In Memoriam: Charles Gersch, Will Weng's Submission Guidelines, Robert Guilbert Update, and More

In Memoriam:  Charles Gersch, 1930–2017

Photo by Don Christensen.

It is with great sadness that I report the recent passing of another crossword great, Charles Gersch.  His son Jonathan, also a Times crossword constructor, contacted me with this news in August.  Charles was the beloved husband of Marianna and devoted father of Alan, Jonathan, and Jennifer.

I was honored to interview Charles four years ago for this blog; he published 47 puzzles in The New York Times and continued his impressive constructing by hand, even after computer software became available.

On August 21, Will Shortz posted the below reminiscence on Cruciverb.com:

Passing of Charles E. Gersch

Jonathan Gersch, the son of Charles E. Gersch, has asked me to post the sad news of his father's passing.

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.

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.

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.

David Steinberg published an interview with Charles here (scroll down to Aug. 23, 2013).

My condolences to Jonathan and everyone who knew his father.

—Will Shortz

Although Charles is no longer with us, he and his puzzles will continue to have a celebrated place in crossword history.

Will Weng's Submission Guidelines

This summer while helping Will Shortz with crossword submissions, I came across a page of guidelines for constructors written by none other than former New York Times crossword editor Will Weng!  There were no other pages, but this one was a copy, which Will Shortz let me keep (thanks again, Will!).

"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."

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.  This philosophy was ahead of its time and foreshadowed the "new wave" and today's "golden age of crosswords."

Robert Guilbert Update:  The Crossword Puzzle Hall of Fame

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 November 21, 2014;  December 5, 2014; December 19, 2014; and May 22, 2015.)  Jon had written previously about his father in a blog comment, which you can read here, and offered more details about this enterprise and his father's fascinating life:

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. . . . [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.

Guilbert working on an "Infinity Crossword Puzzle." 

Thanks so much again, Jon and Rob!  I wish I could have met your father.

Joli Quentin Kansil, aka Joel Dennis Gaines:  Another "Unknown" Constructor Found

Recently Will Shortz received an email from Joli Quentin Kansil, who had published six crosswords in the Times during the 1970s under two names:  Joel Dennis Gaines, for the earlier puzzles; and Joli Quentin Kansil, for the later ones.

Will asked Joli for the dates of those puzzles, and with that information, Jim Horne of XWord Info and I were able to add names to some of the previously "Unknown" constructors in our databases.

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 Times's first bridge editor and an early designer of puns and anagrams puzzles.

We're grateful to Joli for this valuable update and hopeful that more currently anonymous pre-Shortzian constructors surface in the future.

Jim Page's Puzzle Count

Some time ago renowned constructor Jim Page sent me a copy of an email he'd sent to Jeff Chen at XWord Info.  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:

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.

Here's the NY Times breakdown on published puzzles:

Will Weng

19 dailies (uncredited)  2 Sundays (credited)     total        21

Gene Maleska

48 dailies (uncredited)  23 Sundays (credited)   total        71      

Will Shortz

68 dailies (credited)     10 Sundays (credited)    total        78

                                                                                                                                                                                        (170)

He added:

[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.

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.

More Todd Gross Finds:  Audrey Joy Koch, Bob Lubbers, Melvin Kenworthy, and Robert Doll 

This summer I received an email from crossword constructor and historian Todd Gross informing me of an obituary of Audrey Joy Koch.  Koch passed away in 2011 at the age of 91 and published at least five crosswords in The New York Times.  To read more about Audrey, click here.

A couple of weeks later, Todd found an obituary of cartoonist and New York Times crossword constructor Bob Lubbers, who'd recently passed away.  Lubbers, who published at least one pre-Shortzian puzzle in the Times 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 earliest published puzzle in The Times was published on April 13, 1975, and was his only Sunday publication there.  To read more about Bob, click here.

Todd emailed me again about other finds:  an obituary of Melvin Kenworthy, who published at least 23 pre-Shortzian puzzles in The New York Times; and an obituary of Robert Doll, who published 6 Shortz-era crosswords in the Times.  Todd noted that although Doll passed away in 2011, his final Times puzzle didn't appear until 2013.

Thanks again, Todd, for all this great research!

George Rose Smith

Solver Nick Harvey wrote to me some time ago about George Rose Smith, constructor of at least 10 pre-Shortzian puzzles published in the Times.  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:

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.

