In Memoriam: Henry Hook, 1955–2015

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 Bernice Gordon and Merl Reagle—and it doesn't get any easier.  According to my (still incomplete) records, Henry published 33 puzzles in The New York Times 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.

Raymond Simon's Tribute to Bernice Gordon in GAMES, Awesome Crossword T-shirts, and Doug Peterson Another Three-peat Winner!

Project Update

It's been another busy week!  Todd Gross started us off this time with 10 puzzles (in which he found 22 mistakes) late Sunday afternoon.  Tuesday morning Denny Baker sent in 30, which were followed a few hours later by 31 from Mark Diehl and then, that night, 20 more from Mark.  Early Wednesday morning Todd sent in 11 puzzles with 22 mistakes and then 3 more with 4 mistakes a bit later on.  Late that night Mark sent 31 puzzles, then 29 more Thursday morning.  Great job, everyone—thanks so much again!  I'm hoping to have the 1958 puzzles ready for Jim Horne at XWord Info by early next week.

Doug Peterson Three-peat Blast! Winner

Congratulations to another three-peat Blast! challenge winner, Doug Peterson!  On Wednesday Doug sent in the correct answer, HAWAIIAN STATEHOOD, to the August 30, 1953, puzzle clue "This bill has passed the halfway mark."  What a contrast with the bills in Congress nowadays!

This week's challenge is now up in the sidebar—good luck, everyone!

Awesome Crossword T-shirts

Despite returning to a ton of work (not to mention college decisions!), I'm still basking in the aftermath of the ACPT, where, among other things, I received two awesome crossword T-shirts (see photos below)!  The first features the very cool XWord Info logo, and the second is from the 2006 ACPT (closer to the pre-Shortz era and, as you can see on the shirt, definitely the original Stamford era!)!  Thanks so much again, Jeff, Jim, and Lynn!

Raymond Simon's Tribute to Bernice Gordon in GAMES

Some time ago Raymond Simon, an editor at GAMES World of Puzzles, contacted me about possibly getting a photograph of legendary constructor Bernice Gordon for a piece he was writing about her crossword life.  His article is in the May 2015 issue, and with the magazine's permission, I've reproduced it below:

Thanks again, Ray, for this touching tribute to Bernice.

1964 Puzzles Done, John Samson Profile and Fred Piscop Commentary in CROSSW RD Magazine, Mary Cee Whitten, and Funny Typos—Plus, Ben Coe First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Project Update

Great news:  The 1964 puzzles are now up on XWord Info, and I'm hoping to have the 1963 puzzles ready by next Friday—many thanks again to Jim Horne for posting them!  It's been a couple of weeks since the last update, and quite a few more puzzles have come in.  On Saturday the 24th, Todd Gross sent 11 puzzles with 15 mistakes.  Then Wednesday afternoon Denny Baker sent another 30 puzzles, which were followed late that night by 28 more from Mark Diehl.  Friday the 30th Todd sent in 8 puzzles with 12 mistakes, then kicked off February on Super Bowl Sunday by sending in 10 with 24 mistakes.  Late Tuesday night he sent an additional 10 with 29 mistakes, then 10 more with 9 mistakes on Wednesday morning, another 10 with 11 mistakes and 5 more with 8 mistakes that night, and early Friday morning an additional 10 with 20 mistakes—whew!  Thanks so much, everyone—great job!

Ben Coe Solves Blast! Challenge

Congratulations to Ben Coe, who sent in the first correct solution to the most recent Blast! challenge on Friday, January 30, at 11:31 a.m.!  Two entries from the May 4, 1963, puzzle had this clue:  "Newly extinct American species?"  The answers were REDCAP and PASSENGER TRAINS.  Although I don't hear much about REDCAPs, PASSENGER TRAINS definitely still exist in large quantities!  Maybe it's best that crosswords focus on conserving the cahow.

This week's challenge appears in the sidebar—good luck!

John Samson Profile and Fred Piscop Commentary in CROSSW RD Magazine

In honor of Bernice Gordon and her long friendship with John Samson, I've posted the profile of John that originally appeared in the September/October 1994 issue of CROSSW RD Magazine—click here to read it on Scribd.  This terrific piece by Helene Hovanec provides a fascinating glimpse not only of John himself but also of Eugene T. Maleska, who harshly rejected John's first submission, ordering him to never send anything again.  Despite this inauspicious beginning, the two ultimately became co-editors and friends—a testament to John's perseverance (and congenial nature!).

John Samson in 1994. Photo copyright
1994, 2015, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted
by permission of Stan Chess and
CROSSW-RD Magazine. 

I've also posted Fred Piscop's follow-up commentary, "'Your Stuff Stinks,'" that appeared in the next issue, November/December 1994.  This thought-provoking piece offers aspiring constructors sage advice that is just as relevant today as it was more than 20 years ago.  To read it, click here.

Mary Cee Whitten

Photo courtesy of The Evening Independent.

Litzer, proofreader, and historian Todd Gross has been busy researching pre-Shortzian constructors and recently found a link to a great 1985 article featuring constructor Mary Cee Whitten:  "Crossword constructors:  Who makes up these mind-teasers?" by James Ricci.  According to my (incomplete) records, Whitten published at least 7 puzzles in the pre-Shortz era.  The article includes comments by Eugene T. Maleska, constructor and puzzle editor Herb Ettenson, and constructor Judith Dalton.  To read it, click here; the piece continues on another page, which you can navigate to by clicking on the righthand arrow at the top of the page.  Thanks again, Todd, for this awesome find!

Funny Typos

The proofreading has continued to chug along; as a result, my file of funny litzing errors has continued to grow!  Here are ten rib-ticklers from the archives:

• DANGLE
• Right:  Be misplaced, as a participle.
• Wrong:  Be misplaced, as a principle.
• ELI
• Right:  Blue rooter.
• Wrong:  Blue rooster.
• ETNA
• Right:  Threat to Sicily.
• Wrong:  Treat to Sicily.
• IRREG
• Right:  Kind of verb: Abbr.
• Wrong:  Kind of verb: Irreg.
• ORGIE
• Right:  Carousal: Fr.
• Wrong:  Carousel: Fr.
• SLIP-ON
• Right:  Type of garment.
• Wrong:  Type of government.
• STAGES
• Right:  Rocket parts.
• Wrong:  Pocket parts.
• TILTH
• Right:  Cultivated land.
• Wrong:  Cultivated lard.
• TIMERS
• Right:  Kitchen aids.
• Wrong:  Lichen aids.
• ZANY
• Right:  Clownish.
• Wrong:  Clownfish.

I was actually able to find a picture of a Yale rooster stickpin, which I've included below:

Image courtesy of Collectible Ivy. 

In Memoriam: Bernice Gordon, 1914–2015

In honor of Bernice Gordon, my friend and collaborator who died yesterday at the age of 101, there will be no regular post today; the blog will resume next Friday.

I first contacted Bernice in March of 2013 about doing an interview for this site.  Shortly thereafter, we decided to collaborate on a puzzle about age differences; that puzzle was published on June 26, 2013, in The New York Times.  At the time, Bernice was 99 and the oldest living Times constructor and, at 16, I was the youngest; our age difference was 83 years.  In September that year we met in person in Philadelphia—a meeting I wrote about here.  I was on the East Coast briefly again this summer and one morning drove down from New Haven to Philadelphia to meet Bernice for lunch.  We had a lovely meal, talked about crosswords, and played Bookworm on her computer until I had to leave late that afternoon for New York.  All told, we collaborated on three puzzles; our second one appeared in the Times on August 11, 2014, and our most recent effort was, fittingly, accepted by her dear friend John Samson on November 11 and will appear in Simon & Schuster's Mega 15.

