgyUurwCLcB/s400/Helen%2Bpic%252C%2Bblurb.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Arcadia Publishing</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So perhaps I didn't need to make the trip. But before I left Charleston,
I took one picture that isn't in any book. Helen passed away in 1977, about
three years after the </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">New York Times</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> crossword was published. She passed away in Booneville
but is buried in the local cemetery in Charleston, near her father and other
family members. It isn't large, and in about 15 minutes I found her grave. And I propped a copy of her "Down in Arkansas" puzzle next to the headstone
and took this picture.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ous1TwVl0Ms/Vz5hNNP9qrI/AAAAAAAAEo0/fghSIJrsVXY2bpPgj29VrON-ZeKXJSzgwCLcB/s1600/Helen%2Bheadstone%2Bwith%2Bxwd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ous1TwVl0Ms/Vz5hNNP9qrI/AAAAAAAAEo0/fghSIJrsVXY2bpPgj29VrON-ZeKXJSzgwCLcB/s1600/Helen%2Bheadstone%2Bwith%2Bxwd.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">R.I.P., Helen Lyle Pettigrew (1894–1977). You may have died alone, but you are not
forgotten.</span><br />
<br />
Thanks again, Todd, for all your amazing research and for the lovely picture of Helen's puzzle on her grave.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-62887920853366517992016-04-13T17:40:00.000-07:002016-04-13T17:50:16.269-07:00Grace Fabbroni on Her Crossword Career—Plus More Todd Gross Finds and His Interview on the L.A. Times Crossword Corner<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Grace Fabbroni on Her Crossword Career</span></b></h2>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxxtb_JWf-E/Vw0O6olQSxI/AAAAAAAAEmk/AwGcoefpyhsWeRTIR-mPAoobP4GZ7F3mQCLcB/s1600/Grace%2BFabbroni.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dxxtb_JWf-E/Vw0O6olQSxI/AAAAAAAAEmk/AwGcoefpyhsWeRTIR-mPAoobP4GZ7F3mQCLcB/s320/Grace%2BFabbroni.png" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of Grace Fabbroni</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Recently I heard from crossword historian Todd Gross, who'd been in contact with pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Grace+Fabbroni">Grace Fabbroni</a> on LinkedIn. Grace wondered why her byline had been listed as "Mrs. John Fabbroni"—a name she never went by—instead of "Grace Fabbroni." I explained to Todd that we'd just used whatever name had been listed with the puzzles but that this new information was very helpful and we'd change all her bylines.<br />
<br />
Todd also noted that Grace planned to send something about her crossword career, which she did—here it is:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RCDBk4noejw/Vw0P-Jpp9XI/AAAAAAAAEms/IxUMh88iOQA9FXDxA4EY1l2HyElo6MAagCLcB/s1600/Grace%2BFabbroni%2Bstatement.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RCDBk4noejw/Vw0P-Jpp9XI/AAAAAAAAEms/IxUMh88iOQA9FXDxA4EY1l2HyElo6MAagCLcB/s640/Grace%2BFabbroni%2Bstatement.png" width="611" /></a></div>
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Thanks so much again for letting me know about this, Todd, and for this wonderful reminiscence, Grace!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Frances Hansen</span></b></h2>
A couple of months ago, Todd also told me about a 2004 article (and photo) he'd found on pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Frances+Hansen">Frances Hansen</a>, who passed away some six months later. The link worked then but unfortunately has since disappeared. I've listed the article on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructors.html">Pre-Shortzian Constructors</a> page, though, so you may be able to track it down through your local library.<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Obituaries: Eugene T. Maleska, Alex F. Black, Terry Healy, Maurice J. Teitelbaum, and Jack Jumonville</span></b></h2>
Todd also found some fascinating obituaries for editor/constructor <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-08-05/news/9308050789_1_maleska-puzzle-editor-crossword-puzzle">Eugene T. Maleska</a> and constructors <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/21/AR2005052100557.html">Alex F. Black</a>, <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?n=teresa-healy&pid=156853001">Terry [Teresa] Healy</a>, <a href="http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=98761639">Maurice J. Teitelbaum</a>, and <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theneworleansadvocate/obituary.aspx?pid=167972022">Jack Jumonville</a>, all of which you can see by clicking on the individual links here or on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructors.html">Pre-Shortzian Constructors</a> page. The Alex Black obituary also contained this photo taken by his family:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6aPDP0SrqAY/Vw0o7lcB4aI/AAAAAAAAEm8/wmP_Bu2MmOM_W20X4L3Xb6tWZriSH3_pQCLcB/s1600/Alex%2BF.%2BBlack.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6aPDP0SrqAY/Vw0o7lcB4aI/AAAAAAAAEm8/wmP_Bu2MmOM_W20X4L3Xb6tWZriSH3_pQCLcB/s1600/Alex%2BF.%2BBlack.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alex F. Black (photo courtesy of the Black family)</i></td></tr>
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Todd did some additional research on Jack Jumonville—here's his report:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYQM9do_26c/VuLfyi8K8qI/AAAAAAAAElM/ew7uJPeBx5AHnpgcGKQQDEfuPb8o0PN1w/s1600/Jack%2BJumonville.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYQM9do_26c/VuLfyi8K8qI/AAAAAAAAElM/ew7uJPeBx5AHnpgcGKQQDEfuPb8o0PN1w/s320/Jack%2BJumonville.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 18px;"><i>Jack Jumonville</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I went to Ancestry.com to see if I could find more about Jack Jumonville. There's a fair amount there, including pictures from his college yearbook. He was a member of a fairly elite club at LSU called Samurai, which means a larger than normal picture. I'm enclosing what I found . . . the picture of young Mr. Jumonville not quite what I expected. . . . </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">There's also a private story and a private picture of him.</span><br />
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Here's the earlier photo of Jack from the Louisiana State University yearbook that Todd found, along with some information about the Samurai organization Jack belonged to:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iL5HEgZ7nyg/VuLpdKYec9I/AAAAAAAAElc/NT-_Bj2gGkkXN-JTESCWlQ4y9ow2Lw2iw/s1600/Jack%2BJumonville%2Bcollege.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iL5HEgZ7nyg/VuLpdKYec9I/AAAAAAAAElc/NT-_Bj2gGkkXN-JTESCWlQ4y9ow2Lw2iw/s320/Jack%2BJumonville%2Bcollege.png" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<i>Jack Jumonville in college (photo</i></div>
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<i>courtesy of the Louisiana State </i></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i>University yearbook)</i></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hlcu3fFgglo/VuLpi1aL-xI/AAAAAAAAElg/KVMlrXPpL48NihzM3EoILlTXKiimgl5Zw/s1600/Jack%2BJumonville%2Bclub.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Hlcu3fFgglo/VuLpi1aL-xI/AAAAAAAAElg/KVMlrXPpL48NihzM3EoILlTXKiimgl5Zw/s640/Jack%2BJumonville%2Bclub.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>From the Louisiana State University Yearbook</i></td></tr>
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Thanks again, Todd—it's always great to learn more about the lives and careers of these early constructors, who, in addition to their crossword talents, often had successful unrelated careers and other wide-ranging interests!<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Todd Gross's Interview on the <i>L.A. Times Crossword Corner</i></span></b></h2>
Finally, <a href="http://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2016/02/interview-with-todd-gross.html">Todd was recently interviewed</a> for the <i><a href="http://www.crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/">L.A. Times Crossword Corner</a></i>! In his interview, which you can read by clicking <a href="http://crosswordcorner.blogspot.com/2016/02/interview-with-todd-gross.html">here</a>, he mentions the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project and talks about his interest in crossword history and career as a constructor for <i>The New York Times</i> and other top publications. Congratulations, Todd!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-64184633934236182072016-03-08T16:32:00.001-08:002016-03-08T16:44:20.223-08:00J. A. Felker (and Another Puzzle Identified), Warren W. Reich, and James E. Hinish Jr.<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">J. A. Felker (and Another Puzzle Identified)</span></b></h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-05qdCycmVi4/Vt8qvFqFv3I/AAAAAAAAEkg/3DeOlQYqZk4/s1600/J.%2BA.%2BFelker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-05qdCycmVi4/Vt8qvFqFv3I/AAAAAAAAEkg/3DeOlQYqZk4/s400/J.%2BA.%2BFelker.jpg" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of Janet Felker, from 1983</i></td></tr>
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Back in January, Jim Horne and Jeff Chen of <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i> received an email, which Jim subsequently copied me on, from Janet Felker, the daughter of pre-Shortzian constructor J. A. Felker (1911–91). Janet wrote that her mother, whose full name was Josephine Ann, had had crossword puzzles published in <i>The New York Times</i> (as well as Bantam Books and Pocket Books) between 1971 and 1977. Will Weng had published 11 of her diagramless puzzles and <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=J.+A.+Felker">four of her regular Sunday puzzles (as well as what turned out to be a previously anonymous Friday puzzle!)</a>. Janet noted that she had files of her mother's submissions to the <i>Times</i> that were accepted, as well as of some submissions that had been rejected. "Perhaps of most interest to crossword puzzle enthusiasts," she wrote, "are the original memo notes from Will Weng regarding some of the puzzles, including his rationale for those he rejected."<br />
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I wrote to Janet expressing interest in these and other items, and she soon sent along the above photo of her mother, taken in 1983; <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/303028393/J-A-Felker-Obituary">a 1991 <i>Miami Herald</i> obituary, "Josephine Felker, N.Y. Times crossword puzzle composer"</a>; a 1980 note from Will Weng (see below) about her mother's name; and a <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/303220896/J-A-Felker-s-First-New-York-Times-Puzzle-With-Manuscript-of-Original-Clues">copy of the original clipping of her mother's August 27, 1971, daily puzzle, along with the original clues</a> (or "definitions," as they were called then), some of which Weng subsequently edited for publication. I've posted the obituary and clipping plus clues on Scribd; to see them, click on the links above.<br />
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Janet also mentioned that she remembered why her mother had used just her initials when submitting puzzles:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I have a vague memory of my mother explaining that she intentionally used "J.A." as she began submitting crossword puzzles to the NYT because she felt that her puzzles might receive more equitable treatment than if she were to submit under "Josephine." It's interesting to me that in his note, Will Weng admits that he assumed that J.A. was a male and was "astonished" to learn that she was a female.</span><br />
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Here's the note Weng sent:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1laJbs214Q/Vt8pkPw7mBI/AAAAAAAAEkU/kcJvGujwi-Q/s1600/Weng%2Bon%2BFelker%2Bname.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O1laJbs214Q/Vt8pkPw7mBI/AAAAAAAAEkU/kcJvGujwi-Q/s1600/Weng%2Bon%2BFelker%2Bname.jpg" /></a></div>
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Janet also reported that her mother had two large puzzles published by Bantam Books, for which she won cash awards for fourth prize and fifth prize in The Bantam Great Master's Crossword Puzzle Hunt, which was where Janet thought Weng had discovered that "J. A." stood for "Josephine." She had documents for those two puzzles, along with a folder of six rejected large puzzles, each of which included her mother's clues, as well as a blank and handwritten completed grid. Several puzzles had Will Weng's memos attached, with an explanation of why he was returning them.<br />
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In addition to her regular crosswords, J. A. Felker also had 12 diagramless puzzles published in the <i>Times</i> between 1971 and 1977; Janet sent the note below from Will Weng—addressed to "Mr. Felker"—accepting J. A.'s first diagramless puzzle, which was published on August 29, 1971.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G1jqIAczKy0/Vt4kMZRYKeI/AAAAAAAAEkE/ok-8ILoTZ9o/s1600/Felker%2BWeng%2Bacceptance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G1jqIAczKy0/Vt4kMZRYKeI/AAAAAAAAEkE/ok-8ILoTZ9o/s1600/Felker%2BWeng%2Bacceptance.jpg" /></a></div>
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Janet also noted:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I don't know if you are interested in more background on my mother, but she was quite educated (for a woman of her time) and talented in other ways as well. She earned a bachelor's of art from Carnegie Tech and a master's of art from Penn State College in 1936. She was quite artistic and continued to sketch and paint through much of my childhood. She was also an accomplished seamstress (her master's thesis was on the history of women's dress) and sewed many of her own and her children's clothes, often designing her own patterns. A few of the outfits (sewed with fabric from Europe) are now part of the collection for students to study in the Fashion Institute of Salt Lake Community College. As the Miami Herald article indicates, mom also learned several languages as a result of living abroad (Brazil, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Mexico, Italy, Belgium, Japan, Hong Kong) due to my father's work, between 1946 and 1972. She was an avid reader and loved not only doing crossword puzzles but also jigsaw puzzles.</span><br />
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Thanks so much again for writing and telling us about your mother, Janet! Thanks to this information, we were able to identify one more previously anonymous daily puzzle and to provide an illuminating look not only into one of the rare female constructors of the pre-Shortz era but also into the mind of editor Will Weng!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Warren W. Reich</span></b></h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DtNGZxK6z44/VsueV3l00RI/AAAAAAAAEjQ/wunx3cgkWx4/s1600/Warren%2BW%2BReich.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DtNGZxK6z44/VsueV3l00RI/AAAAAAAAEjQ/wunx3cgkWx4/s400/Warren%2BW%2BReich.jpg" width="316" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of the Times Union</i></td></tr>
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Shortly after my <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/12/new-puzzle-todd-gross-olio-sequel.html">recent post containing an olio of Todd Gross pre-Shortzian constructor research</a> appeared, I received an email from constructor Jim Modney, who wrote that there had been an <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesunion-albany/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=177072979">obituary of Warren W. Reich</a> in his local paper, which you can read <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesunion-albany/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=177072979">here</a> and which also contained the above photo. Jim noted:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 18px;">I met Warren once in the early 1980’s, after Eugene Maleska noticed that Warren and I were both in the Albany, NY area. By that time I had begun my 30 year “hibernation” from crossword constructing, so Warren and I never crossed paths again.</span><br />
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Jim's email was followed by one in early January from crossword historian Todd Gross, who also sent a link to the <i>Times Union</i> obituary and mentioned that he'd received an email from Warren Reich's daughter, who'd said some nice things about her father. Thanks so much again for letting me know about this, Jim and Todd!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">James E. Hinish Jr.</span></b></h2>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HGUyBK2RVjU/Vsum3aZ0T5I/AAAAAAAAEjg/J8-IYzjsfek/s1600/James%2BE%2BHinish%2BJr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HGUyBK2RVjU/Vsum3aZ0T5I/AAAAAAAAEjg/J8-IYzjsfek/s400/James%2BE%2BHinish%2BJr.jpg" width="314" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<i> Photo courtesy of the Williamsburg York-</i><br />
<i><i> town Daily</i></i></div>
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A few days later, Todd wrote that another pre-Shortzian constructor, James E. Hinish Jr., had died and sent a link to an <a href="http://wydaily.com/2016/01/06/obits-james-edwin-hinish-jr-77-longtime-legislative-assistant-on-capitol-hill/">obituary</a>, which had the above photo and which you can read <a href="http://wydaily.com/2016/01/06/obits-james-edwin-hinish-jr-77-longtime-legislative-assistant-on-capitol-hill/">here</a>. James published at least 16 puzzles in the pre-Shortz era.<br />
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Thanks again, Todd!<br />
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Stay tuned for more updates and commentary coming soon!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-29601883798637738212016-01-15T16:07:00.001-08:002016-01-15T16:10:20.806-08:00Interview and Visit with Guido Scarato—and Maleska's LettersHappy New Year, everyone! Over winter break I was delighted to receive an email from Will Shortz telling me about another pre-Shortzian constructor who'd resurfaced: Guido Scarato.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SXXyxi-UZQ/VpfwFfS34MI/AAAAAAAAEgQ/7ikX2Of2xk0/s1600/Guido%2BScarato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2SXXyxi-UZQ/VpfwFfS34MI/AAAAAAAAEgQ/7ikX2Of2xk0/s1600/Guido%2BScarato.jpg" /></a></div>
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Guido published many puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> under Margaret Farrar, Will Weng, and Eugene T. Maleska, but almost all of them appeared without bylines, and many have been misplaced over the years, especially during a move from New York to California. Guido now lives on the Monterey Peninsula in Pacific Grove, where his family has been since he was 13. The area, which I've visited many times with my parents over the years, is a short detour from one of the routes we take between Los Angeles and Palo Alto, so it occurred to me that I might actually be able to meet Guido in person on my way back up to Stanford after the break!<br />
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I wrote to Guido and introduced myself, and before long we'd set up a time to meet. I sent him some interview questions in advance, and you can read his responses by clicking <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html">here</a> or on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html">Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews</a> tab above. But the real treat began when we pulled up in front of his house just a few steps away from Monterey Bay.<br />
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Guido, who is also a painter and singer, had a long career as an art director for boutique advertising agencies in New York, producing campaigns for clients including Citibank, Pan Am, Nabisco, and many others; his creativity and talent are evident even from the outside of his house, whose colors are unusually vibrant for the area. You can see a little of that in this photo of us together by his front door:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y3p3NaVsYgc/VpforJVTp0I/AAAAAAAAEfY/c2747VkFk3Y/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BGuido%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y3p3NaVsYgc/VpforJVTp0I/AAAAAAAAEfY/c2747VkFk3Y/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BGuido%2B2.jpg" /></a></div>