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.

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. :-)

Links:

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=19657

http://lrculturevulture.com/tag/judge-vic-fleming/

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.

Very interesting stuff, Nick—thanks for sending this, and happy solving!

Judson G. [Gordon] Trent, aka Gordon S. Trick?

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.

Thanks for this genealogical sleuthing, Julie—this seems like an especially "tricky" trail!

Wrap-up

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!

Jane S. Flowerree Interview with Todd Gross, 1966 Puzzles Sent, and Jeffrey Harris First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Project Update

It's been another busy week, with more than 100 proofread puzzles sent in—including the last from 1966!  Saturday afternoon Tracy Bennett sent in 30 puzzles with 50 mistakes, which were followed Sunday afternoon by 15 puzzles with 30 mistakes from an anonymous proofreader.  Tuesday morning Denny Baker sent in 31 puzzles; early Wednesday morning Wei-Hwa Huang sent 10 puzzles with 13 mistakes, which were followed that afternoon by 18 puzzles with 18 mistakes from an anonymous proofreader.  Thanks so much, everyone—we're doing great!

The 1966 puzzles have now been sent to Jim Horne at XWord Info and should be up soon—thanks again, Jim!

Jeffrey Harris First to Solve Last Week's Blast! Challenge

Last Friday I posted the Blast! challenge at 4:08 p.m. Pacific time.  At 4:30, just 22 minutes later, Jeffrey Harris was the first of four readers to send in the correct answer—congratulations, Jeffrey!  As promised, on Saturday I started replacing the blank underscores, hangman-style, with a new letter each day so everyone could keep getting hints, and during the course of the week several other people submitted correct solutions.  The clue, "Husband in the good old days," was from the June 22, 1959, puzzle, and the answer was LORD AND MASTER.  Pretty amazing—times have definitely changed for the better!

If you'd like to try solving this week's Blast! challenge, check it out in the sidebar to your right.  A new letter will replace its corresponding blank underscore(s) each day, so if you don't come up with the answer right away, you may later on in the week!

Jane S. Flowerree Interview with Todd Gross

Earlier this week I received an e-mail from litzer, proofreader, and historian Todd Gross about some pre-Shortzian constructors he'd been researching.  One of these was Jane S. Flowerree, who published four puzzles under editor Eugene T. Maleska.  When Todd discovered that Jane was an attorney, he contacted attorney/litzer Vic Fleming and asked if Vic could make an initial contact with her.  Vic was happy to oblige and reported back that Jane had said her puzzles were "all done manually during the Maleska era" and that she had often worked on them "while waiting in carpool lines, taking her kids to and from elementary school."

After Todd sent in the interview, he received an e-mail from Jane that included the following:

. . . I hope I am sending you the right photo.  It is probably the only photo ever taken of me with a crossword puzzle in it (sitting on the table next to me).  This was pretty representative of my life when I started constructing crosswords, so I thought it would be appropriate.  You will see what I mean when you read my answers to your questions. . . .  I saved all my correspondence with Mr. Maleska and could find most of it, which helped me answer some of your questions.  I also saved the fan/hate mail. . . .  Many thanks to you and Vic and David for sending me on a trip back down memory lane to my “glory days”. . . .  I hadn’t thought about it in a long time and the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances have no idea that I ever constructed crosswords.  I think they would be surprised. . . . I am a little worried that some of my responses might sound bitter, but I assure you I am not!  Suum cuique!

I then wrote to Jane myself, asking whether she wanted to include any more photos or perhaps a recipe from the cookbook she wrote.  She sent back a delightful e-mail, which was followed by digital images that included a letter from Maleska, a piece of "hate mail" Maleska received in response to one of her puzzles, and a note from a fan.  Here is an excerpt from her e-mail:

I quickly scanned in one of Mr. Maleska's letters.  I chose it because he talks about how he felt when he first saw his name in the TIMES.  That particular letter was written before he started receiving mail on the puzzle he refers to.  When the letters came in, he forwarded them to me. He would tell me if he already responded to each letter writer or if he wanted me to do so.  I scanned in a negative letter and a positive one. . . . I remember one woman sent the puzzle back shredded like confetti, which was kind of funny.