Over time we became fast friends, exchanging more than 700 e-mails, all of which I saved; in the relatively short time we knew each other, she also became the grandmother I never really had.  Lately we had both been writing every day or so, because Bernice knew she was dying.  Even though my e-mails were short and usually of little import, I knew she loved getting them, and I hoped they would keep her alive longer.  Bernice very much wanted to know where I would end up going to college, but in December, just a few days before I was to hear from my early action school, her e-mails to me abruptly stopped.  I kept writing, and when I learned that I had been accepted, wrote to her right away, not knowing whether she would ever receive the news.  Two days later, though, she wrote back—she was thrilled for me, and I was so glad she was alive.  Even though she still didn't know for certain where I would end up, she knew it would be somewhere wonderful and told me she could now die in peace.  We exchanged quite a few more e-mails between then and January 11—her 101st birthday and the day I received her last e-mail.  I kept writing, hoping her e-mails would resume again, but they never did.  On Wednesday, the night before she died, I sent her what would be my final e-mail.

Bernice Gordon Turns 101!

Today is crossword legend Bernice Gordon's birthday—she is 101!  Bernice has had an amazing life and career and has published even more puzzles in major markets since last year's post on her 100th birthday appeared.  She is also a wonderful person and friend.  Happy Birthday, Bernice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

East Coast Wrap-Up, August Litzer of the Month Peter Broda, and Greek Entries of the Week

East Coast Puzzle Extravaganza Wrap-Up

I've just returned from an amazing couple of weeks on the East Coast, where I spent four awesome days and nights in Portland, Maine, at MaineCon, the National Puzzlers' League convention!  I had a blast playing Bananagrams and Fluxx at midnight, meeting new NPLers and reuniting with old friends, trying new games such as Cluesome and Paperback, solving a brilliant Extravaganza with an equally brilliant team of runners, and exploring some of Portland's lovely restaurants!  On one of the days, I went to lunch with Stan Newman (a.k.a. Famulus) at a place that served sapid lobster pizza and other seafood treats; when we got back to the hotel, Stan gave me two references books that were used by many pre-Shortzian constructors:  the Longman Crossword Key and Funk & Wagnalls Crossword Puzzle Word Finder.  Both of these tomes are full of possible crossword entries sorted by letter pattern; the main differences are that the Funk & Wagnalls includes 2–6 letter words (whereas the Longman Crossword Key includes 3–15 letter words) and that the Funk & Wagnalls allows you to find words with more than one fixed letter.  The Funk & Wagnalls is particularly interesting since it describes a deliberate process for how words were selected for inclusion in the book, which has definite connections to modern-day word-list scoring.  Thanks again for these neat old references, Stan!

I was also delighted to have lunch in Philadelphia with Bernice Gordon, who has become my "adopted grandmother" of sorts!  She showed me some of her more recent constructions, and we had a lot of fun playing a game called Bookworm on her computer (which can be played online).  Bernice also gave me several beautiful books, a couple of which she bought in England years ago!  My favorite of these books, An Exaltation of Larks, contains the names for different groupings of people and animals, such as "a siege of herons" and "an untruth of summoners."  The book also has lovely illustrations to accompany many of the terms and etymological information about some of the more esoteric ones.  I look forward to looking through Bernice's books in more detail when time frees up and jet lag fully wears off!

I also spent a few days in Pleasantville, New York, where Will Shortz generously made his crossword book and magazine collection available.  Using his complete collection of Simon & Schuster volumes, along with countless other contemporary puzzle books, I was able to identify the first names and/or genders of many more pre-Shortzian constructors.  One of the most interesting discoveries I made was that Horiguchi (whose first name turned out to be Yurie) submitted her crosswords to the Times from Tokyo.  I wonder if English was Yurie Horiguchi's first language—if not, then her ability to construct quality American-style crosswords by hand is even more impressive!  Will also gave me a few extra copies of The Bantam Great Masters Winning Crossword Puzzles series, which has photos and bios of numerous pre-Shortzian constructors, and let me photocopy more extensive bios of certain puzzlers from his Four-Star Puzzler anthology.  I'm planning to scan these in the near future and make them available on Scribd.  Will and his assistant, Joel Fagliano, also gave me a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how New York Times puzzles are selected and edited, although I spent most of my time conducting research.  Thanks so much again for the books and for letting me do some great research, Will!

Finally, right before touring the college renowned in crosswords for calling its students ELIS, I was able to pay a visit to Noah Webster's grave—here's a picture:

Noah Webster's grave in New Haven, CT

Project Update

On the litzing and proofreading front, there was a lot of activity while I was gone!  Thursday the 17th, Alex Vratsanos sent in 1 litzed puzzle.  Saturday the 19th, Todd Gross sent in 11 proofread puzzles.  Sunday the 20th, Nancy Kavanaugh sent in 7 reassigned litzed puzzles, and then early Monday the 21st, an anonymous litzer sent in 4 puzzles.  Later that morning, Denny Baker sent 31 proofread puzzles.  Tuesday the 22nd, Larry Wasser sent in 28 more proofread puzzles.  Saturday the 26th, Martin Herbach sent 7 more litzed puzzles, putting our total at 16,038 on the litzing thermometer!  Sunday the 27th, Denny sent in 29 more proofread puzzles.  Tuesday the 29th, Todd sent in 16 more proofread puzzles.  And over the past couple of weeks, Howard Barkin sent in 31 more proofread puzzles.  Thanks so much, everyone, for all this great work—we're making excellent progress and on track to finishing the litzing by the end of this month!

August Litzer of the Month Peter Broda

Now that we're in August, we have a new Litzer of the Month—Peter Broda!  Peter is a New York Times constructor who hails from Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.  To read more about him, click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

Featured Puzzle

Today's featured puzzle, "Fabrication," was constructed by Diana Sessions; published August 26, 1962; edited by Margaret Farrar; and litzed by Mike Buckley.  This 21 x 21 tour-de-force features 16 symmetrical theme entries that contain a type of fabric, such as WOOL GATHERER (clued as "Idle fancier.").  All the theme entries are elegantly arranged in either stacks of two or, in the center, mind-boggling interlocking webs; to top off the eye-pleasing gridwork, the constructor mostly included theme entries that don't directly tie into the types of fabric they contain!  My favorite theme entry is LAME DUCK ("Act of 1933."), which completely disguises its original fabric, lamé, though FLANNEL CAKE ("Menu item.") and CREPE PAPER ("Party decoration.") are close runners-up.  Cramming in 16 stacked and interlocking theme entries is no easy task, but the constructor made it look like a piece of cake by producing such a consistently smooth fill!  The central entry, SCARFED, is a lovely touch that subtly gets at the theme, and entries like CHARCOAL, CHAPLIN, and WALRUS add a nice bit of zest to this puzzle's 146-word grid.  Speaking of 146 words, I really appreciate that the constructor opted for a word count slightly above the modern New York Times limit of 140 rather than throwing in some lengthy partials and additional obscurities in a more open grid.  I don't see any pairs of black squares that would have been particularly easy to remove, and the grid certainly doesn't feel chunky and sectioned off as a result of the higher word count.  Most of the less-than-stellar entries that did wend their way into the grid appeared in numerous other pre-Shortzian puzzles—the only one that really irks me is BTS ("British titles: Abbr."), but this entry too was used as recently as the Maleska era.  I much prefer the way old Los Angeles Times and Merl Reagle puzzles treated BTS (by cluing it as the abbreviation for boats and beats, respectively).  In all, this is a standout pre-Shortzian puzzle, and I look forward to seeing more from Diana Sessions as I slowly make my way through litzed packets!  Below is the answer grid with highlighted theme entries:

Entries of the Week

The July 22, 1962, crossword, "All Greek to Me" by Jules Arensberg, contained scads of unusual words purportedly from Greek as theme entries.  I've listed an ennead of my favorites below:  

• UCALEGON
• Neighbor whose house is on fire.
• SCHOENOBATIST
• Tightrope walker.
• HYPOCORISMS
• Pet names.
• GYASCUTUS
• Imaginary lopsided beast adapted for circling hills.
• CHICHEVACHE
• Lean monster that feeds on patient wives.
• DEIPNOSOPHIST
• One skilled in table talk.
• LULLILOO
• Whoop by slapping hand against mouth.
• POGONOTROPHY
• Beard growing.
• AICHMOPHOBIA
• Fear of being stuck with needles.

I knew the word deipnosophist from a previous entry of the week and ucalegon from hearing Will Shortz list it as his favorite word so many times, but the rest of these were new to me.  The two words on this list that intrigued me the most were gyascutus and Chichevache—here are some beautiful pictures of these two imaginary beasts I found on DeviantArt!

Gyascutus image courtesy of DeviantArt

Chichevache image courtesy of DeviantArt

1978 Puzzles Up on XWord Info, In 1951 and Almost at the Sunday Puzzle–Only Period, Link to New Bernice Gordon Article, and Most Common Unique Maleska Entries

Great news:  The proofread puzzles from 1978 are now up on XWord Info, thanks to Jim Horne!  The puzzles from August 10 through November 5 are missing because of a newspaper strike.

It's been a very busy week on both the litzing and proofreading fronts!  On Saturday morning, Alex Vratsanos sent in 7 puzzles, which were followed that afternoon by 10 proofread puzzles from Todd Gross.  Early Sunday morning, Todd sent in 10 more proofread puzzles, and that afternoon, Lynn Feigenbaum sent 7 litzed puzzles, which were followed by 14 from Mark Diehl that night.  Monday morning, Todd sent in 11 more proofread puzzles.  Then that afternoon, Nancy Kavanaugh sent a mega-batch of 42 puzzles, putting us over 15,200 on the litzing thermometer and her own total at more than 1,100—congratulations, Nancy!  Just 9 minutes later, 7 more puzzles came in from Barry Haldiman.  And when I woke up Wednesday morning, I found 7 puzzles sent in late Tuesday night by Mike Buckley, 7 early Wednesday from Lynn, and 10 more proofread puzzles from Todd—a great start to the day!  Thursday morning Todd sent in another 10 proofread puzzles, then 11 more that afternoon—way to go, Todd!  That night, Todd McClary sent in 7 litzed puzzles.  Early Friday morning, Barry sent 7 more puzzles.  Then, within the space of one hour, 7 more came in from Denny Baker, another 7 from Lynn, and 10 more proofread puzzles from Todd!  Thanks so much again, everyone—we're now at 15,282 on the litzing thermometer and well into the 1977 proofreading!

We're also now in a new year:  1951!  One of the most noteworthy events of that year was the introduction of the classic TV sitcom series I Love Lucy, which, according to Wikipedia, was the most watched show in the United States for four of its six seasons.  Here's a collage of images from the show:

Image courtesy of thebluegrassspecial.com

Only one more packet containing daily puzzles remains to be sent out, so we're about to enter the Sunday puzzle phase of litzing, and all future packets will just contain those.  Although the first daily puzzle appeared on September 11, 1950, for various reasons the dailies from then through the first week of August 1951 were litzed, along with many of the Sunday puzzles during that time as well.  Since litzing Sunday puzzles takes longer, the packets will usually contain four Sunday puzzles (instead of six dailies and one Sunday).

A wonderful new article on Bernice Gordon appeared in this week's Philadelphia Inquirer!  If you didn't already see it on Cruciverb-l, click here to read it.

Now that almost all the Maleska-edited puzzles have been posted on XWord Info, I decided to take another look at the "Most popular answers found only in pre-Shortzian puzzles" page.  I naturally expected that every entry on this list would be a short-but-uncommon entry that Maleska allowed but Shortz doesn't (such as INEE).  I was thus very surprised to see that a fair number of these entries that appeared six or more times under Maleska but have yet to appear in a Shortz-era puzzle are common words, phrases, and names that are more than eight letters long!  Here are the ones that particularly stood out to me, followed by the number of Maleska puzzles they appeared in:

ELEMENTAL (9)
WELLINGTON (8)
ALEXANDRIA (7)
SHRINKING VIOLET (7)
THE CONSTITUTION (7)
AUSTRALIAN CRAWL (6)
CARNATION (6)
CRANBERRY (6)
FLIBBERTIGIBBET (6)
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (6)
GRANDSTAND PLAYS (6)
HUCKLEBERRY FINN (6)
KICK UP ONE'S HEELS (6)
LILY OF THE VALLEY (6)
LONGFELLOW (6)
MAIN STREET (6)
NO STONE UNTURNED (6)
RAGAMUFFIN (6)
ROCK OF GIBRALTAR (6)
RUSSIAN DRESSING (6)
SHORT-ORDER (6)
SQUARE THE CIRCLE (6)
THE BILL OF RIGHTS (6)
VANESSA REDGRAVE (6)

I find it fascinating that each of these entries appeared in so many Maleska puzzles!  I wonder if the reason why these particular entries appeared so often is that Maleska, who didn't have access to databases of previously published crosswords, unknowingly repeated common themes every couple of years.  LILY OF THE VALLEY, for example, appeared in four puzzles over a three-year period with the exact same theme (plants).  There aren't very many common grid-spanning plant names, so it makes sense that, since plants were clearly a popular theme, LILY OF THE VALLEY would appear multiple times.  This doesn't explain, though, why not a single New York Times crossword published after 1985 contains this entry (or any of the other entries in the aforementioned list).  I look forward to seeing what other long entries frequented yet were unique to pre-Shortzian puzzle grids when the Weng and Farrar puzzles are eventually posted!

Howard Barkin Finds Bernice Gordon's First NYT Puzzle, New Litzer of the Month Alex Vratsanos, and Litzing Contest Poll

Last Saturday, I received an e-mail from litzer Howard Barkin.  He had read an article about Bernice Gordon in which she was quoted as saying she vaguely remembered her first New York Times puzzle having MAMIE EISENHOWER as an entry.  Howard had come across that puzzle—which was published on February 19, 1953—in a batch he was litzing, and he wondered whether it was indeed her first.  I checked my (still incomplete) database, and sure enough, that puzzle was the first on record for Bernice in the Times!  I sent PDFs of the puzzle and solution to Bernice, and she happily confirmed that the puzzle was indeed her first for The New York Times.  She remembered how proud she'd been to finally break in and commented that the puzzle seemed "so simple" compared to the ones she constructs today.  Thanks so much again, Howard, for your discovery!  Below is a picture of the puzzle's solution:

Tomorrow is February 1, and I'm delighted to announce that Alex Vratsanos is the new Litzer of the Month!  Alex is not only a prolific and exceptionally accurate litzer but also a young constructor who published his first puzzle in The New York Times on the day he graduated from high school!  To read more about Alex, click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