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And here's a painting he did of his house and yard:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Idr-6M4Sxw/VpfoLlHBCiI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/Rmm0kEc__UA/s1600/Guido%2527s%2Bhouse%2Bpainting%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1Idr-6M4Sxw/VpfoLlHBCiI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/Rmm0kEc__UA/s1600/Guido%2527s%2Bhouse%2Bpainting%2B2.jpg" /></a></div>
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When I came inside, I was immediately greeted by his two friendly dachshunds, whom he also painted in this self-portrait:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rlk14wD2onU/Vpfp2DkcpSI/AAAAAAAAEfk/puR0UwkNRGc/s1600/Guido%2B%2526%2Bdogs%2Bpainting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Rlk14wD2onU/Vpfp2DkcpSI/AAAAAAAAEfk/puR0UwkNRGc/s1600/Guido%2B%2526%2Bdogs%2Bpainting.jpg" /></a></div>
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And taking up almost the entire wall facing the entrance is this triptych of wood panels painted by <a href="http://www.rogallery.com/Clawson_Rex/Clawson-bio.htm">Rex Clawson</a> in 1985:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTcwy2-RpfM/VpfrFgj13kI/AAAAAAAAEfw/ie0IsjFC0yk/s1600/Panels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wTcwy2-RpfM/VpfrFgj13kI/AAAAAAAAEfw/ie0IsjFC0yk/s1600/Panels.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's an explanation of it:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cPwIGmcrOIo/VpfrTzgVWbI/AAAAAAAAEf4/ao7xr8U9kzc/s1600/Explanation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cPwIGmcrOIo/VpfrTzgVWbI/AAAAAAAAEf4/ao7xr8U9kzc/s1600/Explanation.jpg" /></a></div>
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And below is a closer picture of one of the chairs:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVzftqXIcOE/Vpfuf9N6i4I/AAAAAAAAEgE/l2J_i2dD0cE/s1600/Chair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jVzftqXIcOE/Vpfuf9N6i4I/AAAAAAAAEgE/l2J_i2dD0cE/s1600/Chair.jpg" /></a></div>
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After chatting a bit with Guido and a couple of his friends who'd brought over some delicious cookies, we went into another room filled with art (as was the rest of the house—not to mention the backyard, whose fence he turned into another masterpiece and where he celebrated his 80th birthday with more than 100 friends). There, Guido showed me his crossword puzzle dictionary, much used and very worn over the years:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YEW_0bVNfI0/VpfyTmkD4tI/AAAAAAAAEgc/khuzrQvBEPo/s1600/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-YEW_0bVNfI0/VpfyTmkD4tI/AAAAAAAAEgc/khuzrQvBEPo/s320/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B1.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Front</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cVJr-NMc_60/Vpfyjg2aE5I/AAAAAAAAEgk/vZgPHI4cVtA/s1600/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cVJr-NMc_60/Vpfyjg2aE5I/AAAAAAAAEgk/vZgPHI4cVtA/s1600/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>First page</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-55hSor50zcc/VpfyysMOB6I/AAAAAAAAEgs/haJjn5vXsrE/s1600/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-55hSor50zcc/VpfyysMOB6I/AAAAAAAAEgs/haJjn5vXsrE/s1600/Crossword%2Bdictionary%2B3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Sample pages</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We then began discussing Crossword Compiler and other construction software, which Guido had never tried but was fascinated by. I'd brought along my laptop, so I was able to show him how it worked (and also give him a tour of <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i>, which amazed him!). We got so into it that we actually began constructing a puzzle together that we may eventually finish and submit somewhere!<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KbT8a0842YM/Vpf9GEt6RKI/AAAAAAAAEhE/GwqDKjfwXyA/s1600/Guido%2B%2526%2BDavid%2Bworking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KbT8a0842YM/Vpf9GEt6RKI/AAAAAAAAEhE/GwqDKjfwXyA/s1600/Guido%2B%2526%2BDavid%2Bworking.jpg" /></a></div>
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During the course of my several hours there, Guido told me more about his constructing and also showed me some of the <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/295513200/Eugene-T-Maleska-s-Letters-to-Guido-Scarato">letters he still had from Maleska</a>, including the latter's missive to all constructors informing them of a moratorium on puzzle submissions. I've posted them on Scribd <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/295513200/Eugene-T-Maleska-s-Letters-to-Guido-Scarato">here</a>—highlights include the August 82 [sic], 1988, letter, in which Maleska says Guido owes him 25 cents; the September 23, 1989, letter, at the end of which Maleska asks Guido whether he'd solved a recently published <i>Times</i> puzzle that reminded Maleska of Guido's current submission; and his January 19, 1990, puzzle, in which he chides Guido for "careless defining."<br />
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Guido also still has a few of his old puzzles, and one of them—June 19, 1972—was a puzzle previously identified in my database as being by "Unknown." It was great to be able to put a name to yet another anonymous puzzle.<br />
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Before our meeting came to a close, Guido offered to play a CD of his singing in <i>South Pacific</i>. Guido has an amazing voice and has appeared in numerous musical productions, including <i>The Sound of Music</i>, <i>Man of La Mancha</i>, <i>Oklahoma!</i> and many others.<br />
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After I left, I was struck by how diverse Guido's interests and accomplishments were. The pre-Shortzian constructors were (and are) remarkable for the variety and depth of their talents, and I suspect that the same holds true for some of today's constructors as well, though many of us are often too busy to do or talk about much other than crosswords. There's a wealth and richness to the lives of these early constructors—and a willingness to share their experiences and thoughts—that seems elusive in our increasingly hurried and fragmented existences.<br />
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Thanks so much again for our wonderful afternoon, Guido!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-44390874338919466232015-12-31T22:56:00.000-08:002015-12-31T23:06:34.076-08:00Interview with Mary Virginia Orna—and Maleska's Edits of One of Her Puzzles<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mary Virginia Orna</span></b></h2>
It's New Year's Eve, and I have a special end-of-the-year treat: an interview with pre-Shortzian constructor and chemistry professor Mary Virginia Orna!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7CBJpWZiTEM/VoYYs4iH07I/AAAAAAAAEd0/m0rPc86EB5U/s1600/Mary%2BVirginia%2BOrna.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7CBJpWZiTEM/VoYYs4iH07I/AAAAAAAAEd0/m0rPc86EB5U/s320/Mary%2BVirginia%2BOrna.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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I first wrote about Mary Virginia Orna back in <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2014/05/todd-gross-research-jordan-lasher-toughest-crossword.html">May of 2014</a>, after project historian Todd Gross had uncovered some interesting information about her and a number of other constructors. According to my (incomplete) records, Mary Virginia published <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Mary+Virginia+Orna">28 pre-Shortzian puzzles</a> between 1979 and 1988, and I'd been meaning to try to contact her for some time. I finally did recently and was delighted when I heard back from her!<br />
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A professor of chemistry at The College of New Rochelle in New York, Mary Virginia has had a lifelong interest in languages. To learn more about her, first read her fascinating article on crossword construction, <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/294378940/Always-a-Cross-ed-Word-by-Mary-Virginia-Orna">"Always a Cross(ed) Word,"</a> which I've posted on Scribd, and then my interview with her by clicking on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews tab above or <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html">here</a>.<br />
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I've also posted <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/294379162/Eugene-T-Maleska-s-Edits-of-Mary-Virginia-Orna-s-Mayhem-Puzzle">Eugene T. Maleska's edits</a> of Mary Virginia's <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=5/12/1985">"Mayhem" puzzle</a>, which was originally published on May 12, 1985. Will Shortz showed them to me a couple of summers ago when I was researching pre-Shortzian constructors and let me make a copy (thanks again, Will!). Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-53502700571380795412015-12-18T14:08:00.000-08:002015-12-18T14:08:27.486-08:00Happy Holidays! A New Puzzle, Plus an Olio of Todd Gross Pre-Shortzian Constructor Research: The Sequel<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
Happy Holidays! One of the more interesting things that's happened since the previous post is that we seem to have discovered a new, previously unlitzed pre-Shortzian puzzle! Here's how it all went down. Earlier this week, Jim Horne and I were trying to straighten out exactly how many missing puzzles there were. Jim noticed a discrepancy in our records for the August 13, 1978, puzzle—the first Sunday during one of the strikes. Barry Haldiman's records indicated that a puzzle had been published that day ("Putting on Airs," by Louis Sabin [see more on Lou below]), but I hadn't been able to find the PDF on ProQuest. I shot Barry an e-mail about this puzzle, which he apparently had added to his records after his original microfiche search of <i>The New York Times Magazine</i>. Barry speculated that the puzzle might have come from microfilm that carried a different version (international or West Coast) of <i>The New York Times</i>, though why just this one strike puzzle turned up is a mystery. Nonetheless, this discovery gives the missing puzzle quest a new ray of hope! Barry sent me pictures of the puzzle and solution from a book preview on Amazon, and I litzed it yesterday. Kristena Bergen proofread the puzzle, and then I sent it off to Jim. So expect to see a new puzzle on <i>XWord Info</i> in the not-too-distant future!<br />
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This seems like the perfect time to publish another amazing olio of pre-Shortzian constructor research from historian, litzer, and proofreader Todd Gross! This is such a wealth of information that I've decided to divide it into two sections: The first contains several individual updates Todd sent to me, and the second features a collection of constructors he grouped together, which I've dubbed "The Sequel." Thanks so much again, Todd, for all your tireless research!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charles J. Matonti, Elio Desiderio, Jack R. Harnes, Betty Jane Cometa, and Lou Sabin</span></b></h2>
In mid-November, Todd sent me these photos of three constructors, whom he thought were all still alive and living in the New York City area. Todd noted, "If I'm right, Charles Matonti turned 80 this year, Elio Desidario recently turned 89, and Jack Harnes turned a very respectable 93 a couple of days later."<br />
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According to my (incomplete) records, the first, Charles J. Matonti, published eight pre-Shortzian puzzles between 1980 and 1988 in <i>The New York Times</i>. Here's a 1964 photo from the Cathedral College of Brooklyn, along with some information that accompanied it:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLc2IsoXu6I/VmpEJANkYOI/AAAAAAAAEb8/rM7w4OaYGqI/s1600/Charles%2BMatonti.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HLc2IsoXu6I/VmpEJANkYOI/AAAAAAAAEb8/rM7w4OaYGqI/s320/Charles%2BMatonti.png" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KfGzX314USY/VmpEYlRINMI/AAAAAAAAEcE/Ms7FeJyixxw/s1600/Charles%2BMatonti%2Bblurb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KfGzX314USY/VmpEYlRINMI/AAAAAAAAEcE/Ms7FeJyixxw/s320/Charles%2BMatonti%2Bblurb.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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Elio Desiderio, whose middle name was Phillip, published 11 (or more) <i>Times</i> puzzles between 1974 and 1991. This photo is from the 1944 Niagara Falls High School yearbook:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3PenoiOJea8/VmpG99zim7I/AAAAAAAAEcM/iPZ2Pz03d-Q/s1600/Elio%2BDesiderio.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3PenoiOJea8/VmpG99zim7I/AAAAAAAAEcM/iPZ2Pz03d-Q/s1600/Elio%2BDesiderio.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Elio Desiderio</i></td></tr>
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Finally, Jack R. Harnes published at least 6 <i>Times</i> puzzles between 1982 and 1993. The below photo and information are from the 1943 Harvard yearbook:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q7_eV-gZtU/VmpIbGIy03I/AAAAAAAAEcU/qTx2o4rp9A0/s1600/Jack%2BR.%2BHarnes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q7_eV-gZtU/VmpIbGIy03I/AAAAAAAAEcU/qTx2o4rp9A0/s320/Jack%2BR.%2BHarnes.png" width="256" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ3f_wFmpBI/VmpIlMB999I/AAAAAAAAEcc/2AEwEIeJrW8/s1600/Jack%2BHarnes%2Bblurb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gZ3f_wFmpBI/VmpIlMB999I/AAAAAAAAEcc/2AEwEIeJrW8/s320/Jack%2BHarnes%2Bblurb.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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A few days after sending the above, Todd wrote me that while researching crossword-related obituaries, he'd come across an <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/app/obituary.aspx?pid=176311813">obituary for Betty Jane Cometa</a>, which you can read <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/app/obituary.aspx?pid=176311813">here</a>. Betty Jane published 5 (or more) puzzles in the <i>Times</i> between 1982 and 1989. Todd's discovery was particularly important because previously we hadn't been able to determine the gender of the constructor known only to us as "Cometa." Todd reported that Betty Jane was born on September 11, 1932; according to the 1940 Census, lived in Nassau County, N.Y., when she was 7; and passed away this October at the age of 83.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CK6OwFvV58U/VmpMflYDuRI/AAAAAAAAEco/o4MurCXg8PE/s1600/Betty%2BJane%2BCometa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CK6OwFvV58U/VmpMflYDuRI/AAAAAAAAEco/o4MurCXg8PE/s320/Betty%2BJane%2BCometa.jpg" width="234" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Betty Jane Cometa</i></td></tr>
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The next day, Todd sent me a link to a delightful <a href="http://patch.com/new-jersey/eastbrunswick/the-puzzling-pastime-of-creating-crosswords">article on Lou Sabin</a>, which you can read <a href="http://patch.com/new-jersey/eastbrunswick/the-puzzling-pastime-of-creating-crosswords">here</a>. According to my records, Lou published 109 <i>Times</i> puzzles between 1955 and 1993 and so far has published 29 more during the Shortz era, the most recent appearing in 2009. Todd said that as far as he knew, Lou and his wife, Francene, were still alive.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ehnPMSdvVAU/VmpPRbelZTI/AAAAAAAAEcw/_llI4-htlSQ/s1600/Lou%2BSabin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ehnPMSdvVAU/VmpPRbelZTI/AAAAAAAAEcw/_llI4-htlSQ/s320/Lou%2BSabin.png" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Lou Sabin</i></td></tr>
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Finally, at the end of November, Todd mentioned that he had been compiling a list of crossword constructors' birthdays (and, where applicable, dates of constructors' deaths). His list includes pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructors, as well as a couple of constructors who published before the <i>Times</i> crossword began. The file, too big to reproduce here, also contains information on constructors' cities and states, where available.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Todd Gross Olio: The Sequel (Judith C. Dalton, Anne Fox, Judith Perry, Warren W. Reich, Judson G. Trent, and Thomas W. Underhill)</span></b></h2>
And now, here's Todd's opus! <br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Judith C. Dalton</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Usually, when I’m researching a constructor, what I’m aiming for is (1) an article that mentions they constructed crosswords, and (2) a picture of them as close to their constructing age as possible. I usually feel lucky if I can get both of these. In this case, thanks to Ancestry.com and a few fortuitous newspaper articles, I can actually give a pretty complete history of Judith Dalton. [</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ed.: Judith Dalton published at least 8 </i>Times<i> puzzles between 1981 and 1993.</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">]</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She was born <b>Judith Carol Kuta</b> on 25 Dec 1943 (Christmas Day!) in Amsterdam, Montgomery County, New York. I have a picture of her at Mont Pleasant HS in Schenectady, NY in 1961.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRF2eIH_d_s/VmnY58qaMNI/AAAAAAAAEX4/vDl_WCNSvI4/s1600/Judith%2BC.%2BKuta.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vRF2eIH_d_s/VmnY58qaMNI/AAAAAAAAEX4/vDl_WCNSvI4/s320/Judith%2BC.%2BKuta.png" width="280" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She then attended SUNY Cortland (in Cortland, NY), where she served as a co-editor of the <i>Hilltop Press</i>. I have a picture of her from 1965 in that role.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayThqzbiT7o/VmnZvk0L_xI/AAAAAAAAEYA/4Epbto5kUxk/s1600/Judith%2BKuta%2B-%2BHilltop%2BPress.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayThqzbiT7o/VmnZvk0L_xI/AAAAAAAAEYA/4Epbto5kUxk/s640/Judith%2BKuta%2B-%2BHilltop%2BPress.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She married Thomas Dalton on 3 July 1965 in Schenectady. I was able to “screen scrape” the relevant info from Newspapers.com, which allowed me to confirm I had the correct person.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfyStOQiRjk/Vmnam10V18I/AAAAAAAAEYI/SmVho4YFJxM/s1600/Judith%2BKuta%2B-%2Bwedding.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="123" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UfyStOQiRjk/Vmnam10V18I/AAAAAAAAEYI/SmVho4YFJxM/s640/Judith%2BKuta%2B-%2Bwedding.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Crosswords don’t enter the picture (as far as I know) until she and Thomas move to Saginaw, MI. I don’t know when they moved, but <a href="http://blog.mlive.com/saginawliving/2008/03/puzzles_exercise_the_mind.html">this article</a> says Thomas was Saginaw’s City Manager from 1978–1986. It also says Judith (Judy) Dalton constructed puzzles for the <i>New York Times</i> (her first puzzle in XWordInfo is from 1981).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And thanks to the article about Mary Cee Whitten (which I actually found because I was working on Ms. Dalton) you link to, we know Judith Dalton was “public affairs co-ordinator for a television station WNEM-TV in Flint-Saginaw-Bay City.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And thanks to <a href="http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1999-01-11/news/9901110306_1_orlando-central-florida-three-grandchildren">this article</a>, I unfortunately can confirm that Ms. Dalton passed away on 8 Jan 1999 at the age of 55 in Indialantic, FL.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, let me include a picture of just her from SUNY Cortland in 1965. You may want this to be her XWordInfo gallery picture.