I've inserted these letters, as well as the other images Jane sent, into the interview, which you can read here.

Thanks so much again, Jane and Todd, for this wonderful window to the past!

Miriam Raphael's Maleska Stories, Helene Hovanec's "Creative Cruciverbalists," May Litzer of the Month Vic Fleming, Herbert L. Risteen Article, Another Litzing Script, Over 9,300—and in 1968 and the Farrar Era!

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail from master solver and crossword editor Miriam (Mimi) Raphael (whose National Puzzlers' League nom is Ditto).  Mimi won first place in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in 1979 and first place in the Seniors Division 18 times between 1988 and 2011.  She had some Maleska stories she thought I might be interested in—and I was!  With her permission, they appear below, followed by a photo of the Fairfield County Puzzlers:

Back in the 1980s and '90s, there was a group of puzzle people—Will Shortz and a number of constructors and others interested in crosswords—in this area that called themselves the Fairfield County Puzzlers, after Fairfield County, Connecticut, where most of them lived.  I was actually just across the border in Westchester, New York, but I was a member, anyway.  Will Shortz was our leader—he was not puzzle editor of The New York Times in those days.  Norton Rhoades, who had been a school principal in Stamford, Connecticut, was a member, as was Stephanie Spadaccini, Maura Jacobson, and a few others whose names you might be familiar with.

We met every other month, as I remember, and one time decided to have a Maleska Roast (to which he was not invited).  Everyone was encouraged to bring a nasty letter they had received from Eugene.  I had one.  Through a strange combination of circumstances, I was editing a series of puzzle books—Champion Crosswords, for Simon & Schuster.  There were eight books published in the series before it died.  When Margaret Farrar found out about it, she was very helpful.  One of the best pieces of advice she gave me was to be gentle with constructors when I had to refuse their puzzles.  This was their "baby," she reminded me, and they sent it to me with many hopes and misgivings.  I took her advice seriously and once even received a thank-you note for a letter I had written to a constructor explaining why I couldn't use her puzzle—it wasn't very good, but I didn't say that in so many words.

Maleska, on the other hand, returned Maura Jacobson's early effort with, "You have a long way to go before you're ready to submit to the NY Times."  I received a letter from Maleska saying, "It has come to my attention that you are editing Crossword Puzzle Books for Simon & Schuster.  What are your credentials to be a crossword puzzle editor?"  I responded (and this was my letter in full) that "my credentials were sufficient for my publisher to offer me a contract," and I didn't hear from him again.

Just about everyone at that Fairfield County Puzzlers meeting at my house had a similar nasty letter from the great Eugene M.  We had a great time!

The Fairfield County Puzzlers on Miriam Raphael's front porch.  Front row:  Miriam Raphael, Stan Newman, Mark Oshin, Robert Carroll, Unknown.  Second row:  Doug Heller, Nancy Schuster, Bonnie Sirower, Unknown, Grace Frary, Will Shortz.  Back rows:  Unknown, Norman Landis, Halloween Man, Mike Shenk, Evie Eysenburg, Robin Landis, Ted Fishman, Unknown, Unknown, Unknown, Ed Snarski. 

Thanks so much, Mimi!  (And thanks, too, to Will Shortz and Stan Newman for helping to identify some of the people in the photo!  If anyone else knows who the remaining "Unknowns" are, please contact me.)

Coincidentally, I've been reading a wonderful book I recently found out about that offers a few quite different impressions of Maleska.  Helene Hovanec's Creative Cruciverbalists contains fascinating profiles of many pre-Shortzian constructors, and the one for Karen Hodge notes that "Hodge submitted several puzzles to Maleska, who although rejecting them, kept on encouraging her for he felt that she showed a flair for constructing."  When he finally accepted one of Hodge's puzzles, Hovanec writes:  "His congratulatory note, which elated her, began:  'Your avian opus is certainly not for the birds.'"

Similarly, the profile of Henry Hook shows another side of Maleska, who was so impressed with Hook's initial submission that he offered "to critique his crosswords and send him a style sheet (which Hook hadn't known existed)."  In fact, Hovanec writes, as "Hook developed under Maleska's tutelage, Maleska further assisted him by sending his work to other editors."