It's been another busy litzing week, starting off on Saturday morning with 10 proofread puzzles from Todd Gross.  That afternoon, Alex Vratsanos sent in 7 more puzzles, which were followed by 7 from Mike Buckley that evening.  Sunday morning, Jeffrey Krasnick sent in 7 puzzles, which were followed a few hours later by 7 more from Lynn Feigenbaum, and then 7 more from Jeffrey (two batches in one day!) that evening.  Monday afternoon, Alex sent 7 more puzzles.  I woke up Tuesday morning to find 7 more puzzles from Lynn, 7 more from Jeffrey, and 7 from Barry Haldiman—a great start to the day!  That afternoon, Todd sent in 10 more proofread puzzles.  Wednesday night, Tracy Bennett sent in 31 more proofread puzzles.  Early Thursday morning, Jeffrey sent 7 more puzzles, then a few hours later, Lynn sent in 7 more.  Very early this morning, Todd sent 9 more proofread puzzles, which were followed by 7 litzed puzzles from Lynn this afternoon and 7 from Vic Fleming just a few minutes ago.  And this week, Howard Barkin sent in 14 puzzles.  We're now over 14,900—14,961, to be exact!  Thanks so much again, everybody!

I've been thinking about running another litzing contest, since we're so close to the end.  We're actually closer than the thermometer indicates, because between the newspaper strikes and ProQuest problems, quite a few puzzles are missing.  The thing is, we're going to be entering the Sunday-only period soon—that means the puzzles will be big (often 23x) and will take longer to litz.  We could try to shoot for finishing by March 7, the start of the ACPT, but that would be a very tough goal, and I know some of you will be busy training for the tournament.  What do you think?  If you have an opinion, use the poll gadget at the top of the righthand column to cast your vote! You can also e-mail me or leave comments below.

Today's featured puzzle, whose constructor is unknown, was originally published on November 3, 1964; litzed by Mark Diehl; and edited by Margaret Farrar.  This timely and historical crossword, which appeared on Election Day, 1964, features 10 mostly symmetric theme entries relating to the election or recent politics in general.  The constructor even went so far as to disguise some of the election/political names and terms in the clues!  My favorites of these not-so-obvious references include SENATOR (clued as "Member of a ball team."), KENNEDY ("Florida cape."), MILLERS ("Chaucer's 'The ___ Tale.'"), and JOHNSON ("Lexicographer of 1775.").  H TRUMAN ("Truncated signature of White House fame.") is a particularly weak theme entry, especially since HST is elsewhere in the puzzle, but the overall theme and sheer quantity of theme entries definitely outweigh this minor flaw!  And as with all current events–themed pre-Shortzian puzzles, I find it fascinating to see how crossword constructors of the '50s and '60s chose to define leading political figures of their day.  Aside from the theme, I find it amazing that the puzzle has just 70 words, which is lower than the word count of the vast majority of themeless puzzles from the same time period.  The constructor did a truly masterful job of balancing an ambitious theme and grid with a relatively clean nonthematic fill!  I particularly like the entries HUMPHREY, BADGER, DRAGS (with the fresh, fun clue "Auto races: Slang"), and YVONNE, though I also appreciated seeing the semi-thematic entry ORATORS with the old-fashioned political clue "Bryan and others.," especially since we just studied William Jennings Bryan in my AP U.S. History course.  We also learned about Henry Clay earlier this year, so I was pleased to encounter the clue "Last word of Henry Clay aphorism." for the theme entry PRESIDENT, even though I wasn't familiar with the aphorism the clue mentioned.  Apparently, after failing to become president, Clay famously remarked, "I would rather be right than president."  Anyway, on the flip side, the nonthematic fill does have some entries that feel quite esoteric, including SNATH ("Handle of a scythe."), ALCO ("Small dog of tropical America."), and TROMBE ("Organ stops imitating trumpet tones."), as well as a handful of unsavory abbreviations and foreign terms, most notably SPTS ("Certain cities: Abbr.") and COUPURE ("Cut: Fr.").  Nevertheless, I find this puzzle fascinating from both a historical and a cruciverbal perspective, and I hope to see more like it in previous election years.  For now, here's the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries):

Pre-Shortzian New York Times crosswords are notorious for having very few (if any) references to contemporary pop culture.  In fact, one critic of Maleska went so far as to state that the most recent reference Maleska used in a crossword during his 1977–1993 editorship was Rosie the Riveter!  Contrary to this stereotype, I've seen many clues in pre-Shortzian puzzles that were quite fresh at the time.  Here are seven clues that date back to the Beatles' earliest years of fame in the United States, all of which come from puzzles litzed by Mark Diehl (and most of whose constructors are unknown).  These 1964 and 1965 clues were definitely contemporary!

• November 6, 1964 [The British Invasion of crossworddom begins, per my records, based on the pre-Shortzian New York Times crosswords I've reviewed so far!]
• Clue:  1964 phenomenon.
• Answer:  BEATLE
• February 1, 1965
• Clue:  Not descriptive of the Beatles.
• Answer:  BALD
• March 28, 1965 (constructed by Jack Luzzatto)
• Clue:  Ante-Beatle phenomenon.
• Answer:  ELVIS
• September 20, 1965
• Clue:  The Beatles, Supremes, et al.
• Answer:  IDOLS
• October 27, 1965 [This puzzle alone nearly contains a fab four Beatles references!]
• Clue:  Liverpool drummer.
• Answer:  RINGO
• Clue:  Certain headliners.
• Answer:  BEATLES
• Clue:  See 1 Across. [RINGO]
• Answer:  STAR [Interesting that Ringo was also a STARR!]

My favorite of these clues is definitely the one for BALD—the Beatles were certainly hair apparent!  Here's a picture of this beloved hirsute band:

Image courtesy of beatlesradio.com.

John M. Samson Interview, Bernice Gordon Article by Kathy Matheson, and Over 14,700

This week I'm delighted to present an interview with pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor John M. Samson, who is also the crossword editor of Simon & Schuster!  To read John's wonderful reminiscences, click here or on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews tab above.

Also, another article on pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor Bernice Gordon appeared, just before Bernice published her first New York Times puzzle as a centenarian!  To read Associated Press reporter Kathy Matheson's charming piece, click here.

It's been another busy litzing week, starting off with 4 puzzles from Denny Baker on Saturday afternoon that put us over 14,600 on the litzing thermometer!  Sunday morning, Lynn Feigenbaum sent in 7 puzzles, and then that afternoon, Ralph Bunker sent 28 more, putting his total at more than 800 litzed puzzles—congratulations, Ralph!  That evening, Mike Buckley sent 7 puzzles, which were followed 20 minutes later by 7 from Jeffrey Krasnick.  Monday morning, Brian Kulman sent in 5 puzzles, and less than an hour later, 6 more came in from Denny.  That afternoon, Todd Gross sent in 10 proofread puzzles.  Tuesday morning, Denny sent 3 more puzzles, which were followed by 7 from Barry Haldiman that afternoon.  That evening, Jeffrey sent in 7 puzzles.  Wednesday morning, Lynn sent 7 puzzles, and less than an hour later, 7 more came in from Denny, putting us over 14,700 on the litzing thermometer!  Thursday morning, Jeffrey sent 7 more puzzles.  Then this afternoon, Todd sent in 10 more proofread puzzles, which were followed 5 minutes later by 6 litzed puzzles from Denny.  And Howard Barkin sent in 11 puzzles this week too.  We're now at 14,716 litzed puzzles—by next week, we should be over 14,800!