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCe3_4v2wbw/VmndToItw-I/AAAAAAAAEYU/FQlediwCFtc/s1600/Judith%2BKuta%2Bheadshot.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DCe3_4v2wbw/VmndToItw-I/AAAAAAAAEYU/FQlediwCFtc/s320/Judith%2BKuta%2Bheadshot.png" width="253" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anne Fox</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just a month or two ago, all I knew of Anne Fox’s biography was basic facts: she was born 9 Jul 1911 and passed away 21 Nov 1983 in Short Hills, NJ, and she had a husband named Charles. I didn’t even know if Fox was her maiden or married name. But I went back and looked in Maleska’s book <i>Across and Down</i>, which gives some nice tidbits about her life—including living in Tuxedo, NY and attending Cornell. Well, with those facts, I resumed my search and was able to find more. Not as much as for Judith Dalton, but interesting nonetheless. [</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ed.: Anne Fox published 46 (or more) puzzles in the </i>Times<i> between 1964 and 1983.</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">] </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">She was born <b>Anna McCreery Lamouree</b> to John E Lamouree and Mary McCreery. I don’t know where she was born, but probably somewhere near Tuxedo, NY, where she was raised, as her father’s family has deep roots in the area, as discussed in <a href="http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nygreen2/john_lamouree.htm">this article</a>, which mentions Anna as a junior at Cornell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As the article mentions, John was a co-owner of the drug store firm Paret & Lamouree, which had stores in Tuxedo and in Suffern, NY. I was lucky to find an old photograph of the Suffern store.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cyB0ltoYHoo/VmoUT77HbtI/AAAAAAAAEYk/FFx5V8kjAjg/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2BSuffern.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cyB0ltoYHoo/VmoUT77HbtI/AAAAAAAAEYk/FFx5V8kjAjg/s400/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2BSuffern.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anne/Anna (I’ve also seen Ann in some places) did attend Cornell, but alas she didn’t graduate. In her 3rd year she met Charles Fox and married him, and they moved in with Anne’s family in Tuxedo (according to the 1940 Census). So no class picture of her as with Judith Dalton. However, I did find a picture from her junior year (1931) of the sorority she belonged to (Sigma Kappa). Here is the picture.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SQpy72E2unU/VmoVSk0-PBI/AAAAAAAAEYs/RWlTa9pz8cw/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Bsorority.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SQpy72E2unU/VmoVSk0-PBI/AAAAAAAAEYs/RWlTa9pz8cw/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Bsorority.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I’ll tell you which one is Anne in a bit, first I want to mention other tidbits I found about Ms. Fox. First, an obit notice in the Apr 1984 <i>Cornell Alumni News</i> that makes the connection to crosswords clear.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoN0KBuH0mY/VmoV6SiAyYI/AAAAAAAAEY0/lw4f2-wA2F4/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Bobit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WoN0KBuH0mY/VmoV6SiAyYI/AAAAAAAAEY0/lw4f2-wA2F4/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Bobit.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, an article from the Feb 1937 issue of <i>The Alpha Delt</i>, produced by the fraternity Charles Fox belonged to (Alpha Delta). It shows that Charles wasn’t just freeloading off his new wife’s family.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sk_lVyY41U/VmoXpjhNRcI/AAAAAAAAEY8/UUEf40O-XsU/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2BCharles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sk_lVyY41U/VmoXpjhNRcI/AAAAAAAAEY8/UUEf40O-XsU/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2BCharles.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As ETM noted, at the time Charles Fox “recently retired from a position as sales executive in the textile business.” So Charles was certainly successful in his own right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OK, now let me tell you which of those sorority women is Anne Fox. She’s in the second row from the top, 3rd from the right, wearing a pearl necklace. Here’s a grainy enlargement I made of Anne.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ftGonFHc0-A/VmoYsbHR2NI/AAAAAAAAEZI/3RV0TkQ_2RA/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Benlarged.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ftGonFHc0-A/VmoYsbHR2NI/AAAAAAAAEZI/3RV0TkQ_2RA/s1600/Anne%2BFox%2B-%2Benlarged.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Judith Perry</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Unlike Judith Dalton’s story, <b>Judith Perry</b>’s story is short and sweet. In fact, you get pretty much everything you need to know from <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/timesargus/obituary.aspx?n=judith-perry&pid=149078031">her obituary</a>. </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">[</span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ed.: Photo below; Judith Perry published at least 22 </span>pre-Shortzian </i>Times<i> puzzles between 1985 and 1993, plus 3 during the Shortz era.</i><span style="font-family: inherit;">]</span></span><br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kbLFh3OArS0/VmodJzRx-WI/AAAAAAAAEZc/1iNiIi-jQCs/s1600/Judith%2BPerry%2B-%2Bobit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kbLFh3OArS0/VmodJzRx-WI/AAAAAAAAEZc/1iNiIi-jQCs/s1600/Judith%2BPerry%2B-%2Bobit.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Photo courtesy of The<br />Barre Montpelier Times-<br />Argus.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Judith Perry was born in Barre, VT on 8 Apr 1920, she graduated from the University of Vermont with a music degree in 1943, never married, taught and played piano and organ, created crossword puzzles, and passed away in Northfield, VT on 3 Mar 2011 at the age of 90. As far as I can tell, she lived in Vermont her entire life. I don’t know when the picture in her obituary was taken, I’m guessing well before she turned 90.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I only have one more thing to add. There are several pictures of her from the U of VT. I’m enclosing the one that looks best (in part because she’s in the smallest group): the Bluestockings Club of 1943. I note <i>bluestocking</i> is defined as an intellectual or literary woman, though it’s not meant as a compliment. I’m glad to see the label taken as a badge of honor, like other pejoratives (e.g. queer).</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LmtwCfNBqws/Vmob8gjw8tI/AAAAAAAAEZU/mtOWrXVTIKo/s1600/Judith%2BPerry%2B-%2BBluestockings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LmtwCfNBqws/Vmob8gjw8tI/AAAAAAAAEZU/mtOWrXVTIKo/s1600/Judith%2BPerry%2B-%2BBluestockings.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Warren W. Reich</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thanks to the Simon & Schuster book series (<i>Super Crossword Book 9</i> – 1996), we know that <b>Warren W. Reich</b> lived in Albany, NY. [</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ed.: Warren W. Reich published 13 (or more) pre-Shortzian puzzles in the </i>Times<i> between 1982 and 1993, plus 1 during the Shortz era.</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">]</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NbKoKvN5spA/VmofyGO5QRI/AAAAAAAAEZk/GECt8OTAFrI/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2Bpuzzle%2Bintro.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NbKoKvN5spA/VmofyGO5QRI/AAAAAAAAEZk/GECt8OTAFrI/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2Bpuzzle%2Bintro.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In fact, Warren W. Reich (sorry, don’t know what the middle W stands for) served as a professor in the Slavic and Germanic Languages department at SUNY Albany. This picture from 1964 (when the dept. was founded) shows Mr. Reich, professor of German, on the far left.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9pv3xPv73E/Vmogj76Y5YI/AAAAAAAAEZs/gEgXfM6UgRE/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2Bdepartment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i9pv3xPv73E/Vmogj76Y5YI/AAAAAAAAEZs/gEgXfM6UgRE/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2Bdepartment.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know this Warren Reich is our constructor because of <a href="http://www.albany.edu/llc/newsletters/llcnewsletter_SpSum09.pdf">an article about his wife Nina</a>, who studied with another faculty member in the above photo (Madame Catherine Wolkonsky). Most of the article, taken from the Spring/Summer 2009 edition of the SUNY Albany <i>LLC News</i> . . . is about Nina, but the last sentence mentions Warren and crosswords.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O9Se7eboydg/VmoirodrXHI/AAAAAAAAEZ4/ZPSg_LpbdL0/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2BNina.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O9Se7eboydg/VmoirodrXHI/AAAAAAAAEZ4/ZPSg_LpbdL0/s1600/Warren%2BW.%2BReich%2B-%2BNina.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of the LLC News.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can tell you a bit more about Mr. Reich. He was born 26 Jun 1923, probably in or near Erie County, NY. The 1940 Census shows him living in Tonawonda, and in 1943 he enlisted in the Army from Buffalo. His occupation at the time was cabinet maker, so I’m guessing he got his education after WW II.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I’m reasonably sure Mr. Reich is still alive. Besides not finding an obituary, and having what appears to be a current address for him, I have <a href="http://www.dailygazette.com/news/2011/aug/10/0810_reunion/?print">this article</a> from 2011 about a student reconnecting with him…a student from when he taught German at Mont Pleasant HS in Schenectady (sound familiar?).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">If Mr. (Dr.?) Reich is fine with reconnecting with an old high school pupil, I’m hoping he won’t mind an interview with a fellow NYT constructor he’s never met before.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Judson G. Trent</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">[</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ed.: Judson G. Trent published at least 51 puzzles in the </i>Times<i> between 1978 and 1989.</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This one is a doozy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let’s start at the end, with an <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1989/10/19/homer-r-arey-dies/ba20451e-28ec-4453-9e18-f36252c7fb58/">obituary</a> in the <i>Washington Post</i>. . . .</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsfVA13ZvnM/VmoneYF2wvI/AAAAAAAAEaE/PYt3rSxjl0g/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bobit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsfVA13ZvnM/VmoneYF2wvI/AAAAAAAAEaE/PYt3rSxjl0g/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bobit.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The obituary appeared on 19 Oct 1989. So it looks like Mr. Trent was born in 1914 (or late 1913) in Essex, CT, a pretty small community. And I found him in two of the locations mentioned here: Sacramento [City Directory] in 1955 (working as a proofreader)</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kV1jbCiXaf8/Vmooi-38q4I/AAAAAAAAEaM/I0NSAjrcfiY/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bcity%2Bdirectory.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="126" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kV1jbCiXaf8/Vmooi-38q4I/AAAAAAAAEaM/I0NSAjrcfiY/s400/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bcity%2Bdirectory.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and in Boston in 1964 (working as a composer apparently for the <i>Boston Globe</i>).</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qkjE-ed89ho/VmopllQAZQI/AAAAAAAAEaU/7O6KdkYbSfQ/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BBoston%2BGlobe.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qkjE-ed89ho/VmopllQAZQI/AAAAAAAAEaU/7O6KdkYbSfQ/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BBoston%2BGlobe.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One could ask how Mr. Trent could have been working full time in Washington since 1962 and be working in Boston in 1964, but we’re going to overlook that for now. The tale gets a lot more interesting when we look at this Social Security claim for Mr. Trent.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J64tXhFQsrE/VmoqQWbd2GI/AAAAAAAAEac/XK4Xqx9_fQk/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bclaim.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J64tXhFQsrE/VmoqQWbd2GI/AAAAAAAAEac/XK4Xqx9_fQk/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2Bclaim.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note the birth date and place match our obituary, so Mr. Trent was born <b>Judson Gordon Trick</b>, and changed his name to Trent in the early 1950’s, when he was 36 or so. This name pops up in a few places. First of all, I couldn’t find a connection to Muskingum College as mentioned in the obituary. But I did find a Judson Gordon Trick attending Oberlin College (in Oberlin, OH) in 1937.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aSAoowg9qv4/Vmoq7wDxwrI/AAAAAAAAEak/BhJ1frYVQMY/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BOberlin.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aSAoowg9qv4/Vmoq7wDxwrI/AAAAAAAAEak/BhJ1frYVQMY/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BOberlin.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There’s a picture of him (the only picture I have) with a group called Theologians in this annual volume.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIkU85emdvo/Vmor5RS6oyI/AAAAAAAAEas/QPXDIRf-EsE/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BTheologians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="540" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WIkU85emdvo/Vmor5RS6oyI/AAAAAAAAEas/QPXDIRf-EsE/s640/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BTheologians.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mr. Trick is in the “third row,” wherever that is exactly. So no, I can’t tell you which of these people is Judson Trick-or-Trent. I also didn’t find this name connected to Yale University…but I did find a Reverend by that name living in New Haven in 1942</span>.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1KVW-s5V0Yg/Vmotg9IiyzI/AAAAAAAAEa0/2k9xBB2TZpU/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BReverend.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1KVW-s5V0Yg/Vmotg9IiyzI/AAAAAAAAEa0/2k9xBB2TZpU/s1600/Judson%2BG.%2BTrent%2B-%2BReverend.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Well, being a Reverend makes sense connected with the Theologians group at Oberlin…but the obituary mentions psychology, not theology. And what does all this have to do with proofreading/printing, which is what he was doing when he started constructing (lots of) crosswords? Could these be two different people? Maybe…or maybe not. All I can say is, I have several unanswered questions, and I wish I was as good at solving tricky puzzles as your average ACPT attendee.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Thomas W. Underhill</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With Judith Perry, the obituary told you everything you needed to know. For Thomas Underhill, the following obituary was posted by the <i>Harvard Law Bulletin</i> . . . and [was] surprisingly brief:</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CKpDgvwMCmk/Vmoz5u8oUGI/AAAAAAAAEbA/KnxmiG2F78w/s1600/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2Bobit.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="41" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CKpDgvwMCmk/Vmoz5u8oUGI/AAAAAAAAEbA/KnxmiG2F78w/s640/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2Bobit.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Fortunately, I have other sources to tell me more. He was born <b>Thomas Westlake Underhill</b> on 6 Apr 1924. [</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Ed.: Thomas W. Underhill published 11 (or more) pre-Shortzian </i>Times<i> puzzles between 1986 and 1993, plus 1 during the Shortz era.</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">] I’m not sure where he was born, but probably in or near northern New Jersey, as I have a picture of him from 1941 at Summit HS in Summit, NJ.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kqaIbGlQfuQ/Vmo0r4Tty3I/AAAAAAAAEbI/YKU5MlJMHlE/s1600/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2Bhigh%2Bschool.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kqaIbGlQfuQ/Vmo0r4Tty3I/AAAAAAAAEbI/YKU5MlJMHlE/s1600/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2Bhigh%2Bschool.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also have a picture of him from 1944 at the College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ. Mr. Underhill is the second from the right.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hil7j1OO6Mo/Vmo1hVFp5LI/AAAAAAAAEbQ/DGsL0FgLmp8/s1600/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2BCollege.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hil7j1OO6Mo/Vmo1hVFp5LI/AAAAAAAAEbQ/DGsL0FgLmp8/s1600/Thomas%2BW.%2BUnderhill%2B-%2BCollege.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This picture is the school’s Charter Club…actually, the group was large enough to need two pictures. I was lucky Thomas sat in the front, so I could include the legend without making everything too small.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He went on to get a bachelor’s degree from Princeton, then a degree from Harvard Law School (hence the obit above). But we haven’t mentioned crosswords yet. We also haven’t mentioned that Thomas was a mystery writer. He wrote a novel called <i>The Cambridge Caper</i>, which was published posthumously by his children. Here is the introduction written by his daughter Sarah, which gives a nice overview of her father, including mentioning he constructed crosswords.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sarah Wisseman isn’t just a mystery writer, she’s also an archaeologist who published “five books of non-fiction on ancient Greek vases, Greek archaeology, scientific methods in archaeology, and Egyptian mummies.” This is from the About page on <a href="http://www.sarahwisseman.com/">her personal website</a> . . . , which I enclose a part of below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Her website also has a Contact page, where one can e-mail Sarah. . . .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Finally, I want to mention <a href="http://paw.princeton.edu/memorials/21/77/index.xml?undergraduate_class=1945">another obituary</a> I found, this one from Princeton University. As you can see, they published a more thorough biography, including details I wasn’t aware of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Score: Princeton 1, Harvard 0.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-45814224585106361272015-11-26T10:27:00.000-08:002015-11-26T11:08:20.887-08:00Updates on Charles Erlenkotter, Betty Jorgensen, and William J. Yskamp<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Today I'm especially thankful for all the people who've helped out with the project and delighted to present some fascinating new information that's come in recently about several pre-Shortzian constructors—read on!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Charles Erlenkotter</span></b></h2>
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from Donald Erlenkotter, Professor Emeritus of Management at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management (and former fellow Stanford student—M.B.A., M.S., and Ph.D.!). Charles Erlenkotter, whose <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=2/15/1942">February 15, 1942, puzzle</a> was the first crossword ever published in <i>The New York Times</i>, was Don's great-uncle. Don informed me that the Ancestry.com information about Charles's wife contained a couple of errors:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">They give her name as Wilhemina Weinachten, whereas it should be Wilhelmina Weinacht. In almost all records, she used the shortened version Mina. We haven't been able to track down her death date, but it was after Charles's in 1948 and before her sister Henrietta's in 1951.</span><br />