And the profile of Maleska himself is truly amazing.  Maleska's own puzzles did not meet with immediate acceptance.  His first efforts, which he sent to the Herald Tribune, were repeatedly rejected:

Maleska remembers the route he traveled:  "First I bought the newspaper every day and studied the style of the puzzle very carefully.  Months later I submitted my first professional effort—and held my breath.  I had enclosed a self-addressed stamped envelope, but did not bother to write an accompanying letter.  I had too much amour propre to plead.  My bubble of self-esteem burst abruptly.  Not even a formal rejection slip!  I was tempted to give up right then and there.  But persistence emerged to take the place of pride. . . .  I set some sort of record for initial failure—over forty rejections from a silent editor in a two-year period!"

Even more surprising to me was learning that Maleska actually tried to "jazz up" the clues in his puzzles:

He vividly remembers the first puzzle in which he "broke the log jam."  "'Nest' was defined as 'Nutcracker's suite' and the clue for 'noon' was 'When both hands are up.'  For 'ironer' the solvers were confronted with 'He has pressing problems.'"

And the first stepquote Maleska published, under Margaret Farrar, created a furor, with very polarized reactions on the parts of solvers.

Maleska seems to have been someone with many different sides—he could be arrogant and harsh with some constructors but was also apparently very encouraging to others.  And although the "educational" aspect to his puzzles could be stifling, some of his innovations, such as with cluing and stepquotes, were very creative.

In other news, I'm delighted to announce that Vic Fleming is the May Litzer of the Month!  To read about "Judge Vic," click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

Also, I was thrilled to get an e-mail from litzer and proofreader Todd Gross on Wednesday about an article he'd found on pre-Shortzian constructor Herbert L. Risteen.  Todd had been reading the interview with Litzer of the Month Vic Fleming, who mentions the entry VIC SEIXAS, and remembered that he'd seen Vic Seixas mentioned in an article he'd read about Risteen.  I've now linked to this article from the Pre-Shortzian Constructors page; to read it, click on the link there or go directly to the Risteen article here.  Thanks so much, Todd!  If anyone else comes across articles on pre-Shortzian constructors, please let me know.

Herbert L. Risteen.  Image courtesy of
The Milwaukee Journal.

Last week I wrote about the litzing script Martin Herbach had sent me, and today I just received some additional information from him::

fyi, the following one-line sed script merges any line that doesn't begin with a number, with its previous line:

sed ":a; $!N;s/\n\([^0-9]\)/ \1/;ta;P;D" fromfile >tofile

It took a bit of messing with before I got it working.  It's for gnu sed on windows.  Other sed versions will take some syntax  changes.  I'm not an osx expert, so I have no idea what sed is built-in or available.

As you can tell, I hate doing something manually that can be automated.  I run it right after the ocr.

Thanks again, Martin!

It's been a very busy week on the litzing front, with some huge puzzle shipments!  On Sunday, Mark Diehl sent in 21 puzzles; Jeffrey Krasnick, 7; and Todd McClary, 7.  The next day, Mike Buckley sent in 6, and then on Wednesday, Martin Herbach sent in five batches totaling 33 puzzles.  Early today, Mark sent in 35 puzzles—putting us over 9,300 on the litzing thermometer!—and then three hours later, Martin sent in another five batches totaling 35 puzzles!  And on the proofreading front, Tracy Bennett, Todd Gross, and Kristena Bergen all sent in lots of proofread puzzles.  Thanks so much, everybody—awesome job!

One final piece of news:  We're now in the Margaret Farrar era, where we'll remain till the very end!  We're also now in 1968, a very eventful, dark time in history.  On the lighter side, here's a photo from the sketch comedy TV show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, which debuted on January 22, 1968:

Image courtesy of sixties60s.com.

Today's featured pre-Shortzian puzzle (constructor unknown) was edited by Will Weng, litzed by Mark Diehl, and originally published on August 11, 1972.  It features a mind-blowing 11 symmetrically interlocking theme entries . . . based on the entry NUDIST CAMP!  The theme clues are a riot—here are a few of the wackier ones:  NUDIST CAMP [15 Across] (clued as "Mosquito heaven"), NUDES PAPER ("House organ of 15 Across?"), RAW DEAL ("Poker round at 15 Across"), CLOTHES ("Eyesores at 15 Across"), GAZA STRIP ("Locale of 15 Across?"), and BARE HANDS ("The help, at 15 Across").  This puzzle exemplifies Weng's sense of humor and willingness to publish surprising, bizarre-but-awesome themes!  Unfortunately, we don't have the constructor for this outré masterpiece; however, based on all the authored Weng puzzles I've seen, I'm guessing this puzzle was by master cruciverbalist A. J. Santora.  A. J. Santora was known for his ability to fit an incredible amount of theme entries into a daily-sized grid.