This week's featured puzzle, "White Christmas," was constructed by John M. Samson.  The puzzle was published on December 20, 1992; edited by Eugene T. Maleska; and litzed by Barry Haldiman (or a member of his former team of litzers).  This impressive 21x crossword features seven rebuses of CHRISTMAS, a word so long that it had to be abbreviated to XMAS in the rebus squares to make the puzzle display well on XWord Info!  Nearly all the CHRISTMAS entries feel fresh and fun, though my favorite has to be HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.  How often do you get to see that in a crossword?  The only two theme entries that feel a little less solid are the partials THE CHRISTMAS (clued as "'___ Wife,' 1988 Robards TV film") and OF CHRISTMAS MY ("' . . . day ___ true love . . . '").  Nevertheless, I'm amazed that John was able to find so many entries containing Christmas and get them to interlock into a 21x grid so elegantly!  The nonthematic fill is also remarkably clean, given the constraints imposed by all the rebus squares—I especially like the entries ANTHILL, RUTABAGA, SQUINT, MANHOLES, HOT RODS, and SOIREES.  The entry that looked the most unusual to me is ORPHREY ("Gold embroidery"), which, according to Merriam-Webster, is ultimately derived from the Latin aurum (meaning "gold") and Phrygius (meaning "Phrygian").  INSTAR ("Top off a 19-Across [CHRISTMAS TREE]") also gave me pause, though I appreciate how John was able to tie it into the theme.  Last but not least, the clues were very nice—"Dumbo's were jumbo" for EARS left me riant!  In all, this is an excellent pre-Shortzian Sunday crossword with both a timely and well-executed theme.  The puzzle can be seen below with highlighted theme entries and fully spelled-out rebus squares or on XWord Info without highlighting and with easier-to-read rebus squares.

In other news, my list of clever clues from mid-to-late 1960s Farrar puzzles keeps on growing!  Here are five of my favorites from a few batches of 1965 puzzles litzed by Mark Diehl:

• March 28, 1965 (constructed by Jack Luzzatto)
• Clue:  Aye, there's the rub!
• Answer:  MASSAGE
• June 8, 1965 (constructor unknown)
• Clue:  Heavy ones get too heavy.
• Answer:  EATERS
• June 10, 1965 (constructor unknown)
• Clue:  Men of high interest.
• Answer:  LOAN SHARKS
• June 29, 1965 (constructor unknown)
• Clue:  Animal possibly welcome at picnics.
• Answer:  AARDVARK
• July 17, 1965 (constructor unknown)
• Clue:  Where stars shine.
• Answer:  HOLLYWOOD

Clues like these are part of what makes looking through the pre-Shortzian puzzles so much fun!  Here's a picture of aardvark (in its natural habitat rather than at a picnic!):

Image courtesy of National Geographic.

Happy 100th Birthday, Bernice! (Plus, 1979 Puzzles Up, Almost at 14,600, In 1953, Update on Constructor Genders, and C. J. Angio)

I decided to publish this week's blog post today instead of yesterday because today legendary pre-Shortzian & Shortz-era constructor Bernice Gordon turns 100!  Happy 100th Birthday, Bernice—have a wonderful day & party!  Bernice has had the longest crossword-constructing career for The New York Times of any constructor—more than 60 years—&, amazingly, she still builds one crossword a day!  To read more about Bernice & her puzzle innovations, go to the excellent Bernice Gordon Wikipedia page, which contains many links to articles about her, or click on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews & Pre-Shortzian Constructors tabs above.  & be sure to check out this week's featured puzzle below & her ampers& puzzle featured previously on this blog.  

Image courtesy of The Pennsylvania Gazette

 & Sarah Bloom.

In other, less monumental news, the 1979 proofread puzzles are now up on XWord Info, and we've now litzed almost 14,600 puzzles—14,597, to be exact!  Great job, everyone!  It was a very busy week on the litzing front, starting off with 4 puzzles from Lynn Feigenbaum on Saturday.  Sunday morning, Jeffrey Krasnick sent in 18 puzzles, which were followed by 7 more from Denny Baker.  That night, 28 more puzzles came in from Ralph Bunker.  Then Monday morning, 7 puzzles came in from Barry Haldiman, and Todd Gross sent 10 proofread puzzles.  That afternoon, Lynn sent in 7 more puzzles, which were followed by 7 from Denny, 10 more proofread puzzles from Todd, and 7 litzed puzzles from Todd (T) McClary.  We passed 14,500 on the litzing thermometer Monday evening!  Then Tuesday morning, Barry sent in 7 more puzzles.  Early Wednesday morning, Jeffrey sent 7 puzzles, putting his total at more than 900 litzed puzzles—congratulations, Jeffrey!  Then 20 minutes later, 28 more puzzles came in from Ralph.  A few hours later, Lynn sent 7 more, which were followed by 7 more from Denny and 10 more proofread puzzles from Todd.  Early Thursday morning, Jeffrey sent in 3 more puzzles.  That afternoon, Denny sent 7 more puzzles, putting his total at more than 800 litzed puzzles—congratulations, Denny!  Then Friday morning, Lynn sent 7 more puzzles, which were followed by 7 from Jeffrey and 7 more from Barry that evening, putting his total at more than 1,300 litzed puzzles—congratulations, Barry!  And Howard Barkin sent in 13 puzzles this week too.  Thanks so much again, everyone—it won't be long now before we're at 15,000!

With all this litzing, we're now sending out puzzles from 1953.  Although 1953 had many notable events, one in particular stood out for me:  the first successful ascent of Mount Everest on May 29, by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.  At 8,848 m, Mount Everest is Earth's highest mountain, and scaling this 8,848 m peak is in some ways like conquering our mountain of 16,225 pre-Shortzian puzzles!  Both involve team efforts to reach very difficult goals, and like Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, we will eventually reach our summit!  Here is a picture of Mount Everest:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Thanks so much to those of you who contacted me with information about pre-Shortzian constructor genders and names.  With this help and some more digging through old books of puzzles, I was able to determine the genders of some of the most prolific pre-Shortzian constructors.

The one notable exception was C. J. Angio, whose name may actually have been a pseudonym.  Several people suggested that C. J. Angio was most likely female, because women were more likely than men to use initials instead of their names.  Unfortunately, this was not always the case among the pre-Shortzian constructors—quite a few prolific male constructors, such as A. J. Santora and W. E. Jones, used their initials too.  I was able to determine that C. J. Angio lived in Illinois, but despite extensive searching, I still couldn't find him or her.  If anyone has any more information about C. J. Angio, please contact me.

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by . . . Bernice Gordon!  Although Bernice is best known for bending the rules of crossword construction in her innovative rebus puzzles, she's come up with many other twisty, forward-thinking, and creative themes.  This week's highlighted puzzle, for example, features four entries that read up and backwards!  The puzzle, which was edited by Eugene T. Maleska, originally appeared on  January 27, 1989, and was litzed by Mark Diehl.  Each theme entry that reads in the opposite direction literally contains the word UP or BACK, which adds a nice level of consistency to the already clever gimmick.  As a bonus, both of the BACK entries reference mirrors and looking glasses in their clues!  The nonthematic fill has many nice entries, including BADGERS, ALIASES, IP CRESS, DOCENT, and DAKOTAN.  Bernice also included some cranium-crushing words I've never heard of, including TANAGRA (clued as "Scene of a Spanish victory: 457 B.C."), ARUNDEL ("Site of a magnificent English castle"), NESIOTE ("Inhabiting an island"), and SERINGA ("Source of Pará rubber").  Nesiote is such an unusual word that it doesn't appear in Merriam-Webster, though my favorite of these entries has to be ARUNDEL.  Here's a picture of the truly magnificent castle:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Arundel Castle looks spectacular, though in my opinion, it doesn't quite surpass the attractiveness of symmetrical black and white squares!  So for all you fellow cruciverbalists, here's a picture of Bernice's puzzle with highlighted theme entries, which can also be viewed on XWord Info without highlighted theme entries.  Happy Birthday again, Bernice!