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Don also enclosed this September 28, 1948, obituary from the <i>Times</i>, along with his current writeup on Charles, which "documents his early history with the Hamburg-American Line at San Francisco (1910–11) and as Southwestern regional manager at St. Louis (1914–17)."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Donald Erlenkotter.</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Donald Erlenkotter.</i></td></tr>
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In a follow-up e-mail, Don told me that he'd had two other great-uncles in addition to Charles—Walter and Francis—and that none of them had had any children. Don didn't remember ever meeting Charles, though he did meet Frank once in San Francisco in the mid-1960s. He added:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">From an on-line search, I have the same set of 8 puzzles you have from the NYT. I searched some other newspapers and turned up a dozen of his puzzles in <i>The Washington Post</i>. The earliest was on 26 November 1939, and is titled "Meeting Place of the Puzzle Makers." The last was on 9 October 1944. Some are captioned "Daily Crossword Puzzle."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">There are a number of entries for him on Ancestry.com under passenger lists. I included one in my writeup since it had dates of birth for him and his wife. There's another for the two of them in 1911 for their arrival from Bermuda - undoubtedly on their honeymoon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">There's also an entry for him in <i>Biography Index</i> for 1949 - probably referencing the NYT obit.</span></div>
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In a subsequent e-mail, Don sent me a notice of Louise Erlenkotter's estate, as published in the January 24, 1937, <i>New York Times</i>:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RvF3db-pWbM/Vk4SR3z2_mI/AAAAAAAAEV4/8dblLvqyNp0/s1600/Erlenkotter%2Bestate.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RvF3db-pWbM/Vk4SR3z2_mI/AAAAAAAAEV4/8dblLvqyNp0/s400/Erlenkotter%2Bestate.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Donald Erlenkotter.</i></td></tr>
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Don noted:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "calibri" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Unfortunately, I don't know of any photographs of Charles Erlenkotter. Documents are scarce in my family - my grandfather, Herman Erlenkotter, was a West Point graduate and artillery officer, so the family moved frequently and didn't spend much time in NJ or NY. He died in 1933, and the only photos I have from the family are from about 1912 into the 1920s, mostly of the children.</span><br />
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Don mentioned, though, that while searching for more crossword information on Charles, he'd found more of his puzzles in other papers: 34 Sunday puzzles in the <i>Springfield Republican</i> (Springfield, Mass.) from 1934 to 1945; 4 puzzles in the <i>Pittsburgh Daily Post</i> (9/21/24, 6/11/25, 7/11/25, 11/7/28); 1 in the <i>Oakland Tribune</i> (Oakland, Calif.; 11/5/24); 1 puzzle printed twice in <i>The Billings Gazette</i> (Billings, Mont.; 10/19/28 and 10/21/28); 7 puzzles in <i>The Charleston Daily Mail</i> (Charleston, W.Va.; 7/3/32, 12/4/32, 2/19/33, 8/6/33, 1/6/35, 3/24/35, 10/8/35) under the heading "<i>Meeting Place of the</i> Puzzle Makers," as also seen in <i>The Washington Post</i>; and 1 posthumous puzzle published on 7/4/54 in both the <i>Denton Record-Chronicle</i> (Denton, Texas) and <i>The Daily Herald</i> (Provo, Utah).<br />
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The Billings puzzle was preceded by this comment:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">We haven't seen any puzzles by Mr. Erlenkotter, our Canadian contributor, on this page for some time. Whenever we do, though, we feel quite pleased about it, because we know that here we have a puzzle that conforms beautifully to all rules of puzzle construction - with some original additions of Mr. Erlenkotter's own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Have you ever noticed that these diagonally bi-symmetrical puzzles almost invariably have diagonal staircases running from the lower left-hand corner to the upper right? There must be some strange reason for it, because there's certainly no reason why the diagonals shouldn't run downward and to the right. Have you any theories on the subject?</span></div>
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Don noted that the posthumous puzzle was copyrighted by Simon & Schuster and wondered whether Simon & Schuster might still have any files on Charles. He also wondered how puzzles were sold to newspapers: "It looks like the contributors probably dealt with newspapers individually—there's no indication that puzzles were syndicated like comic strips, or that newspapers copyrighted them."<br />
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While researching Charles's puzzles, Don began thinking about how Charles's puzzle was chosen to be the first in the <i>Times</i> and came up with this very interesting theory:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Here's a crossword puzzle "mystery": why, and how, was a puzzle by Charles Erlenkotter chosen as the first to appear in<i>The New York Times</i>? As far as I can determine, there was no advance notice in the paper that puzzles were about to appear. They just showed up on 2/15/1942 on p. 36 of the NYT Magazine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The Times seems to have been in something of a state of disarray about this. It appears that they were revamping the Magazine in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entry into WWII. On 2/21/1942, p. 8, they describe its coming features, and below the heading "If We Want to Win This War" they include a list of features "Fashions - Food - Home Decoration - Child Care - Crossword Puzzles" followed by the announcement "Sunday in <i>The New York Times Magazine</i>."</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">The next day, p. 26, the contents IN TODAY of <i>The New York Times Magazine</i> conclude with "and a brand new Crossword Puzzle Page." No mention is made of the one the previous week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Three days later, on 2/25/1942, p. 40, we have:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">So, after missing the ball originally, the NYT was trying here to make up the lost ground.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">Now, back to the Charles Erlenkotter puzzle. Certainly the 2/15/1942 puzzle wasn't submitted in response to any call for puzzles in the NYT since there wasn't any before this date. Surely the key here is Margaret Farrar. I doubt that she could have used any puzzles she may have already had on hand since there would be a conflict of interest with her other employers for whom she had <wbr></wbr>obtained the puzzles - Simon & Schuster, etc. Most likely she contacted some of the puzzle constructors she knew and solicited puzzles from them specifically for the NYT. I would bet that she knew, or knew of, Charles. They had both been active in producing puzzles since the mid-1920s. When Charles returned to the U.S. from Canada at the outset of WWII, it's highly plausible that he would have contacted her since she was highly visible through the Simon & Schuster puzzle books, etc. He then could have sent her this new puzzle, and probably others as well.</span></div>
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Don's theory makes a lot of sense—if only we had more details on exactly what happened back then! But at least we still have the puzzles and copies (if only digital now!) of the papers, which give us enough to make some very good guesses.<br />
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In my most recent e-mail from Don, he reported some new finds:<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">I've obtained some additional information for Charles from passenger arrivals and border crossings on Ancestry.com. Have addresses for him in Irvington, NJ in 1926-1927, and in Montreal from 1928 through 1939. He was living in the Bronx from 1942 until his death in 1948. So far nothing on him from 1919 through 1926.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;">I ran across a 1943 puzzle book in the Library of Congress (not from Simon & Schuster) that lists Charles as a contributor.</span></div>
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Thanks so much again, Don, for all your help with this! It not only fills in many of the gaps in what we know about Charles Erlenkotter but also brings that whole era back to life.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Betty Jorgensen</span></b></h2>
Moving on, in early October, Karen Richards of Eugene, Oregon, wrote to me about Betty Jorgensen. Karen followed up on my <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/10/missing-puzzles-list-constructors.html">October 4 update</a> and contacted Laura Jorgensen, who works at the University of Oregon and might have been a granddaughter of Betty. Unfortunately, although Laura's grandmother was indeed a Betty Jorgensen, she wasn't a puzzle maker. Thanks so much anyway, Karen, for following up on this—at least we can cross that lead off our list!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">William J. Yskamp</span></b></h2>
Finally, the morning of November 18 I received an e-mail from Amanda Yskamp, one of William J. Yskamp's daughters. She had discovered the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/07/todd-gross-betty-jorgensen-william-yskamp.html">July 29, 2015, post</a> and confirmed that we had indeed found the right person—William was her father, and he had passed away eight years ago on that very day. Amanda noted, "He was a wonderful wordsmith, and would have been pleased to know that his legacy lives on."<br />
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Then, that evening, an e-mail arrived from Claire Yskamp, William's wife, who wrote:<br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial";">Yes, that William J. Yskamp was a clever constructor of Sunday
puzzles. He stopped constructing, alas, after one of his puzzles was
published erroneously by the Times under someone else's name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial";">I'm delighted to see that
you found him and charmed to see his high school yearbook picture.</span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<br />
Claire also noted that the name of their oldest daughter is Lise (not Lis, as incorrectly listed in a 2003 obituary for Delia Yskamp). In a subsequent e-mail, she wrote:<br />
<br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial";">Although I met Mr. Maleska only once, at a dinner given him by
New England constructors, I have many memories of his editing style. For
example, he labeled Bill's definition of Onan--"he cast his seed on the
ground"--as "too seamy" for NYT solvers; and he changed it to
"______ even keel."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial";">The Times published a
correction the week after the misattribution, but that didn't attach Bill's
name to his puzzle. That was his last contribution to the Times.</span><!--EndFragment-->
<br />
<br />
Although Claire didn't remember when exactly that was, I checked <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i> and dug through my records again, and the last puzzle William published in the <i>Times</i> was on <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=8/4/1985">August 4, 1985</a>; although the puzzle itself was correct, the author and title were incorrectly listed as Bert Rosenfield and "Age 35: Aaugh!" <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=9/29/1985">Bert Rosenfield's puzzle</a> subsequently appeared eight weeks later on September 29. If only Maleska had correctly printed the author and title of William's puzzle—who knows how many more William J. Yskamp puzzles might have appeared in the <i>Times</i> and been up on <i>XWord Info</i> today? Thanks so much again, Claire and Amanda, for contacting me about William!<br />
<br />
On that note, I'll sign off for now, especially since I smell the beginnings of Thanksgiving dinner! Although I'll be busy for the next couple of weeks studying for finals, I hope to have another post up sometime in December for the holidays.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-34774873486850802732015-10-30T15:29:00.001-07:002015-10-30T15:31:21.689-07:00In Memoriam: Henry Hook, 1955–2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0p737FT-mD4/VjBCoS3TM5I/AAAAAAAAEUs/LiAL_jPEBUA/s1600/Henry%2BHook%2B2014-03-08%2Bed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0p737FT-mD4/VjBCoS3TM5I/AAAAAAAAEUs/LiAL_jPEBUA/s320/Henry%2BHook%2B2014-03-08%2Bed.png" width="246" /></a></div>
<br />
Henry Hook, a crossword legend, passed away this week after a period of failing health. This is the third memorial post I've written now about legendary pre-Shortzian constructors who have died this year—the first two were <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/01/in-memoriam-bernice-gordon-19142015.html">Bernice Gordon</a> and <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/08/in-memoriam-merl-reagle.html">Merl Reagle</a>—and it doesn't get any easier. According to my (still incomplete) records, Henry published 33 puzzles in <i>The New York Times</i> under Will Weng and Eugene T. Maleska and 25 in the Shortz era. His puzzles were unusually well filled for their time and always had something out of the ordinary about them. I won't say much more other than that it was a thrill for me to finally meet Henry at the 2014 ACPT. We didn't say a lot to each other, but that didn't matter. My parents wanted to take a picture of us together, but I'd heard that Henry didn't like posing for photos, so they didn't. Later, though, they took this candid shot so I could remember meeting him that day. I always will—rest in peace, Henry.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-56693288765518389182015-10-04T13:41:00.000-07:002015-10-04T13:52:18.803-07:00Updated List of Missing Puzzles, Plus an Olio of Todd Gross Pre-Shortzian Constructor Research<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
After sorting through the pre-Shortzian constructor names and posting the remaining <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Notes?select=ps">PS Notes on <i>XWord Info</i></a> recently, I went through my records and put together an updated list of the missing puzzles, whose 143 dates are listed below. A few other dates not included below were problematic, and some puzzles (such as, but not restricted to, 10/11–10/18/65) have PDFs in ProQuest, but the PDFs aren't of the puzzles that should have run—they show repeats of puzzles that appeared earlier.<br />
<br />
If anyone wants to help search for these puzzles, be sure to read the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/search/label/missing%20puzzles">previous posts about the missing puzzles</a> first. I still think the only places we might find them at this point is in old books of the daily <i>Times</i> crosswords (best bet) or in the <i>Times</i>'s International or Los Angeles editions, both of which published the puzzles concurrently. Unfortunately, now that "everything" has been put on ProQuest, locating actual copies of these old editions, even in microfilm form, may not be possible through traditional channels. It's always possible, though, that someone somewhere kept copies of all the old International or Los Angeles papers, though after all these years their condition probably wouldn't be good.<br />
<br />
1953 (9): 11/30, 12/1–12/8<br />
1958 (17): 12/12–12/28<br />
1962 (4): 12/15, 12/16, 12/23, 12/30<br />
1963 (13): 1/6, 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10, 2/17, 2/24, 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, 3/31<br />
1965 (13): 9/18, 9/25, 9/26, 10/2, 10/3, 10/10, 10/11, 10/13, 10/14–10/18<br />
1978 (87): 8/10–8/12, 8/14–11/5<br />
<br />
<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Olio of Todd Gross Pre-Shortzian Constructor Research</span></b></h2>
Litzer, proofreader, and historian Todd Gross recently sent me the results of some more of his research on pre-Shortzian constructors—here's an olio of those findings, with constructors listed alphabetically in the order of their last names. (Puzzle totals listed may be less than the actual puzzle totals, since many puzzles lacked bylines.)<br />
<br />
<b>Emory Cain</b><br />
<br />
Todd discovered this <a href="http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1989-09-15/news/8903030446_1_emory-crossword-puzzles">obituary of Emory Cain</a>, who began his lifelong newspaper career at age 12 and published 10 puzzles in the Maleska era.<br />
<br />
<b>William Canine</b><br />
<br />
Todd also found a puzzle published in <i>The Lethbridge Herald</i> [Alberta, Canada] in September 1941 by a William Canine. The puzzle appeared 40 years before "the" William Canine's first <i>New York Times</i> puzzle, which was published on October 16, 1981, so whether or not this is the same person is unclear, though it seems likely. William Canine published 65 puzzles in the Maleska era and 2 during Will Shortz's editorship.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DkNT-o3y2k/VgmTZVuLs_I/AAAAAAAAER8/deBmqmnBBrg/s1600/William%2BCanine%2B1941%2Bcrossword.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="176" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DkNT-o3y2k/VgmTZVuLs_I/AAAAAAAAER8/deBmqmnBBrg/s400/William%2BCanine%2B1941%2Bcrossword.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 18px;"><i>Part of 1941 puzzle by William Canine.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Walter Covell</b><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmLu2Y_KHk0/Vgl0vbOzrKI/AAAAAAAAERs/yagztjy-Z6c/s1600/Walter%2BCovell%2Bas%2BColonel%2BMustard.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dmLu2Y_KHk0/Vgl0vbOzrKI/AAAAAAAAERs/yagztjy-Z6c/s320/Walter%2BCovell%2Bas%2BColonel%2BMustard.png" width="312" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of Conservatory Craftsmen.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Todd also discovered this <a href="http://www.blockislandtimes.com/article/obituary-walter-covell-91/24086">obituary for Walter Covell</a>, an entertainer who published 33 puzzles in the Maleska era and 1 in the Shortz era. Googling a bit, I discovered that Walter also has a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0184403/bio">brief bio on IMDb</a>, which mentions his 1985 <i>Clue VCR Mystery Game</i> credit (as Colonel Mustard).<br />
<br />
<b>Chester (Chet) Currier</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtZTT_dLyvs/VgmYUXkbQ2I/AAAAAAAAESM/5rGezDDdM7c/s1600/Chet%2BCurrier.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DtZTT_dLyvs/VgmYUXkbQ2I/AAAAAAAAESM/5rGezDDdM7c/s1600/Chet%2BCurrier.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of AHBJ.org.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Todd found quite a bit on Chester (Chet) Currier, who published 12 puzzles in the Weng and Maleska eras and 6 in the Shortz era. Here's an excerpt from Todd's e-mail about Chet:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">He worked for the Associated Press, and while he did compose many crossword puzzles for them, his main beat was business. In fact, he worked for Bloomberg after the AP. Though a native New Yorker, Chet moved . . . [to] Manhattan Beach [California] in 2005 . . . but, alas, didn't get to live there long, having passed away in 2007. . . . </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Chet wrote crosswords for the AP as well as business articles. At least once, he wrote an AP article about crosswords. . . .</span><br />
<br />