Regardless of who the constructor was, he or she did a great job filling around the 11 theme entries, and I noticed that even the ordinary clues feel a bit more playful than normal.  Some of the more interesting nonthematic entries include I'M GAME, the combination of CAESAR and CESAR, and the combination of DARNS and DAMNED; interesting nonthematic clues include "Taffy event" for PULL and "Wields a needle" for DARNS.  There are some clues and entries that elicited a "Sound of anguish" (GROAN) from me:  BLS ("Beer containers: Abbr."), ORDU ("Turkish army corps"), IRAK (Baghdad's land: Var."), APAR ("Armadillo"), PLUVIAL ("Showery"), SMUT clued as "Plant disease," BRUH ("Macaque of East Indies"), ASEM ("Old gold alloy"), and ACCA ("Old silk brocade").  Nevertheless, this is a brilliant and fun pre-Shortzian puzzle!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian clue is almost as risqué as the featured puzzle!  It originally appeared in the March 27, 1976, puzzle by H. Hastings Reddall, which was edited by Will Weng and litzed by Nancy Kavanaugh.  The clue for TOPLESS read "Like some waitresses."  This clue feels slightly off-color—I'm pretty sure that, of all the pre-Shortzian editors, Will Weng would've been the only one to allow it!  I can see that Maleska used much less suggestive clues for this entry ("Extremely high" and "' . . . ___ towers of Ilium': Marlowe."  Below is a picture of the seemingly topless Mt. Everest:

Image courtesy of Mount Everest Summit Climb.

ACPT Wrap-Up, Dorothea E. Shipp Puzzle, "Twenty Under Thirty" Now Available, and Over 8,400

This will be another shorter and earlier post than usual, because I'm busy catching up with all the work I missed while at the ACPT—and tomorrow I'm leaving for the California Junior Classical League State Convention in Irvine.  My posting should get back to its regular schedule next week, though; in the meantime, the new Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project Twitter page will have any news that comes up between now and then!

First, the ACPT . . . it was awesome!  I had so much fun meeting, reuniting with, and talking to everybody!  The litzer get-together on Friday afternoon was more sparsely attended than I'd expected, since quite a few people had their flights delayed by the bad weather in New York.  Still, several litzers were able to stop by, and we made it through at least some of the Oreos (though I brought back an unopened package on the plane!).  I met up with other litzers later; all told, there were 15 litzers (including me) at the ACPT—Howard Barkin, Peter Broda, Joe Cabrera, Andrew Feist, Vic Fleming, Mangesh Ghogre, Angela Halsted, Jeffrey Harris, Jeffrey Krasnick (wearing his Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project T-shirt!), Andrew Laurence, Parker Lewis, Tom Pepper, Doug Peterson, and Brad Wilber!  (If I've left anyone out, please let me know—it was all a whirlwind!)  I'll be sure to schedule any future litzer parties for sometime later that weekend so everyone will have arrived.  Here are a few litzer photos:

Me wearing the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project T-shirt

Me and Brad Wilber eating Oreos in the lounge!

Vic Fleming at the Oreo table

Howard Barkin in the tournament room

Jeffrey Krasnick in his Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project T-shirt

On Friday night, I gave a short talk about the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project—you can see a video of it below (or here on YouTube)—just click on the arrow to play it.  (Warning:  The video is a bit shaky at first, but it gets better quickly.)

In the video, I mention a flyer with a Will Weng–edited puzzle.  Unfortunately, because of a mix-up, that wasn't available, but if you'd like to try your hand at the amazing Dorothea E. Shipp 23 x 23 puzzle "Every Which Way" that was on the back of the flyer, I've posted it on Scribd, and you can download it here.  I'll post the solution next week.

You can see more ACPT photos and videos (as well as lots of interesting results!) by scrolling down on the official tournament Web site here.