Reminiscence of Jules Arensberg by Lyn Silverstein, Louis Sabin's Article on "Roman Holiday," Over 12,300, Zipped Through 1960 and Now Into 1959, Update on Bernice Gordon's Scrapbooks, and Book of the Week from Stan Newman's Treasures

Last week I received an e-mail from Lyn Silverstein, to which she had attached a delightful piece she wrote 15 years ago about her father, legendary New York Times constructor Jules Arensberg.  Jules published at least 94 puzzles in The New York Times during the Farrar era (82 under his own name and 12 under the pseudonym Helen Bernard, which was a combination of Lyn's given name and his wife's maiden name), and he built many more that appeared in other venues, such as this week's featured book.  Here is Lyn's piece:

Daddy

by Lyn Silverstein

  Daddy was a man of many words.  No, he wasn't redundant or repetitive, nor even reiterative.  His vocabulary was extensive and he was intrigued by language—words, expressions, and colloquialisms.  He knew about origins of words and derivations of phrases through his constant research, always enjoying the process of learning.
  One major player in his quest for knowledge was the well-thumbed Webster's Unabridged dictionary that graced his desk in the living room.  Dictionaries weren't a big part of his working life but were important tools in his leisure activities.  The 1961 edition—his last one—still serves me well.  Of all my dictionaries, it is the one of choice, and when it's idle, it rules the upstairs hallway from its prominent wooden throne.
  Daddy never finished college because he had to go to work, but he had a boundless passion for knowledge.  He thrived on the challenges of my high school and college homework assignments.  During the first few months of my sophomore year of high school, I anguished over geometry.  Daddy studied the textbook, and over Christmas vacation, we spent many hours learning geometry together.  His logical mind quickly grasped the concepts and he managed to teach me all we had covered in class so far, plus much of the material I needed to know during the school year yet to come.
  Occasionally daddy would ask what we were covering in history.  The way it worked is he'd say, "What are you reading about?"  I'd answer.  He'd look it up in the Columbia Encyclopedia, read about it, and tell me the highlights.  He didn't stop there but continued looking up related topics.  For example, if the book sent him to one reference, on to [it] we would go, which in turn might lead to another, etc.  Sometimes it seemed we'd spend all night, me on the couch, he on a chair, following all the references, one leading to the next like a never-ending interrelated network of facts.
  All the Arensberg boys had a knack for language and words.  Sid was a cryptographer who during W.W. II decoded secret messages, and Harry "spoke Spanish like a Spaniard," according to my mother.  Leo, the multilingual youngest brother, taught several languages at a military prep school.
  English wasn't their parents' native tongue.  Louie and Anna spoke Yiddish, for they were from the old country.  But maybe living in the melting pot of NY where varied languages and dialects were spoken is how their sons' fascination for languages emerged.
  But my father was the one who embraced the English language.  Nobody could tell a story like Jules.  Articulate, witty, and entertaining, my father was the premier raconteur.  He enjoyed communicating with people.  Based on the occasion, he could also come up with an appropriate quip or pun, or even quote excerpts from one of the many poems he'd committed to memory.
  His love for words consumed him in a "novel" way.  No, he didn't write fiction; he constructed crossword puzzles.  Many evenings would find him sitting at his desk in the living room, sharpened pencil in hand, fastidiously filling in a grid with either letters or squares on their way to becoming part of a challenging puzzle for the Herald Tribune or the NY Times.  He was a celebrity of sorts to his loyal following of cruciverbalists and received lots of fan mail.  Some people were frustrated by his cleverness; most were impressed.
  He also co-wrote puzzles with Herb Ettenson, a high school English teacher, and his best friend.  One evening a week or so, they had meetings to toss around ideas for puzzle themes.  When they met in my house, I did my homework in the living room where they worked.  I would curl up quietly with my books on the living room couch and try to be invisible so I could stay and bask in their creativity.
  The February 1992 NY Times magazine section had a tribute to the 50th anniversary of the [Times] crossword puzzle.  In this featured article, 12 Sunday puzzles were chosen to represent highlights of the past half-century of NY Times crosswords.  Daddy would have been thrilled to see that one of his was selected.
  Although he hadn’t attained a college degree, it was not for lack of scholastic ability.  One of our favorite fan letters was from a man who had bet a friend whether daddy had graduated from Harvard or Yale.  A family story recounts that when he was in the sixth grade, he took a national teacher's exam and scored near the top.  Although I can't personally account for the veracity of that tale, I do recall the many times he was paid by the TV networks as a consultant.  He'd play a contestant in simulations of proposed quiz shows and would give feedback on considerations like ease of playing, scoring, and question difficulty.
  My childhood was filled with word games and learning activities of all kinds, most of which required some reference materials and a pencil and paper at most.  We played games in the house, walking outside, and riding the subways.  To this day, I can entertain myself with these same games when I’m waiting on a line or in a doctor's office—anytime I have a few minutes of idle time and want to exercise my mind.
  Each day when I relax with the NY Times puzzle, I think about my father and thank him for his special legacy—the love for language that now lives within me.

Lyn also sent me a fascinating article written by pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor Louis Sabin about a puzzle constructed by her father.  The article, "The Gol-dangest Crossword Puzzle Ever," appeared in the September 1962 issue of Pageant magazine and contains the puzzle "Roman Holiday," which was originally published in the Times on December 8, 1957.  To read the article and see the puzzle, click here.  Thanks so much for both these wonderful pieces, Lyn!

In other news, it's been a very busy week on the Litzstarter front—as I write this, we're at 12,350 on the litzing thermometer!  Friday night, Ralph Bunker sent in 28 puzzles, putting us over 12,100!  Then Sunday morning, he sent in another 28 puzzles, which were followed an hour and a half later by 7 from Denny Baker.  Sunday evening, Todd (T) McClary sent in 7 puzzles, and a few hours later, Mark Diehl sent in 35 more (making his regular total more than 3,700 puzzles!).  Just over an hour later, Brian Kulman sent in 7 more, putting us at exactly 12,200!  Then Monday morning, Howard Barkin sent in 21 puzzles, which were followed on Tuesday morning by 7 more from Vic Fleming, 14 more from Mark, and 7 more from Brian.  In the early afternoon, Nancy Kavanaugh sent in a mega-batch of 42 puzzles (putting her contest total at more than 200 and regular total at more than 700!).  That evening, Mike Buckley sent in 7 more puzzles.  Then Wednesday morning, Denny Baker sent in 7 puzzles (putting us over 12,300 on the litzing thermometer!), which were followed an hour later by 7 from Ed Sessa.  Thursday evening, Vic sent in 7 more, then late that night, Mark sent in 28 more (putting his contest total at more than 400 litzed puzzles!).  Thanks so much, everybody—great job!