Here's that article, which appeared in the March 5, 1979, <i>Schenectady Gazette</i> and is about that year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament:<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W45mId0XprE/VgmcqdkyxsI/AAAAAAAAESU/SU7LPvNa4g0/s1600/Chet%2BCurrier%2Barticle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W45mId0XprE/VgmcqdkyxsI/AAAAAAAAESU/SU7LPvNa4g0/s1600/Chet%2BCurrier%2Barticle.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Google news.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Todd also directed me to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Currier">Chet's Wikipedia page</a>, as well as to an <a href="http://www.ahbj.org/lives/0329201chet-currier-1945-2007-associated-press-bloomberg-news/">obituary of him in the <i>American History of Business Journalism</i></a>, at AHBJ.org.<br />
<br />
<b>Betty Jorgensen</b><br />
<br />
Although he wasn't sure he'd found the correct person, Todd told me about some research he'd done on Betty Jorgensen, who published 69 puzzles in the Maleska era (and under Mel Taub), as well as 8 in the Shortz era. Here's Todd's report:<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">
An S&S puzzle of hers mentions Oregon, so I used that to try and find her. . . . Well, I found a Betty Jorgensen in Portland, born in 1919 and passed away 2008. I was able to find her <a href="http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?pid=123556310">obituary on the </a><i><a href="http://obits.oregonlive.com/obituaries/oregon/obituary.aspx?pid=123556310">Oregonian</a> </i>web site. . . . Alas, the obit made no mention of crosswords, which is odd considering how many she published. So I can't be sure I have the right person. I've found other Betty Jorgensens, but they aren't in Oregon and don't seem to be good candidates. I have found out a fair amount about this Betty Jorgensen . . . but, again, nothing tying her to crosswords. But she wrote poetry, which seems fitting.</div>
<br />
Hopefully we'll be able to identify Betty definitively at some point in the future.<br />
<br />
<b>Bob Lubbers</b><br />
<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKzr0iBG9O4/Vglx_iGwe0I/AAAAAAAAERg/GVpTRw3r9i8/s1600/Bob%2BLubbers%2Bheadshot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LKzr0iBG9O4/Vglx_iGwe0I/AAAAAAAAERg/GVpTRw3r9i8/s1600/Bob%2BLubbers%2Bheadshot.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 18px;"><i>Photo courtesy of Wikia.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Following up on his research on Louise Earnest, Todd discovered some information about Bob Lubbers (who, he noted, is likely the second-oldest living <i>New York Times</i> constructor after Louise). Bob, a cartoonist, published 1 puzzle under Weng and 4 in the Shortz era. Todd found <a href="http://www.manhassetpress.com/manhasset-memoirs/">this article</a> that, despite the byline at the top, appears to be by Bob Lubbers. Following up on Todd's lead, I discovered that Bob has his own very extensive <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Lubbers">Wikipedia page</a> that mentions his crossword activities! It's a fascinating overview of Bob's creative activities and also links to the <a href="http://www.reuben.org/">National Cartoonists Society Web site</a>, where I found this "bio" in the <a href="http://www.reuben.org/members/member-directory/">Members Directory</a>:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRKyqtr0elY/VglwHNk7zGI/AAAAAAAAERY/7GNo9zrSiHI/s1600/Bob%2BLubbers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NRKyqtr0elY/VglwHNk7zGI/AAAAAAAAERY/7GNo9zrSiHI/s1600/Bob%2BLubbers.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 18px;"><i>Image courtesy of the National Cartoonists Society.</i><br />
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
</td></tr>
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<b><br /></b>
<b>Marjorie (Lamont) Pedersen</b><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3XSa-OEwGoE/VgmgKcj1OEI/AAAAAAAAESg/gcENIQcTOK4/s1600/Marjorie%2B%2528Lamont%2529%2BPedersen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3XSa-OEwGoE/VgmgKcj1OEI/AAAAAAAAESg/gcENIQcTOK4/s400/Marjorie%2B%2528Lamont%2529%2BPedersen.png" width="281" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of Medford High School.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Todd also discovered an <a href="http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-8650306.html">obituary of Marjorie Pedersen</a>, who published 12 puzzles in the Weng and Maleska eras, as well as a <a href="http://ase.tufts.edu/faculty/pdfs/retiredFaculty/pedersen.pdf">long document about her from the archives of Tufts University</a>, from which she received her B.A. and where she was chairman of the Department of Shorthand and Typewriting. Here's something that appeared toward the end of the document:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCiMqEdXIZM/Vgm26cFN-8I/AAAAAAAAES4/KcG_je_9kNo/s1600/Tufts%2Bdocument.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fCiMqEdXIZM/Vgm26cFN-8I/AAAAAAAAES4/KcG_je_9kNo/s400/Tufts%2Bdocument.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Originally published at Tufts University.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Todd wrote:<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I'd never heard of this, so I asked Will about it. He hadn't heard of it either (though he pointed out such an event wouldn't have been the first ever such meeting, he'd arrange something similar in Fairfield Co., CT in 1977).</span><br />
<br />
He also found more information on someone he thinks was her:<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">
I found a few pictures of a Marjorie Lamont, all of whom look like the same person. But one is a high school picture from 1939, when she would have [been] 21. So I'm enclosing a picture from a different (but not far away) high school, when she would have been 17 (almost 18).<br />
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I'm pretty sure she was born Marjorie Louise Lamont on 8 Jun 1917 somewhere in the Boston area. In the 1940 Census she was living with her parents in Medford, MA working as a teacher in a secretarial school.</span><br />
<br />
Here's what appeared next to her photo in the Medford High School 1935 yearbook:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A51tv6EgtrY/VgmhJAIcSuI/AAAAAAAAESo/zX5KCznuq30/s1600/Marjorie%2BPedersen%2527s%2Byearbook%2Binfo%2B-%2BMedford%2BHS%2B1935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A51tv6EgtrY/VgmhJAIcSuI/AAAAAAAAESo/zX5KCznuq30/s1600/Marjorie%2BPedersen%2527s%2Byearbook%2Binfo%2B-%2BMedford%2BHS%2B1935.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of Medford High School.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b>Joy L. Wouk</b><br />
<br />
Finally, Todd discovered that a special edition of Random House's Sunday crossword series (volume 25) mentioned that Joy was the "sister of noted novelist Herman Wouk." Apparently, though, she was actually Herman's sister-in-law—her husband, Victor, was Herman's brother. Joy, who published 124 puzzles in the Maleska era (and under Mel Taub) and 9 in the Shortz era, passed away in 2008, as documented in this <a href="http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=joy-lattman-wouk&pid=118267464">brief <i>Times</i> obituary</a>.<br />
<br />
Thanks so much again, Todd, for all your great research and leads! It's especially nice, too, to finally have photos of some of these constructors! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-10936678976498051842015-09-16T07:04:00.000-07:002015-09-16T07:22:16.723-07:00Prolific Pre-Shortzian Constructor Louise Earnest Turns 100—and 49 More Puzzles Are Identified!Near the beginning of August, I received an e-mail from litzer, proofreader, and historian Todd Gross, who'd been contacted by Andy and Harriet Earnest, the children of pre-Shortzian constructor Louise Earnest. Louise published 79 puzzles under the editorships of Margaret Farrar, Will Weng, and Eugene T. Maleska and was approaching her 100th birthday, which is today! Happy Birthday, Louise! Louise kept excellent records of her puzzles (and correspondence with puzzle editors), and with Andy's help, I was able to identify 49 more puzzles, previously listed in my records and on <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i> as having been constructed by "Unknown," that were actually constructed by Louise! This was truly a bonanza—thanks so much again, Andy, for your help in compiling the list of Louise's works, complete with their 1-Across and 1-Down entries and actual or approximate publication dates! And thanks again, Todd, for putting me in touch with Andy! My hope is that there will be other similar "finds" in the future, though perhaps none quite as major as this one! To see all of Louise's <i>New York Times</i> puzzles on <i>XWord Info</i>, click <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Thumbs?author=Louise+Earnest">here</a>.<br />
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I hope to have more on Louise in a future post, but in the meantime, please enjoy the following, courtesy of her family. The photo was taken during a period when Louise was actively constructing puzzles and originally appeared in <i>The Bantam Great Masters Winning Crossword Puzzles</i>, which was published in 1980.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tW2--yIr7U/Ve-pQ5Zmq2I/AAAAAAAAEP4/nbwdb0HEPE4/s1600/Louise%2BEarnest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5tW2--yIr7U/Ve-pQ5Zmq2I/AAAAAAAAEP4/nbwdb0HEPE4/s400/Louise%2BEarnest.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Cruciverbalist Louise S. Earnest Celebrates her 100th Birthday,</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>September 16, 2015!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>by</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Earnest Family</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louise published her first crossword puzzle in <i>The New York Times</i> on July 16, 1957. More than 25 years and countless puzzles later, she still “enjoyed the thrill of putting in that final letter.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through the years, Louise worked with three editors of the <i>New York Times</i> puzzles: Margaret Farrar, Will Weng, and Eugene T. Maleska. Her favorite remains Margaret Farrar, whom she credits with encouraging her to continue constructing puzzles. Margaret’s handwritten kind words were “all [she] needed to keep going.” A note from Maleska in 1979 said, “Hereafter, I suggest you place the extra stamp <i>inside</i> the return envelope. If you continue to send me such fine puzzles, you won’t need a 30 cent reply.” Clearly Mrs. Farrar was not the only editor who appreciated Louise's puzzles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition to publishing in <i>The New York Times</i>, Louise was a regular contributor to crossword puzzle book series, including those published by Bantam House, Pocket Books, and Simon & Schuster and edited by Farrar, Weng, and Maleska. In 1980, she was awarded one Fourth Place prize and two Fifth Place prizes in Bantam’s <i>Great Masters Crossword Puzzle Hunt</i>, edited by Will Shortz. Her puzzles have appeared in more than 40 books, many of which contain several of her creations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Born in Dover, Pa., in 1915, Louise lived most of her life in the same small town. She married William H. Earnest, a CPA, in 1941, and her family includes a daughter, Harriet Earnest, a CPA in Warwick, N.Y.; and a son, Andrew Earnest (Janet), a retired Chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Finding herself a housewife raising two children, puzzles became a mental sanctuary for Louise. Her puzzle board (along with a large eraser!) was never far away when she was washing dishes or ironing shirts. An inspiration would strike, and more blocks on the grid would be filled in. Constructing the puzzles was the challenge; “writing the clues was easy.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When asked what gave her the idea to create a crossword puzzle, Louise replied, “The puzzles of the day were so easy, I figured I could do better.” Explaining her focus on word agility, Louise said, “With two CPAs and a mathematician in the family, figures were being well taken care of, so I felt words should be given a chance—hence crossword constructing for me.” Rest assured, family and friends knew better than to expect to win a game of <i>Scrabble</i> from Louise!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a generation when few women attended college, Louise earned a B.A. in Romance Languages from George Washington University. She is the recipient of an award from the Republic of France for excellence in French studies. Louise thoroughly enjoyed her time in Washington, D.C., and took full advantage of all that the city had to offer. Her first years of marriage found her in Philadelphia, but city life gave way to home town living back in Dover in order to raise her family. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louise’s passions include several other areas. An accomplished painter in oils, her last one-woman show was held at the Lycian Center in Sugar Loaf, N.Y., in 2005 to celebrate her 90th birthday. Louise began a life-long love affair with traditional jazz as a teenager. She and Bill spent a lot of time listening to records from their collection of several thousand—many old 78s from the </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20s and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">’</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">30s—and traveled far and wide to search out good live jazz. For more than 20 years she coordinated a coed “Great Books” discussion group. Flea markets were always an adventure to seek out an antique doll to add to her collection. Bill and Louise were also community activists, joining with other parents to ensure that Dover-area schools were accredited.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Her idea of fun? A trip to New York. “I really feel deprived if I don’t have several trips a year to check out the museums, shows, and galleries.” Special travel through the years included a trip to France shared with her daughter to celebrate her 70th birthday, and trips to Sanibel Island, Florida, where she liked to “vacation whenever possible . . . for complete relaxation.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cherished puzzle memory was the invitation to attend a luncheon held at the Tower Suite of the Time & Life Building in 1974 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Margaret Farrar’s work as editor of crossword puzzle books for Simon & Schuster. It was a wonderful opportunity to travel to New York and to meet the lovely person with whom she had corresponded for so many years. A line from a personal note from Margaret is one of Louise’s favorites to quote: “Thank you for all the delicious puzzles.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louise now resides in Warwick, N.Y., with her daughter, Harriet.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-84577565222071650012015-09-02T15:43:00.000-07:002015-09-02T16:07:33.945-07:00"Moving Forward" Metapuzzle Wrap-upStill wondering how the <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/MovingForward/">"Moving Forward" metapuzzle</a> worked? Although quite a few people wrote to me saying they were stuck, only 11 solvers actually submitted an answer, so the puzzle was clearly much more of a stumper than I'd intended! Well, whether you tried it or not, the time has come for an explanation.<br />
<br />
Let's start with the note, which specified that the answer was a "two-word phrase especially appropriate now that the project is essentially over." The note also contained a link to the <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Popular?year=psunique"><i>XWord Info</i> page listing all the entries commonly used in pre-Shortzian puzzles that have yet to appear in a Shortz-era grid</a>. As everyone who submitted an entry realized, this page was essential to solving the puzzle. But the note also contained another hint, albeit a very subtle one. Were any of you wondering why the third sentence was written in such a clunky way? Why did it read "To learn more about the crosswordese entries featured in this puzzle, each of which has been used zero times in the Shortz era, go to http://www.xwordinfo.com/Popular?year=psunique," as opposed to something like "To learn more about the uniquely pre-Shortzian crosswordese entries featured in this puzzle, go to . . . "? Well, more on that later!<br />
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The next step was to solve the puzzle. Most solvers naturally gravitated toward the longer entries, and a handful of them noticed that all but the last one were hiding pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese from the <i>XWord Info</i> page. Here's a picture of the solved grid with the pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese highlighted:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JtHI2tPhJQ8/Vedb47f5H2I/AAAAAAAAEO4/RvhQeXWvwMs/s1600/Moving%2BForward-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JtHI2tPhJQ8/Vedb47f5H2I/AAAAAAAAEO4/RvhQeXWvwMs/s640/Moving%2BForward-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Now, notice what happens when you arrange the pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese by their order in the grid:</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>B</u></b>LET</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>A</u></b>RAR</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>D</u></b>REE</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>C</u></b>ANO</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>R</u></b>EHAN</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>O</u></b>DAL</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>S</u></b>ABA</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><b><u>S</u></b>BE</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">The first letters spell BAD CROSS . . . which was the most common incorrect answer! Remember, the answer was supposed to be a two-word phrase <span style="font-weight: bold;">especially appropriate now that the project is essentially over</span>. Although BAD CROSS is the right number of words and relates to the pre-Shortzian puzzles, it doesn't quite fit the description. So what was the purpose of BAD CROSS? Well, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a deliberate trap, but its overarching purpose was to be a hint for the next stage of solving. The other major hint in the grid was POLISH, POLISH, POLISH—if BAD CROSS were indeed the answer, then why include POLISH, POLISH, POLISH rather than sticking with the original eight theme entries? Another tip-off was that certain easier-to-fill areas of the grid were filled much more poorly than you might expect. Take a look at the upper center, for instance, which contains both LLB and EELERS.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">So, armed with BAD CROSS and the aforementioned observations, the next step was to notice that nine of the Across clues were unusually lengthy/awkward. What did these nine clues have in common? The word "zero," which was also forcibly worked into the third sentence of the note and which describes the number of times each piece of pre-Shortzian crosswordese on the <i>XWord Info</i> list has been used in the Shortz era. I've listed the strained clues and their answers below:</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-align: center;">Not zero-skilled ---> ABLE</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Its slope is never zero ---> RAMP</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Make display a time other than zero, as a parking meter ---> FEED</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Reduce to zero health in a video game, say ---> SLAY</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Situation with zero ways out ---> BIND</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Salon treatment invented at least 3,200 years before zero, informally ---> MANI</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Person making zero sense ---> LOON</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Shows zero originality ---> APES</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;">Prefix associated with elevations greater than zero ---> ACRO</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Well, you might be wondering, what's so special about these nine entries? All of them have been used many times over in the Shortz era. If you look more closely, though, you'll notice that each of these entries is also one letter different from a piece of pre-Shortzian crosswordese on the list. What happens when you "recreate" each piece of pre-Shortzian crosswordese? First off, you'd notice that a second piece of pre-Shortzian crosswordese from the list is formed each time a substitution is done correctly. Thus, changing ABLE to ATLE also changes BAA to TAA, etc. Here's what the grid looks like before and after the pre-Shortzian crosswordese substitutions:</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xR7reHg9Ro/Vedo0SVtZzI/AAAAAAAAEPU/hPnJ2Jz6_fc/s1600/Moving%2BForward-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--xR7reHg9Ro/Vedo0SVtZzI/AAAAAAAAEPU/hPnJ2Jz6_fc/s640/Moving%2BForward-2.jpg" width="640" /> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAVz5oWan9A/Vedo3zSPhnI/AAAAAAAAEPc/3-wx6ZLVTks/s1600/Moving%2BForward-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iAVz5oWan9A/Vedo3zSPhnI/AAAAAAAAEPc/3-wx6ZLVTks/s640/Moving%2BForward-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
When the letters at each bad cross are read in order, they spell TIMES PAST, which is the correct answer to the puzzle: The project, which converted all the available <i>Times</i> puzzles published before Will Shortz became editor into a digital, fully analyzable format, is basically a thing of the past at this point.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="text-align: center;">It took a long time for the first correct solution to arrive in my inbox—I was seriously worried I had made the puzzle too hard and would have to give a </span>hint! So I was thrilled to receive not just one but two correct submissions at exactly the same time (10:59 a.m.) on Friday, August 28! More followed—here's a list of everyone who sent in the correct solution, along with the dates and times (Pacific time) of their submissions:</div>
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1. (Tie) Emma Astroth, Friday, August 28 10:59 a.m.; Jay Winter, Friday, August 28 10:59 a.m.<br />
2. Louis Lana, Friday, August 28 4:55 p.m.<br />
3. Kyle Dolan, Saturday, August 29 4:43 a.m.<br />
4. Jeffrey Harris, Sunday, August 30, 4:17 p.m.<br />
5. Nicholas Harvey, Sunday, August 30, 6:18 p.m.<br />
<br />
I used a random number generator to pick a winner—Jeffrey Harris, who coincidentally also won the previous metapuzzle contest (Metaleska)!!! Congratulations to Jeffrey, who will receive a $50 iTunes card, and to everyone else who submitted the correct solution!<br />
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Thanks, too, to all the solvers who entered or attempted to enter the contest, and special thanks to Jim Horne and Jeff Chen for hosting the puzzle on <i>XWord Info</i>!<br />
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Before I wrap up this wrap-up, though, I'd like give a special shoutout to my favorite incorrect answer, which was submitted by Ralph Bunker. After noticing the hidden pre-Shortzian crosswordese in the long entries, Ralph zeroed in on the entry CANO, which he discovered was Latin for "I sing." Ralph also noticed that "I sing" is a homophone of "icing," which he noted could describe the finishing touches on the project. Ralph's final answer, therefore, was "I sing." Kudos to him for coming up with a very clever answer I'd never even anticipated!<br />
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Finally, here are a couple more interesting coincidences and observations that relate to "Moving Forward." First of all, Matt Gaffney happened to publish <a href="http://www.crosswordfiend.com/blog/2015/08/25/mgwcc-377/#more-64979">a brilliant metapuzzle whose gimmick also involved changing single letters of grid entries to make new thematic ones</a> last week, which I have a feeling may have subconsciously helped a number of the correct solvers! So I'd like to give a shout-out to Matt for reading my mind . . . and for being the true master of metapuzzles! Second, as Barry Haldiman noted, the entry CANO isn't as undesirable as the other pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese now that former Yankee Robinson CANO has become famous. Finally, Jim Horne e-mailed me a couple days ago noting that a piece of pre-Shortzian crosswordese on the list—ARO (clued modernly as "Michael Sheen's character in 'Twilight'")—had been reused in the Sunday, August 30, 2015, <i>New York Times</i> puzzle. After panicking for a few minutes, I was relieved to see that I hadn't used ARO in my meta! This just goes to show that even the ugliest-looking bits of pre-Shortzian crosswordese can sometimes be salvaged, so we shouldn't necessarily assume that all the uniquely pre-Shortzian entries are bad!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-31828149079435151452015-08-26T12:00:00.000-07:002015-09-02T15:08:44.207-07:00Project Done—1942 through 1951 Puzzles Up, Next Steps, and "Moving Forward" Metapuzzle<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
Big news: Thanks to Jim Horne, the <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1942?type=ps">1942</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1943?type=ps">1943</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1944?type=ps">1944</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1945?type=ps">1945</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1946?type=ps">1946</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1947?type=ps">1947</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1948?type=ps">1948</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1949?type=ps">1949</a>, <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1950?type=ps">1950</a>, and <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1951?type=ps">1951</a> proofread puzzles are up on <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i>, which means all the available pre-Shortzian puzzles are now there and the project is essentially done—appropriately enough, on Will Shortz's birthday! Happy Birthday, Will!<br />
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I still can't believe we were able to accomplish this feat in just four years (or three years, two months since the project's official start). I'd like to extend a huge thank-you to everyone in the crossword community who helped me accomplish my dream of having all the pre-Shortzian puzzles in a digital format—there's no way this could have happened without all your continuous time, support, and motivation. As a community, we've accomplished something that each of us individually would have dismissed as too challenging and unrealistic, which I think is very special. We've created a resource that will entertain curious minds for years to come, change the way we look at the history of crosswords (and maybe even history itself), and ensure that the names of the exceptionally prolific pre-Shortzian constructors won't just be footnotes in puzzle history. We can now learn lessons from generations of earlier constructors, and we just might find a handful of usable entries for our own puzzles that were previously lost to time. And even if most of the uniquely pre-Shortzian entries are too obscure, it can't hurt to have an extra 52 years of clues to draw from! The uses for the database we've created are only limited by the creativity of the crossword and puzzle community, which I'm convinced is boundless. But perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project is that a whole world of possibilities can become reality through teamwork. If an impractical high school freshman can watch his dream come true one step at a time over the course of four years, who knows what else can be accomplished?<br />
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I'd like to take a moment to thank all the litzers again, especially Mark Diehl, Barry Haldiman, Nancy Kavanaugh, Jeffrey Krasnick, Denny Baker, Howard Barkin, and Ralph Bunker, who were the most prolific. Their totals, along with the totals for all the other litzers, can be seen on the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/litzer-totals.html">Litzer & Proofreader Totals</a> page. (Some of these totals were slightly revised recently after I recalculated them from my current spreadsheet.)<br />
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Thanks, too, to all the proofreaders, of whom there were far fewer. Proofreading was less appealing to many people, but it was an essential part of this process. I didn't keep a running total of the proofreaders' totals while the proofing was under way because I didn't want people to compete with each other and race through the puzzles. I calculated those totals recently, though, and you can now view them at the bottom of the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/litzer-totals.html">Litzer & Proofreader Totals</a> page, underneath the "found mistakes" tallies.<br />
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Special thanks to Mark Diehl, who was not only the Litzing King but also the Proofreading King! Even more amazing, Mark's old-school litzing by hand beat out more technologically advanced (and very impressive!) optical character recognition litzing methods—congratulations again, Mark!<br />
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Thanks, too, to Todd Gross, not only for his litzing and proofreading but also for his painstaking research on pre-Shortzian constructors. Todd's findings have been a major feature of numerous posts and added a richness to what might otherwise be just a list of constructor names.<br />
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Along the same lines, I'd like to thank all the pre-Shortzian constructors—and friends and relatives of constructors, or simply crossword aficionados—who provided interviews or sent in reminiscences of, or memorabilia from, pre-Shortzian constructors and times. These have been delightfully entertaining and informative, and I hope to add new ones in the future.<br />
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Special thanks, too, to Barry Haldiman, who gave me the puzzles he and various other people, including project litzer and proofreader Denny Baker, had begun litzing back in 1999. These puzzles got the project off to a running start—thanks again, Barry! Barry also provided much historical context for the litzing and helped tremendously in tracking down copies of puzzles missing from ProQuest on good old-fashioned microfiche.<br />
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A few other people have offered to help search for the missing puzzles, contacting libraries and even the <i>Times</i> itself to that end. Even though none of these efforts has proved successful so far, they've been great starts and helped rule out a number of formerly promising possible sources—thanks again to all the puzzle detectives!<br />
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I'd also like to thank everyone who's made a financial donation to the project. Jim Horne was the first, generously giving the project a month of his <i>XWord Info</i> donations, and in the past few years several other people have contributed as well. These donations have been much appreciated and helped pay for prizes and other expenses.<br />
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A few people have also helped by donating old books and newsletters, which have been exceptionally useful—thanks so much again! I'm still making my way through the newsletters, and I'm always on the lookout for more old books containing the pre-Shortzian daily <i>New York Times</i> puzzles with bylines. I'll be updating the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-crossword-books.html">Pre-Shortzian Crossword Books</a> page as soon as time permits, but suffice it to say I'm still missing many of these old volumes, some of which may be the only way we can identify the remaining anonymous constructors.<br />
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I'd also like to thank the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project Advisory Board members, Jim Horne, Stan Newman, and Will Shortz. They've been incredibly helpful over the past few years, and I think it's fair to say that without them, the project simply would not have taken off. Thanks, Jim, for being the best partner in all this that anyone could ever want—<i>XWord Info</i> is a masterpiece, and I'm honored that I've been able to contribute to it in a significant way. Thanks, Stan, for the hundreds of books, newsletters, and, most important, your encyclopedic knowledge and memory of the pre-Shortzian era and people—you've been a tremendous support (not to mention a delightful lunch companion!). And thanks, Will, for being so generous with your time and advice and allowing me to hunt through your treasure trove of crossword books for constructor names—you are not only the Puzzlemaster but an inspiration, and I hope the project's completion makes your birthday an especially memorable one!<br />
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Finally, I'd like to give a shoutout to Kristena Bergen (aka my mom, Karen Steinberg). If I wrote about everything she's done to help with the project, Blogger would likely implode, because there would simply be too much! In addition to helping with the PDF downloading, puzzle-packet assembling, litzing, and proofreading, she spent countless hours just helping to keep track of everything, pitching in wherever and whenever needed, and making a final pass through almost all the available pre-Shortzian puzzles before I sent them to <i>XWord Info</i>. Mom never took credit for any of the work she did, but without her this project never would have gotten as far as it did so quickly. On behalf of us all, I'd like to give her a virtual round of applause with a standing ovation! My mom is my hero, and if I can grow up to be a fraction of the person she is, I'll consider myself even more fortunate than I already am. I love you, Mom—it is truly an honor to be your son!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Oifv1l1LDc/Vd1HYyFXHsI/AAAAAAAAEOE/EwIltTQMf20/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BMom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Oifv1l1LDc/Vd1HYyFXHsI/AAAAAAAAEOE/EwIltTQMf20/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BMom.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next Steps</span></b></h2>
Now that there are no more puzzles left to litz, proofread, or look through before sending to <i>XWord Info</i>, you might be wondering what's next for this project. As I mentioned in a previous post, many tasks still remain. First, the rest of the PS Notes from our litzers and proofreaders need to be entered onto <i>XWord Info</i>. I'll be working on that over these next couple of weeks before heading off to college. Second, the constructor names on <i>XWord Info</i> need to be standardized and, in some cases, updated. When I was doing research at Will's house last summer, I was able to find the first names of many constructors for whom the only identifying information we had was a last name or a pair of initials. I entered all this data into my spreadsheet but didn't make changes to the actual puzzle files because they were already up on <i>XWord Info</i> and because the focus was on finishing the rest of the puzzles. As for the standardization, Jim Horne has pointed out a number of instances in which the spelling of constructors' names has been inconsistent. Some of the incorrect spellings are simply oversights, but in most cases, different sources (i.e., the <i>Times</i> itself and books of reprinted puzzles) used slight name variations. For example, it's clear that Marian Moeser and Marion Moeser were the same person, yet 22 puzzles are listed on Marian's <i>XWord Info</i> page and 15 on Marion's. When time permits, I'll also be posting information on the project's style guide and editorial decisions, which will clarify how words and punctuation were usually handled. Finally, I'm going to keep trying to hunt down the missing puzzles. I haven't had a lot of success recently, but I haven't lost hope yet!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Moving Forward" Metapuzzle</span></b></h2>
Last but not least, to celebrate the final major milestone of the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, I constructed another 23x23 metapuzzle, "Moving Forward." The puzzle, in either Across Lite or PDF format, will be available on <i>XWord Info</i> at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time today from a link I'll insert here—<a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/MovingForward/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;" target="_blank">http://www.xwordinfo.com/<wbr></wbr>MovingForward/</a>—and also post on Twitter, Facebook, and Cruciverb. <b>Very important instructions will appear in a notepad in the Across Lite file, so read carefully!</b> Send your answer to preshortzianpuzzleproject at gmail dot com (using the standard format). The deadline for submitting your solution is September 2 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific time. You may only submit one answer, so be sure you're 100% happy with your answer before clicking "Send"! One lucky winner will be chosen at random from the correct solutions. That person will receive a $50 iTunes gift card courtesy of the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project! Even though only one solver will receive a prize, everyone who submits a correct answer will have his/her name listed in a wrap-up blog post (unless you tell me you'd rather not have your name appear). Names will be listed in the order in which the correct solutions came in. Have fun—and good luck!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-2395436710537164032015-08-22T12:59:00.000-07:002015-08-22T13:11:29.090-07:00In Memoriam: Merl Reagle, 1950–2015<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iYoifRzKz-A/VdjAZOKk5pI/AAAAAAAAEMw/Xqh6Rn61OCI/s1600/Merl-ed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iYoifRzKz-A/VdjAZOKk5pI/AAAAAAAAEMw/Xqh6Rn61OCI/s1600/Merl-ed.jpg" /></a></div>
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Merl Reagle—an inspiration, friend, and crossword legend in the pre-Shortzian and Shortz eras—died unexpectedly today at the age of 65.<br />
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My first introduction to Merl was in the movie <i>Wordplay</i>, which I originally saw when I was ten. It was amazing watching him construct a puzzle by hand, and I couldn't wait to build one myself! I presented what was probably my very first crossword as my fifth-grade "affinity project" and in the upper lefthand corner wrote: "Source of information: Wordplay movie."<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ULnL7JOo78/VdjHEQyPAWI/AAAAAAAAENA/EbOEERFC8KU/s1600/Affinity%2Bproject.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="511" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_ULnL7JOo78/VdjHEQyPAWI/AAAAAAAAENA/EbOEERFC8KU/s640/Affinity%2Bproject.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Four and a half years later, I met Merl in person at the 2012 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which was my first ACPT. He was so nice—even though he was a huge crossword celebrity, he was still excited to talk to me about everything crosswords! I remember buying one of Merl's books that year, which he inscribed "To David—No speed solving!" He made a mini-crossword out of BEST/WISHES and then graced the book with his signature. Merl's crossing of BEST and WISHES inspired me to autograph things in a similar way: by crossing DAVID and STEINBERG at the I. I've seen Merl at many other tournaments since then, and it's hard to envision a tournament without him. I always went up to Merl each time to tell him which crossings in his tournament puzzles gave me fits, and he would just laugh and tell me to keep solving!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uGsCmd18IkE/VdixBZUtnNI/AAAAAAAAEMU/8jL5p3jrl3U/s1600/Merl%2B%2526%2BDavid%2B2012%2BACPT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uGsCmd18IkE/VdixBZUtnNI/AAAAAAAAEMU/8jL5p3jrl3U/s1600/Merl%2B%2526%2BDavid%2B2012%2BACPT.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Merl and me at the 2012 ACPT.</i></td></tr>