Thanks in part to one massive shipment of puzzles, this week we not only zipped through the rest of 1961 but also through all of 1960.  Though many people may remember 1960 for the Kennedy-Nixon debates—the first televised presidential debates in U.S. history—1960 was also the year that Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho was released, on September 8.  I just recently saw this movie for the first time, and it was definitely on the creepy side, especially at the climax near the end!  Here's its poster:

Image courtesy of The Conduit Speaks

We're now in 1959, and one of the more notable events of that year was the March 9 appearance of the first Barbie doll.  Though I've never owned a Barbie, I did use BARBIE (clued as "She wears very little clothing") in a Fireball puzzle from earlier this year.  Other very clever clues from the Ginsberg clue database include "50-year-old stunner" and "She's a doll."  Here's a picture of a very early Barbie:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Last week I wrote about going through two of Bernice Gordon's scrapbooks to record the dates her puzzles were published.  Since then I've compared that list with my records, and out of 111 puzzle dates filling four pages, I found 7 previously unattributed daily puzzles, plus a discrepancy in the June 18, 1980, puzzle (in which Bernice was listed as the author, though according to Maleska's log, Jack L. Steinhardt was the author).  Most of the puzzles on the list were already in my database, and many others had question marks next to them, indicating that the puzzles did not look like they had been published in the Times (and, in fact, none of those marked that way had been).  Finding just 7 (possibly 8) new puzzles out of 111 doesn't seem like a lot, but this one-puzzle-at-a-time process is likely how the remaining gaps will be filled in.

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by Jules Arensberg.  It was originally published on October 11, 1953; it was litzed by Andrew Feist and edited by Margaret Farrar.  This masterful construction features six symmetrical theme entries that contain a kitchen utensil, such as KETTLEDRUM and PANHANDLER; as a bonus, none of the theme entries is a direct instance of its respective utensil.  In other words, Jules Arensberg eschewed theme entries like SILVER SPOON or TEAKETTLE, since they are merely more specific examples of the utensils they're derived from.  This differentiation adds a nice level of elegance to an already spectacular-for-its-time theme!  In addition, this puzzle boasts a relatively clean nonthematic fill, which is especially challenging when working with stacked pairs of theme entries.  I particularly like the entries PIPELINE, TRIDENTS, QUIRKS, and CHIMP.  The puzzle also contains a handful of devious or thought-provoking clues, such as "Vixen's driver." for SANTA, "Wartime cloak-and-dagger outfit." for OSS, and "Outlawed terrorist group." for KLAN (which is no longer accurate).  To me, the OSS clue stands out the most, since it feels like an exceptionally fresh take on an otherwise stuffy piece of crosswordese!  There are a few entries in the nonthematic fill that I'm not as fond of, such as the partial QUA NON, the lesser-known term FEIS (clued as "Gaelic music or literary meeting."), and the unpleasant entry KLAN.  The construction probably could have been improved by changing KLAN/KROON to CLAN/CROON.  Nevertheless, this is a particularly strong pre-Shortzian puzzle and a real standout in the swaths of news- or repeated-word themed daily puzzles from the early 1950s—I look forward to seeing many more Jules Arensberg puzzles as litzing continues!  For now, here's the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries):

Since Stan Newman sent me so many fascinating old puzzle books, I've decided to add a Book of the Week feature to this blog!  I'll be featuring a new pre-Shortzian treasure every third week (with the other two weeks containing the usual Clue or Entry of the Week section)—I doubt I'll run out of new books to highlight anytime soon!  That said, this week's featured book, a small green paperback titled 50 American Authors, was written by Eugene T. Maleska and Albert Buranelli.  It was first printed in August 1963 and was part of a collection called "The Educational Crossword Puzzle Series."  Each of the 50 American authors is profiled in a one-page biography, a high-quality crossword by a top constructor, and a mini-quiz using information from the biography and crossword puzzle.  The crosswords themselves are designed like modern-day Celebrity Crosswords in that they're jam-packed with theme material about their subjects—a single 15x focusing on Henry James and built by crackerjack constructor A. J. Santora contained 32 theme entries!

So how were these top-notch constructors able to incorporate so much theme material?  I've determined that the answer lies in several fundamental differences between these crosswords and modern ones.  The most notable difference is the use of what Maleska dubbed the part-word technique, which I've never seen before.  The part-word technique involves using thematic fill-in-the-blank clues for short words instead of cluing them in a traditional fashion.  For example, in the Henry James puzzle, DUC is clued as "*James was e _ _ _ ated privately by tutors" rather than something along the lines of "French nobleman."  This cluing style is indeed very effective for cramming large amounts of information into a crossword puzzle, but it also feels sort of tacky, since many words don't have proper clues; also, it allows constructors to get away with an increased amount of less-than-stellar fill (particularly prefixes and suffixes) by disguising it as theme material.  In other words, the part-word technique seems tantamount to the timeworn ruse of disguising vegetables as chicken nuggets in the hope that kids will be more likely to eat them.  The other two differences I noticed are that two-letter words were allowed and that the grids weren't all 15 x 15.  In fact, many grids were rectangular to allow for an even greater number of theme entries.  The use of rectangular grids in top-notch crosswords was almost unheard of when this book was published and didn't really catch on until a few years ago; this innovation alone places 50 American Authors way ahead of its time!

There are a few other noteworthy aspects of this puzzle book.  First, Maleska constructed just one of the puzzles, which is surprising since he was also a major constructor in 1963 and is listed as co-author of the book.  It can therefore be presumed that Maleska did much more work on the biography-assembling and quiz-writing, which isn't a huge surprise, given his literary and educational background.  It can also be assumed, however, that Maleska was the editor of these crosswords, making this volume a fascinating glimpse into what his pre–New York Times editing style looked like.  In addition, none of the clues have periods after them, a stylistic choice not widely used until Will Weng became editor of the New York Times crossword six years later.  Finally, Maleska mentioned that he hoped the Educational Crossword Puzzle Series books would become supplementary materials for high school and college students.  I'm always rather skeptical of crossword puzzle books targeted at younger audiences, as editors often forget that most students are unfamiliar with the crossword puzzle argot.  As a test, I created some multiple-choice questions for my friends at school to see how accurately they would be at guessing the meanings of different pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese.  To them, it seemed like I was speaking Greek!  Anyway, I was surprised to discover that this book is not only accessible to a wide range of solvers (largely because of the part-word technique) but is also helpful.  I recently finished reading The Scarlet Letter for my English class and remember that one of the test questions asked what year the novel was published in.  I had no idea and ended up guessing a random year in the 19th century!  It turns out that the Nathaniel Hawthorne section of 50 American Authors mentions that The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850.  Go figure!

In sum, 50 American Authors was fascinating to look through from both a historical and practical standpoint.  Thanks again for sending this book, Stan, and I look forward to featuring a new book in three weeks!

Mark Diehl's 91-Puzzle Batch Puts Us Over 12,000 (Litzstarter's Halfway Point!), In 1961, October Litzer of the Month Mike Buckley, Davidson Institute Brings Project to Capitol Hill, and Meeting Bernice Gordon

Great news:  We've just passed the halfway point in Litzstarter, and we're also more than halfway toward the goal of reaching 13,000 litzed puzzles by the end of October—as I write this, we're at 12,088!  The week started off with 28 puzzles sent in by Ralph Bunker on Saturday morning.  Sunday morning, Denny Baker sent in 7 puzzles, which were followed by another 28 from Ralph that evening, putting us over 11,900 on the litzing thermometer!  Very early Monday morning, Mike Buckley—our October Litzer of the Month—sent in 7 more puzzles, which were followed a bit later on by 11 proofread puzzles from Todd Gross.  That afternoon, Vic Fleming sent in 7 more, then Tuesday morning, Denny sent in an additional 7.  Early Wednesday morning, Mark Diehl sent in a whopping 91 puzzles—yes, 91!—the most I've ever received at one time!  This batch also put us over 12,000 on the litzing thermometer—the halfway point for the Litzstarter contest—and Mark's total for the contest at more than 300!  Then Wednesday afternoon, another humongous batch came in from Nancy Kavanaugh—42 more puzzles!  Thursday evening, Tracy Bennett sent in another 7 puzzles, and less than an hour later, Mark sent in 14 more puzzles.  Awesome, awesome job, everybody—thanks so much again!