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But perhaps my clearest memory of Merl was at a lunch we had when he came to give a talk Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. I had a Latin convention the day of his talk and so couldn't go see him (though luckily my parents went and recorded the entire thing for me!), but we arranged to meet at Louise's Trattoria, one of his favorite restaurants in the Larchmont Village area. I was thrilled to have a chance to sit down with him and trade stories about the pre-Shortzian era, constructors, editors, and the future of crosswords. Always entertaining, Merl didn't pull any punches about anything and told me he hated the project's name, which he felt should have been something like "The Early New York Times Crossword Project"! It was an absolutely delightful couple of hours, and he told me to come have lunch with him again if I was ever in Florida—"any place, any time!" At the end of the meal, we had an anagram face-off—if my memory serves me correctly, we were pretty even, until I somehow managed to stump him at the end. On the way back to our cars, we passed a street called Lucerne, so I challenged Merl to anagram LUCERNE + A . . . and finally got him! That said, Merl is and always will be the anagram master, and I'm sure he would've stumped me many times over if we'd continued playing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v55D-rF2PGc/VdixKNjsisI/AAAAAAAAEMc/NkanJgXGrFo/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BMerl%2B2013%2Blunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v55D-rF2PGc/VdixKNjsisI/AAAAAAAAEMc/NkanJgXGrFo/s1600/David%2B%2526%2BMerl%2B2013%2Blunch.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Me and Merl at Louise's Trattoria in 2013.</i></td></tr>
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In addition to being an incredible wit, Merl was also one of the kindest people I've ever met. He went out of his way to congratulate me about several of my <i>New York Times</i> and <i>Los Angeles Times</i> crosswords—it was always such a thrill to receive an e-mail from him!<br />
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I'm going to miss you a lot, Merl. And I hope wherever you are now has a large supply of graph paper!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-25103512483902467762015-07-29T10:55:00.000-07:002015-11-26T09:35:01.467-08:001953 and 1952 Puzzles Up, Todd Gross on Betty Jorgensen and William J. Yskamp, and XWord Info Powwow<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
Great news: Even though it's been a very busy travel month, the <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1953?type=ps">1953</a> and <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1952?type=ps">1952</a> puzzles are now up on <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i>, thanks to Jim Horne! Only one more complete year—1951—before we get into Sunday-only puzzles, which means I should be able to make faster progress getting them ready. I'm still hoping to have all of them done by the end of the summer (which, luckily for me, goes until mid-September!).<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Todd Gross on Betty Jorgensen and William J. Yskamp</span></b></h2>
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<b>Betty Jorgensen</b><br />
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I've been meaning to catch up on some more of Todd Gross's great research into pre-Shortzian constructors, starting off with his findings on Betty Jorgensen. Betty published 69 puzzles in the <i>Times </i>under Eugene T. Maleska and 8 during the Shortz era. Todd writes:<br />
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In my never-ending search for pre-Shortzian constructors, I decided to try looking up <b>Betty Jorgensen</b>. An S&S puzzle of hers mentions Oregon, so I used that to try and find her.</div>
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Well, I found a Betty Jorgensen in Portland, born in 1919 and passed away 2008. I was able to find her obituary on the <i>Oregonian </i>web site....<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Alas, the obit made no mention of crosswords, which is odd considering how many she published. So I can't be sure I have the right person. I've found other Betty Jorgensens, but they aren't in Oregon and don't seem to be good candidates. I have found out a fair amount about this Betty Jorgensen...but, again, nothing tying her to crosswords. But she wrote poetry, which seems fitting.</span></blockquote>
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I agreed with Todd that this may not have been the right person, because her crossword activity would almost certainly have been mentioned in an obituary. So I decided to hunt around some more and found a link to Betty Jorgensen and crosswords in Eugene, Oregon. I then Googled Betty Jorgensen and Eugene, Oregon, and found a <a href="http://www.omea-ohio.org/tribute/index.html">recent obituary for a Robert DuBois Jorgensen</a>, who was survived by various relatives, including a daughter, Laura Anne, who lives in Eugene and his mother, "Mary Elizabeth 'Betty' Jorgensen"; his father was also named Robert. After a couple of other searches that didn't lead to anything, I Googled Robert Jorgensen and Betty Jorgensen together and found an <a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/obituaries/2008-04-22/robert-jorgensen.html">obituary for a Robert Jorgensen</a> of Monticello, Illinois, who died in 1988 and was survived by his wife, "Mary E. 'Betty' Jorgensen," also of Monticello. I did a few more searches but didn't find anything more. My guess is that the Betty Jorgensen from Portland was not the crossword constructor but that this "Betty" (really Mary Elizabeth) is and is now living in Monticello, Illinois. Following up with her granddaughter in Eugene would seem to be the next logical step.<br />
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<b>William J. Yskamp</b><br />
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Todd had a more auspicious search with William J. Yskamp, who published three pre-Shortzian <i>Times</i> puzzles. He reports:<br />
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While I haven't found the smoking gun connecting him to crosswords, I feel pretty sure the constructor is William James Yskamp, born in 1930 somewhere in New Jersey and, alas, passed away in 2007 in Oakland, CA. I haven't seen his obituary, though it looks like I can get a copy from the Oakland Library (for a price). There are other William Yskamps, but they don't have the J initial and the dates aren't right.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">And I found this photo from his high school yearbook that seems to indicate he's the sort of person who could be a successful constructor.</span></blockquote>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgQaLj_5zpg/VbhP_wSaC6I/AAAAAAAAEIA/JBB2bOF5QrQ/s1600/William%2BJ%2BYskamp%2B-%2BCollege%2BHS%2BMontclair%2BNJ%2B1948.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgQaLj_5zpg/VbhP_wSaC6I/AAAAAAAAEIA/JBB2bOF5QrQ/s400/William%2BJ%2BYskamp%2B-%2BCollege%2BHS%2BMontclair%2BNJ%2B1948.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>College High School, Montclair, New Jersey, 1948.</i></td></tr>
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What Todd found sounded very promising, and I agreed that this was likely the crossword constructor, so I did some more research. I found this obituary of William in the April 2008 issue of <i>Colby [College] Magazine</i>:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--0J8WCQ77wc/VbkFLbcYozI/AAAAAAAAEIU/eoIhfY8cwvc/s1600/William%2BJ.%2BYscamp%2BColby%2BCollege%2B%2BMagazine%2BApril%2B2008.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--0J8WCQ77wc/VbkFLbcYozI/AAAAAAAAEIU/eoIhfY8cwvc/s1600/William%2BJ.%2BYscamp%2BColby%2BCollege%2B%2BMagazine%2BApril%2B2008.png" /></a></div>
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More Googling led me to an Amanda Yskamp, who is also active in writing and science and is listed by Amazon.com as the co-author of book of short stories for young adults, <i>Suddenly Lost in Words, Volume 2</i>.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-We5_riU7KTA/VbkGZP9uRZI/AAAAAAAAEIg/2RVkrmVgSAI/s1600/Amanda%2BYskamp%2Bbook.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-We5_riU7KTA/VbkGZP9uRZI/AAAAAAAAEIg/2RVkrmVgSAI/s1600/Amanda%2BYskamp%2Bbook.png" /></a></div>
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I also found a 2003 <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/YSKAMP-Delia-2592444.php">obituary for a Delia Yskamp</a> that linked all three Yskamps—William was the father of Delia and Amanda (and a third sister, Lis [<i>ed.: Claire Yskamp informed me in November 2015 that this sister's name is Lise, not Lis.</i>]). So the circumstantial evidence points very strongly to Todd's yearbook find being the right person. Thanks so much again, Todd, for this fantastic research!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>XWord Info</i> Powwow</span></b></h2>
I've been gone for much of the past month on couple of long driving trips, one to Vancouver for the <a href="http://con.puzzlers.org/recouvery">National Puzzlers' League convention</a>. On my way there, I passed through Seattle, where I had an awesome lunch with Jim Horne and Jeff Chen (and Jeff's budding cruciverbalist baby daughter, Tess!)! Here are some photos from this <i>XWord Info</i> culinary powwow:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2CIuhRTiNA/VbkO-kZ32cI/AAAAAAAAEJE/J5n0W1ce0-A/s1600/Monsoon%2B3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2CIuhRTiNA/VbkO-kZ32cI/AAAAAAAAEJE/J5n0W1ce0-A/s1600/Monsoon%2B3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Me and Jim at Monsoon</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZaDZ74IW3s/VbkPoDafCcI/AAAAAAAAEJM/UFiwCvoeNcg/s1600/XWord%2BInfo%2Blunch%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_ZaDZ74IW3s/VbkPoDafCcI/AAAAAAAAEJM/UFiwCvoeNcg/s1600/XWord%2BInfo%2Blunch%2B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Tess, Jeff, Jim, and me</i></td></tr>
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Thanks so much again, Jim and Jeff!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-65729083545989181912015-06-29T18:51:00.000-07:002015-06-29T18:57:03.360-07:00Third Anniversary, All Puzzles Proofread, Missing Puzzles Update, ideacity News, Davidson Young Scholars Summit, and Mark Diehl Seven-Time Blast! Winner<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Third Anniversary—All Puzzles Proofread</span></b></h2>
I'm delighted to announce that today is the third anniversary of the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, and all the proofread puzzles are now in! Three years ago I started this blog and opened up the litzing, which I'd begun during my freshman year, to volunteers. I had a great head start, thanks to the digitizing Barry Haldiman, Denny Baker, and others had already done of their favorite puzzles back in the day, and was able to systematize and massively expand the effort so that, one puzzle at a time, each of the available 16,225 puzzles would be tracked, litzed, and proofread. And with the help of Jim Horne, creator of the incomparable <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i>, these puzzles have gradually appeared online, year by year as we worked our way backwards through time, for everyone to enjoy. Thanks so much again to everyone who's helped with this journey into crossword history! Without each and every one of you, there's no way we would have come so far so quickly. Though I still have to look through the remaining years of proofread puzzles before sending them off to <i>XWord Info</i> and do quite a bit of "cleanup" work with constructor names and previously posted puzzles, this is another huge milestone in the project!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
The final two batches of proofread puzzles came in over the past two weeks—the first on Thursday the 18th from Todd Gross, who sent 13 puzzles in which he'd found 89 mistakes. (Todd also has a puzzle in today's <i>New York Times</i>, by the way, which he co-constructed with Andrea Carla Michaels and with which he's hit for the cycle—meaning he's now had a puzzle published on every day of the week! Congratulations, Todd!) And then on Friday the 26th Patsy Stewart sent in 12 more puzzles, marking the end of the proofreading—at least until the missing puzzles are found! Thanks so much again, Todd and Patsy!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Missing Puzzles Update</span></b></h2>
Following up on my <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2015/06/40-years-alan-derkazarian-ideacity.html">recent post about librarian Alan DerKazarian's missing puzzles research</a>, I received two more e-mails from him with additional news. In the first, he reported that he'd contacted the American Library in Paris and National Library of France about the 1953 <i>New York Times</i> strike papers and received this reply from the former:<br />
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<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
Thank you for writing. We do have microfilm of the New York Times from those dates, but the run is quite unusual and prefaced with the following notice on the reel:<br />
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<b></b></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">
<b>Notice: A strike affecting the major New York newspapers made it impossible to publish any editions of the New York Times during the first eight days of December, 1953. </b><b><br /></b></div>
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<div align="left" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<b>THE NEW YORK TIMES Book Review dated <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_172231634" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">December 6</span></span>, which was prepared and printed </b><b><u>before</u></b><b><i><u> </u></i></b><b><u>the strike</u></b><b><i>, </i></b><b>was distributed with the Sunday, December 13th issue. </b><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></div>
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<b>At the beginning of this reel, you will find ten two-page papers dated <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_172231636" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">November 29 through December 8</span></span>. These were prepared day by day during the strike, but published </b><b><u>after</u></b><b><i> </i></b><b>the strike and distributed as a special section of the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_172231637" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Sunday, December 13</span></span>, edition.</b></div>
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</blockquote>
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Since the microfilm reader at the American Library in Paris was unable to print and copy, the person who wrote back offered to photograph whatever Alan might want on the reel; Alan asked her if she could look through the two-page papers and send photos of any crosswords. She found two and sent photos, but unfortunately, they were puzzles we already had. Below are photos of the newspaper's notices:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g6lWyPk5jek/VYRdO0ogzFI/AAAAAAAAEEY/wyztrq5C_2A/s1600/NYT%2BNotice%2B29%2BNOV%2B1953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-g6lWyPk5jek/VYRdO0ogzFI/AAAAAAAAEEY/wyztrq5C_2A/s400/NYT%2BNotice%2B29%2BNOV%2B1953.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-weeJJtA-F0E/VYRdaRGuFgI/AAAAAAAAEEg/jB_tm2B1seQ/s1600/NYT%2BNotice%2B30%2BNOV%2B1953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="135" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-weeJJtA-F0E/VYRdaRGuFgI/AAAAAAAAEEg/jB_tm2B1seQ/s400/NYT%2BNotice%2B30%2BNOV%2B1953.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nNZUKbrDSpY/VYRdimUG4SI/AAAAAAAAEEo/iBST9_BCgOE/s1600/NYT%2BNotice%2B1-8%2BDEC%2B1953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nNZUKbrDSpY/VYRdimUG4SI/AAAAAAAAEEo/iBST9_BCgOE/s400/NYT%2BNotice%2B1-8%2BDEC%2B1953.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photos courtesy of the American Library in Paris.</i></td></tr>
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Alan had not yet heard back from the National Library of France, and apparently the British libraries, although technically public, require an annual fee in order to use them or ask questions. He did end up hearing from the National Library of France, though, and in a second e-mail wrote to me that the situation there was the same as at the American Library in Paris.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ahOCCc_XUc/VZHirpGepdI/AAAAAAAAEFY/HHotvMtcpUU/s1600/Alan%2BD%2Bemail.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="159" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ahOCCc_XUc/VZHirpGepdI/AAAAAAAAEFY/HHotvMtcpUU/s400/Alan%2BD%2Bemail.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>National Library of France response.</i></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MLZWWrQSInE/VZHi1MycudI/AAAAAAAAEFg/0YazGKV5MqQ/s1600/New%2BYork%2BTimes%2B1953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MLZWWrQSInE/VZHi1MycudI/AAAAAAAAEFg/0YazGKV5MqQ/s400/New%2BYork%2BTimes%2B1953.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Courtesy of the National Library of France.</i></td></tr>
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So, unfortunately, this is likely a dead end, at least with these nine days of missing puzzles.<br />
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I'm planning to be update the complete list of missing puzzles before I head off for Stanford (where, as a student, I may actually be able to access the British libraries), and when I do, I'll post it on this site. Although we've struck out so far with this select group of missing puzzles, there are many others, some of which are missing not because of strikes but because of ProQuest's errors. So I'm still hopeful that eventually some, if not all, of the puzzles will be found. I'll also be putting out another call for those missing <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-crossword-books.html">old crossword books</a>—again, as soon as I've had a chance to update the list—which I think may be our best bet for locating the missing puzzles, even if we're never able to match up the dates definitively. In the meantime, thanks so much again, Alan, for these valiant efforts!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mark Diehl Seven-Time Blast! Winner!</span></b></h2>
Once more, the amazing Mark Diehl was the first to send in the correct answer to the Blast! challenge—making him a seven-time winner! Congratulations, Mark! Shortly after the second letter was revealed—at 8:43 a.m. on Sunday, June 14, to be exact!—Mark sent in the solution to this February 9, 1952, clue: "Sales of this reached new high in 1951." The answer: POPCORN. I'm not sure why popcorn sales exploded that year, but according to <i>Wikipedia</i>, "[d]uring World War II, sugar rations diminished candy production, and Americans compensated by eating three times as much popcorn as they had before." So maybe they ramped up that habit even more after the war was over—or maybe the increase came with more people snacking while they watched TV in the 1950s! Here's an ad from 1952 that links the two activities:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a44vNypAz1Y/VYRmlg34MiI/AAAAAAAAEE4/035iezSK_48/s1600/Popcorn%2Bad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-a44vNypAz1Y/VYRmlg34MiI/AAAAAAAAEE4/035iezSK_48/s1600/Popcorn%2Bad.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of pinterest.com.</i></td></tr>
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Now that I'll be posting on a more occasional basis, I've decided to retire the Blast! feature, so the official champion is Mark Diehl—congratulations again, Mark!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ideacity News</span></b></h2>