The years have been zipping by, and we actually reached 1961 last week.  Although this was a year of many important events—including the Bay of Pigs, the inauguration of John F. Kennedy as President of the United States, and the start of construction of the Berlin Wall—perhaps the most memorable one occurred on April 12, 1961, when Soviet pilot and cosmonaut YURI Gagarin became the first human in space.  Here's a photo commemorating that event:

Image courtesy of The Paltry Sapien

In other news, we also have a new Litzer of the Month:  Mike Buckley!  Mike has litzed more than 160 puzzles and also enjoys playing bass guitar in concert and jazz bands.  To read more about Mike, click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

As I wrote last week, I was in Washington, D.C., for the Davidson Institute for Talent Development's awards ceremony and reception for the 2013 Davidson Fellows.  This was truly an amazing event, which started off Thursday night in a "Hang Out Room" for Fellows at the Washington Court Hotel.  Not everyone had arrived yet, so I didn't get to meet all the other Fellows that night, but we all still had plenty to talk about!  Friday morning, everyone went to a delicious breakfast buffet, where I met most of the other Fellows, and then we all headed off to our individual appointments on Capitol Hill.  I was honored to present the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project to Senator Barbara Boxer's staffer Anne Clement that morning at the Hart Senate Office Building.

In front of the Capitol.

With Senator Boxer staffer Anne Clement.

I had several hours in between my meeting with Anne Clement and my next scheduled event, so I went to the Library of Congress to look into the possibility of obtaining old New York Times crossword books there.

Outside the Library of Congress.

Inside the Library of Congress.

I discovered that I'd have to arrange in advance to see whatever books they had.  I'd checked the catalog before leaving for Washington, and the Library of Congress does have some of these books, so I'm hoping to take a look at them the next time I'm in D.C.

After grabbing a quick lunch, I headed for the International Spy Museum, which I was very excited about seeing.  I didn't have much time, but what I saw of the exhibits was fascinating, and I bought an awesome Rubik's Cube safe, as well as a cool T-shirt!

I rushed back from the museum for a group meeting with Davidson Institute co-founder Bob Davidson, where I got to know more about the exciting projects my fellow Fellows were working on!  I had to leave a bit early to get to my next appointment, which was back at the Hart Senate Office Building with Senator Dianne Feinstein's staffer Crystal Martinez.  Two other Fellows from California, Natalie Ng and Michael Janner, and I met with her at the same time, and hearing them present their projects (which were very different from the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project!) was fascinating.

With Senator Feinstein staffer Crystal Martinez (second
from left) and Fellows Natalie Ng (far left) and Michael
Janner (far right).

Friday night all the Fellows gathered again for an informal group dinner, after which most of us headed back to the Hang Out Room.  Getting to know all the other amazing Fellows was one of the highlights of my trip, and we had a blast in the Hang Out Room talking about much more than just our projects!  I found that we all had a lot in common, despite our different interests and backgrounds.

Saturday morning we met again for another SAPID breakfast buffet, after which we were free to do whatever we wanted to until the reception that evening.  I spent a short while at the National Postal Museum, which was near our hotel and very interesting.  I particularly enjoyed a ZIP code–entering game, which reminded me a lot of litzing because you had to be accurate as well as quick!  I also enjoyed looking at some of the many stamps the museum had in its collections—maybe someday there'll be a crossword puzzle stamp, if there isn't one already!

Then, since I'd arranged to have lunch with litzer Barry Silk, I met up with him at Union Station and spent a couple of delightful hours at Pizzeria Uno talking about crosswords!

With Barry Silk at Union Station.

After lunch I went back to the National Postal Museum briefly to finish up my visit and then headed for the Museum of Crime and Punishment, which was especially interesting after having seen the International Spy Museum the day before!  I particularly appreciated the exhibit about Prohibition-era criminals and gangsters, since their names show up so much in crosswords and I hadn't really known their significance.

At the end of the afternoon, all the Fellows and their parents took shuttles to the Smithsonian's Museum of the American Indian for the Davidson Fellows reception.  After having our pictures taken, we chatted with each other and guests over delectable hors d'oeuvres and a wonderful dinner.

With Fellow Thabit Pulak on the shuttle to the reception.

Outside the Museum of the American Indian.

After dinner was the awards ceremony, at which Bob Davidson gave an inspiring speech and introduced each 2013 Davidson Fellow in turn.  All of us gave short speeches about our projects, after which Bob Davidson presented us with beautiful trophies.  Hearing the Fellows present their projects in more detail was a humbling experience—I felt very honored to have been included in such an amazingly accomplished group of my peers, most of whom had carried out very sophisticated scientific or mathematical projects.  The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, in the "Outside the Box" category, was one of just three nontechnical projects and the only one to win an award in that category.

The three-day event ended with another marathon session in the Hang Out Room, this time bittersweet, since we knew it was the last time we'd probably all be together.  Even though I had only just met the other Fellows, most of whom were still in high school, we had bonded very quickly.  I think we'll see each other again in the future, perhaps in whatever colleges we end up attending.  Thanks so much again to the Davidson Institute for this unforgettable event and for this honor to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project.

Although the Davidson Fellows reception had ended, I had another major event in store the next day:  meeting legendary constructor Bernice Gordon!  Bernice and I collaborated on a puzzle celebrating age differences; that puzzle was published in The New York Times on June 26, 2013, and you can see it here.  At 99, Bernice is currently the oldest constructor publishing in the Times, and at 16, I am currently the youngest.

Bernice and I had corresponded for months but never met each other, so I made a special trip up to Philadelphia for that purpose.  It was wonderful finally getting to meet her—Bernice is just as friendly and interesting in person as in her e-mails, and we had a lot of fun discussing crosswords, the puzzle community, and crossword history.  Bernice lives in a spacious, light-filled apartment near The Franklin Institute that is filled with books and her own amazing art and needlework.  After a yummy lunch of crab cakes and pistachio ice cream, we spent the rest of the afternoon talking and playing word games on her computer.  We also looked at some Web sites, including XWord Info, as well as part of the video of Will Shortz's recent talk in Minneapolis.  Here are some pictures from my visit:

Showing Bernice the project's database.

An old puzzle Bernice constructed by hand.

Calendar at Bernice's complex listing her crosswords class.

Saying goodbye after a wonderful day.

In addition, I was able to go through two old scrapbooks of Bernice's puzzles and record the dates they were published, which I'll be able to add to my database.  Bernice also gave me many old crossword paperbacks, which I was thrilled to receive since I think some of them will help fill in more gaps in the database.  Every time I see an old crossword book with daily New York Times puzzles containing bylines, I check it against my database to see whether there are additional names I can match up with puzzles.  I'll be going through all of these books in the coming weeks, and I'm hopeful that at least some of the "Unknown" constructors will finally become known.

It was an amazing day, and I will treasure my meeting with Bernice forever.