As I mentioned in my last post, I recently gave an <a href="http://www.ideacityonline.com/">ideacity</a> talk in Toronto about crosswords, and part of it was about the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project. People really seemed to enjoy the speech—I probably had a couple of hundred people come up to me over the course of my amazing three days there asking me more about crosswords and the project, which was very gratifying! While there I was also interviewed by a reporter from a Russian publication, and another reporter plans to interview me when I'm in Vancouver at the upcoming <a href="http://puzzlers.org/dokuwiki/doku.php">National Puzzlers' League</a> convention, so I'm hoping to spread the word even further. (Maybe I should just move to Canada!) In any case, to see a video of the talk, click <a href="http://www.ideacityonline.com/video/david-steinberg-18-year-old-crossword-prodigy/">here</a>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Davidson Young Scholars Summit</span></b></h2>
Just a few days after returning from Toronto, I headed up to Reno, where I'd been invited to be a panelist at the <a href="http://www.davidsongifted.org/youngscholars/Article/Davidson_Young_Scholars___Summit_376.aspx">Davidson Young Scholars Summit</a>. Since the <a href="http://www.davidsongifted.org/Article/Davidson_Fellows___2013_Fellow_Fellow_David_Steinberg_488.aspx">Davidson award I received in 2013</a> was for the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, that's what I was asked to discuss, and I spent quite a bit of time describing the initial stages of the project, how things had developed, challenges I'd encountered, the project's current status, and what the puzzles might show us in the future. Having a chance to talk to so many interested students and parents was really gratifying, and I think they appreciated hearing about something as fun as crosswords!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDsBKiTlqI/VZHuMOKy9yI/AAAAAAAAEFw/QU3s0xtyi80/s1600/Davidson%2BYoung%2BScholars%2BSummit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OaDsBKiTlqI/VZHuMOKy9yI/AAAAAAAAEFw/QU3s0xtyi80/s1600/Davidson%2BYoung%2BScholars%2BSummit.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Talking about the project.</i></td></tr>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-53082876429751080842015-06-12T16:59:00.000-07:002015-06-12T17:16:14.983-07:0040 Years of Puzzles Up, Alan DerKazarian's Missing Puzzles Research, Spreading the Word at ideacity, Upcoming Changes, and Mark Diehl Six-Time Blast! Winner<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
This week we hit another milestone when I sent the proofread <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Calendar/1954?type=ps">1954 puzzles</a> to <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a>—</i>there are now 40 years of puzzles up for everyone to enjoy! Thanks again to Jim Horne for hosting them and making sure they're displayed as well as they can be!<br />
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The proofread puzzles have been coming in at a more relaxed pace over the past two weeks, in part because there's not much proofreading left! The evening of Saturday, May 30, Denny Baker sent in 13 puzzles, after which I e-mailed him the very last batch for proofreading—all the way back to February 15, 1942! Sunday morning he sent in those 11 puzzles, and then Monday afternoon Dave Phillips sent 6 more. Tuesday afternoon, May 2, Mark Diehl sent in 13 puzzles from a ship on his way to Tallinn, and then about an hour later another 9. There are only a few more puzzles out there, and I'm hoping to have those back within the next two weeks. After that, there won't be any more litzing or proofreading until we're able to track down some of those missing puzzles! Great job, everyone—thanks so much again!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Alan DerKazarian's Missing Puzzles Research</span></b></h2>
A couple of months ago I received an e-mail from Alan DerKazarian, a librarian at the Cambridge [Massachusetts] Public Library. Since there's a New England edition of <i>The New York Times</i>, Alan wondered whether the Boston Public Library might have microfilms of the missing puzzles and volunteered to check. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to find anything there; he did discover, though, that in 1948 the <i>Times</i> introduced an international edition, which was produced in New York and airmailed to Paris for publication a day later. "Starting in 1960," Alan reported, "it was set by teletype for same-day publication." Apparently in 1967 the Times discontinued its international edition and joined with the owners of the defunct <i>Herald Tribune</i> and <i>The Washington Post</i> to publish <i>The International Herald Tribune</i> in Paris.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5xcN6fngXho/VXtgHxdKM0I/AAAAAAAAEDs/-51YWkimMUg/s1600/Herald%2BTribune.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5xcN6fngXho/VXtgHxdKM0I/AAAAAAAAEDs/-51YWkimMUg/s1600/Herald%2BTribune.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of andrewcusack.com.</i></td></tr>
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"So the international edition of the Times was never produced in Europe," he concluded, "meaning the paper strikes likely affected production of these issues as well." Alan recommended contacting either the New York Public Library or the <i>Times </i>(which, I told him, someone else had already tried). Alan had originally suggested I try traveling to Europe—a suggestion I liked a lot, by the way! But since it will be a while before I'm able to do that, if any readers in Great Britain or France would like to look into this some more, I'd be most grateful!<br />
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Despite Alan's discouraging findings, I still do have hope that we'll locate at least some of the puzzles. Margaret Farrar wrote the following in her introduction to <i>Crosswords from the Daily Times–Series 9</i>:<br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">
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<blockquote style="border: none; color: #222222; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The crosswords that appear daily on the book page of <i>The New York Times</i> have been published concurrently in Paris and in Los Angeles since the inauguration of the International and the Western editions, in 1960 and 1962, respectively. When newspaper publication in New York was suspended, in December 1962, the crosswords kept on going, flying east and west, until the twain met again in New York on April 1, 1963.</span></blockquote>
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Those 100 puzzles appeared in this book and have already been litzed, but there are still many more missing puzzles from other strikes and because of ProQuest mistakes. Hopefully we'll eventually find them; in the meantime, thanks so much again, Alan, for your great research!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mark Diehl Six-Time Blast! Winner</span></b></h2>
On Monday, June 1 at 2:28 p.m.—just three days after I posted the May 29 Blast! challenge, with only three letters revealed, and while traveling between Copenhagen and Tallinn—Mark Diehl sent in the correct answer and became the first six-time winner! Congratulations again, Mark! The clue from the March 20, 1952, puzzle was "Reluctant new taxpayer." The answer: BOOKMAKER. I'll bet there were plenty of objections to that change!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1aA2N8BNkZ0/VXtJjcQoAPI/AAAAAAAAEDU/ISPQlLpTRcw/s1600/Bookmakers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1aA2N8BNkZ0/VXtJjcQoAPI/AAAAAAAAEDU/ISPQlLpTRcw/s400/Bookmakers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of sportsbookreview.com.</i></td></tr>
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The new Blast! challenge is up in the sidebar, and it's a doozy—good luck!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Spreading the Word at ideacity</span></b></h2>
On Monday I'm heading off to Toronto, where I'll be giving an <a href="http://www.ideacityonline.com/">ideacity</a> talk about crosswords. Part of my speech will focus on The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project—I'm looking forward to spreading the word about our amazing progress in such a (relatively!) short period of time!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Upcoming Changes</span></b></h2>
Right after I get back from Canada, I'll be leaving to be part of a panel discussion in Nevada, so the next blog post will appear after I return, on Monday, June 29, instead of Friday the 26th. And then I'll be heading up to Vancouver for the <a href="http://www.puzzlers.org/dokuwiki/doku.php">National Puzzlers' League</a> convention—and a couple of weeks later, to Northern California. With all this traveling, my schedule will be pretty busy and irregular, so instead of posting each week on Friday, I'll be writing as time permits when there's news or a feature to present. Now that the proofreading is almost done, there won't be weekly updates to report, but I'll still be posting when the puzzles go off to <i>XWord Info</i> and when (not if!) there's new information about the missing puzzles. <br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Featured Puzzle</span></b></h2>
Today's featured puzzle was constructed by Roberta Morse; published September 6, 1954; edited by Margaret Farrar; litzed by yours truly; and proofread by Mark Diehl. The puzzle has been uploaded to <i>XWord Info</i>, so you can <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Solve?psdate=9/6/1954">solve it</a> before reading the write-up. This crossword's theme is centered around a nifty little number rebus. I especially like that the 1, 2, 3, and 4 squares appear in order in the grid, even though they're not placed symmetrically. I also appreciate that 1-Down is literally 1 DOWN—and, by extension, that the 1 is in square one. I find it slightly off-putting that the FIVE in FIVE STAR ADMIRAL is spelled out, but I appreciate the effort to make the central 15-letter entry thematic. I personally would have preferred a reveal entry in that position, but given that this is likely the first published rebus crossword, I'm more awestruck by the innovation than annoyed by the minor inconsistency! By bringing the word count up to 80, the constructor was able to keep the fill smooth and incorporate a handful of lively entries into the nonthematic fill. My favorites are BARRACUDA, OVERTHROW, TEETOTALER, THUNDERS, BARNYARD, and ENDEARMENT—that's a lot of zip for a themed puzzle, let alone a rebus! Conversely, the constructor was stuck with the awkward partial LAK A (as in "Mighty Lak a Rose"), CIRO (clued as "Well-known Paris restaurateur."), JURA ("Franco-Swiss mountain range."), and SAROS ("Gulf of the Aegean Sea."). I also wasn't thrilled to see TEN STONE in the grid, since it contains a number that's not part of the sequence. This is a remarkably small number of liabilities given all the assets, though! So even with its drawbacks, this puzzle is definitely one of my favorites from 1954. I am, however, a bit surprised that Margaret Farrar chose to run it on a Monday—usually she saved puzzles that were extra-tricky for Saturdays. Then again, the fill was pretty clean, and I remember reading somewhere that Margaret's philosophy about difficulty was that higher word counts led to easier solves. This raises an interesting point: Was Margaret right? My first instinct would be to disagree, since any puzzle can be made easier or more challenging via the clues. Also, many ambitious stunt puzzles (such as bidirectional rebuses) require grids with higher word counts to pull off. That said, puzzles with higher word counts also tend to have more shorter entries, and there are only so many 3-, 4-, and 5-letter entries that show up in crosswords. Often, these common short entries are difficult to disguise, even if their clues are tough. Take ENERO in my <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/Crossword?date=6/12/2015"><i>New York Times</i> crossword that was published today</a>. The clue was "Part of summer in Latinoamerica," which is definitely not as straightforward as "January, to Juan," but I would still instantly fill in ENERO since . . . what else could it be? Perhaps the difference between average and expert solvers is that experts have a predetermined list of common entries subconsciously at the fronts of their brains—when they see a new clue, they automatically run through this list and frequently land on the correct answer instantaneously. In any case, I thoroughly enjoyed looking through this Roberta Morse crossword. The solution grid (with highlighted theme entries) appears below; the puzzle can also be accessed and analyzed on <i>XWord Info</i> <a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/PS?date=9/6/1954">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7867962515042485457.post-86837368663915510712015-05-29T18:30:00.001-07:002015-05-29T18:43:23.217-07:001955 Puzzles Done, Denny Baker on C. E. Noel, Todd Gross on Charles Erlenkotter, and Howard Barkin Three-peat Blast! Winner<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Project Update</span></b></h2>
Great news: The proofread 1955 puzzles are now done and, thanks to Jim Horne, should be up on <i><a href="http://www.xwordinfo.com/">XWord Info</a></i> soon! And I just sent off the second-to-last batch of proofreading yesterday—only one more packet remains! As for puzzles, this week Denny Baker started us off Saturday morning with 13, then another 13 Sunday night. Monday afternoon Mark Diehl sent 13, then 13 more that night. Late Wednesday afternoon, while waiting for a flight at JFK, Mark sent 13 more (reminding me of the days when he'd litz on the go—see the <a href="http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/2012/08/vics-third-column-litzing-on-go-plus.html">August 10, 2012, post</a>!). Then early Thursday morning Todd Gross sent 13 more puzzles, in which he found 37 mistakes. Thanks so much again, everyone—we're almost there!<br />
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I'll be graduating from high school next Thursday and then staying up all night for Grad Nite at some secret location in Southern California, so the next blog post will be in two weeks—right before I leave for <a href="http://www.ideacityonline.com/speaker/david-steinberg/">ideacity</a> in Toronto!<br />
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<h2>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Howard Barkin Three-peat Blast! Winner</span></b></h2>
Congratulations to Howard Barkin, who not only was the first to solve last week's very tricky Blast! challenge but is also a three-peat winner! Howard sent in the correct answer (and managed to break Mark Diehl's amazing winning streak!) on Sunday after just two letters had been revealed. The clue, from the March 14, 1952, puzzle, was "Status of the children of the old woman who lived in a shoe." The answer: UNDERFOOT (as in the illustration below!).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UMWvlYwSXE/VWi4e1unqnI/AAAAAAAAEBs/QMGt2sTcJ7o/s1600/Old%2BWoman%2Bin%2BShoe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--UMWvlYwSXE/VWi4e1unqnI/AAAAAAAAEBs/QMGt2sTcJ7o/s400/Old%2BWoman%2Bin%2BShoe.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of thegraphicsfairy.com</i></td></tr>
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As usual, there's a new Blast! challenge up in the sidebar—the name of the first person to solve it correctly will be announced in two weeks!<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Denny Baker on C. E. Noel</span></b></h2>
Following up on last week's post about C. E. Noel—which may have been a pseudonym for Charles Erlenkotter—I received an e-mail from Denny Baker, who said he'd guessed that the "C. E." stood for Christmas Eve (since the puzzle appeared on December 24). This is a very interesting possibility too, especially since quite a bit of time had elapsed between the publication of this puzzle and Charles Erlenkotter's preceding puzzles in the <i>Times</i>.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Todd Gross on Charles Erlenkotter</span></b></h2>
In addition, some time ago litzer, proofreader, and historian Todd Gross wrote to me about some research he'd been conducting on Charles Erlenkotter. Here's what he dug up:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I finally bagged the big one. The one who started it all at the NY Times: </span><b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Charles Erlenkotter</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I'd tried in the past, and didn't find much even though I had a "secret" advantage: I had an address for him. In Montreal.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIn-UdSBvOg/VWiqssuvPYI/AAAAAAAAEA8/pNwn16-swXE/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fIn-UdSBvOg/VWiqssuvPYI/AAAAAAAAEA8/pNwn16-swXE/s400/Erlenkotter%2B1.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Courtesy of The New York Herald Tribune, October<br />26, 1929.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">That's from the 26 Oct 1929 </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">New York Herald-Tribune</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"> (the latest puzzle I have by him from the H-T). I tried Ancestry.com, but didn't find much of anything. But I tried again recently, and this time I tried Google. And I found out a bit more about him:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">I found a couple of articles in the </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Montreal Gazette</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"> that mentioned he was the manager of the Montreal office of the Hamburg-American Line. I'm enclosing one from 1933.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pu0VO7zNK00/VWitTtRNzvI/AAAAAAAAEBI/_RVoRjZ1Pn8/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B2-Montreal%2BGazette.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pu0VO7zNK00/VWitTtRNzvI/AAAAAAAAEBI/_RVoRjZ1Pn8/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B2-Montreal%2BGazette.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><i>Courtesy of The Montreal Gazette,<br />September 12, 1933.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg_America_Line">Hamburg-American Line</a> is actually pretty interesting in its own right. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">The company managed to survive two world wars (much of their fleet was taken as war reparations in both wars) to merge into Hapag-Lloyd in 1970 (they're the Hapag part).</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">But back to Charles: I'd assumed he was Canadian given the address and the lack of info on Ancestry (my membership only covers U.S. records, I can see the existence of foreign records but I can't look at them). But this time Ancestry.com was more helpful. I'll get to that in a bit. First I should probably mention an interesting blurb I found in a NY paper </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">Daily Argus</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"> in 1937. It says that Louise Erlenkotter of White Plains had passed away and left $3,500 to her son "Charles Erlenkotter of Montreal, Can." So that ties Charles to upstate NY, which connected him to records I got from Ancestry.com.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jZs9YZzP5iY/VWiuq3WBNXI/AAAAAAAAEBU/MeFyl2VsN2U/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B3-Daily%2BArgus%2B25Jan1937.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jZs9YZzP5iY/VWiuq3WBNXI/AAAAAAAAEBU/MeFyl2VsN2U/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B3-Daily%2BArgus%2B25Jan1937.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Courtesy of The Daily Argus, January 25, 1937.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">As the Ancestry bio shows, Charles Erlenkotter was born in Hoboken, NJ on 9 Jun 1881 and passed away 26 Sep 1948 in White Plains, NY. I don't know when he returned to the US, and alas I haven't found an obituary...or any other document that verifies that date, but Ancestry seems rather sure about it.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ICwJNxqYQGI/VWivhWh0JQI/AAAAAAAAEBc/Ly7npRSuF4s/s1600/Erlenkotter%2B4%2B-%2BAncestry%2Bbio.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ICwJNxqYQGI/VWivhWh0JQI/AAAAAAAAEBc/Ly7npRSuF4s/s400/Erlenkotter%2B4%2B-%2BAncestry%2Bbio.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Courtesy of Ancestry.com.</i></td></tr>
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Fascinating finds, Todd—thanks so much again for all your great research!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1