In other news, I'm delighted to report that Twenty Under Thirty is now available!  Twenty Under Thirty is a collection of crosswords edited by Ben Tausig and written by twenty constructors under the age of thirty, including three litzers—Peter Broda, me, and Alex Vratsanos!  A PDF of the book is $5 and will be e-mailed to you; to order a copy, click here.

Finally, even with all the events of this past week, the litzing continued!  On Sunday, Mark Diehl sent in 13 puzzles and put us over 8,400 on the litzing thermometer—at this rate, I think there's a chance we'll be finished with all the litzing (though not all the proofreading!) within the next year or so!  Thanks again, everybody!

In honor of Joe Krozel's amazing 18-blocker that will appear in tomorrow's New York Times, today's featured puzzle has the lowest block count I've seen so far in a pre-Shortzian puzzle:  23.  XWord Info lists just 7 puzzles that contain 23 blocks, all of which were published in the Shortz era when computer software was available.

This lovely Maleska-edited puzzle, which was constructed by Adelyn Lewis and litzed by Jeffrey Krasnick, was originally published on January 13, 1979.  The fill is almost junk-free, and the constructor even managed to throw in a repeated prefix theme consisting of four intersecting 15-letter entries—wow!  The fill's highlights include ARSONIST, DEEP-SET, and BAD TIMES (cleverly clued as "Depressions and recessions").  The partial DE SACS and the French TAVERNE aren't my favorites, but they're a small price to pay for an otherwise brilliant, ahead-of-its-time puzzle!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

I can imagine that many solvers took offense at the entry WETBACK, which appeared in the May 27, 1986, puzzle by Burns (first name unknown) that was recently litzed by Bob Jones.  Maleska's clue for WETBACK was simply "Illegal border crosser."  However, I also encountered the entry WETBACK (at 1-Across) in the May 7, 1951, puzzle by Jack Luzzatto, which was recently litzed by yours truly.  I couldn't believe that Margaret Farrar published the clue "Mexican smuggled over the Rio Grande"!  The breakfast test must have had a very different meaning back in 1951.

On a more positive note, I saw a very clever clue for ANT in the March 24, 1951, puzzle by Harold T. Bers, which I also litzed:  "Small red socialist."  This clue was not only very current but also exceedingly clever for its time.  Bravo, Mr. Bers!  Below is a picture of a red ant:

Image courtesy of Southern Fire Ant Control.

Vic's Third Column, Litzing on the Go, Plus Another Humorous Error

Following up on last Friday's post, litzer Vic Fleming's third and final column about the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project appears in today's Daily Record!  The column lists some of the funniest (and most risqué!) Shortzian clues and entries.  For more, click here.

In other news, litzer Mark Diehl has shown just how versatile litzing can be, even on the go:  Coming back from a trip, he was planning to litz on the plane!  This just goes to show that litzing can be worked on almost anywhere, at almost any time!

While proofreading the 1991 puzzles, I happened to catch another funny mistake.  A clue for NEVIN was supposed to read "Composer Ethelbert ___" but had accidentally been typed as "Composter Ethelbert ___"!  Maybe Ethelbert Nevin was an early environmentalist too!

Today I'm featuring a duad (as pre-Shortzian editors might say) of puzzles.  These two puzzles break the basic rules of crossword construction.  Since many pre-Shortzian puzzles were asymmetric, I'm only featuring puzzles that violate the more major rules of construction.  The first puzzle, whose constructor is unknown, originally appeared on September 16, 1950, and was recently litzed by yours truly.  Oddly enough, the puzzle has a pair of two-letter nonthematic entries in it, SM and NS!   Aside from this flaw, though, the fill is interesting and Scrabbly.  I especially like the entries SERENDIPITY, MAJORCA, and SILVERY.  The answer grid with highlighted two-letter entries appears below:

The second puzzle was constructed by Rosalind Pavane.  It was originally published on December 7, 1991, and was recently litzed by Andrew Feist.  The puzzle contains seven rebus squares of BUCK, which is very impressive for a 15x!  All the rebus entries are rock-solid—my favorites are DADDY WARBUCKS and BUCK ROGERS.  Unfortunately, though, the grid is divided into three nonintersecting sections, which is a major no-no.  Nevertheless, breaking this rule allowed the constructor to cram all the rebuses in and still include several lively nonthematic entries, such as  REFEREE and RAZOR.  The answer grid with highlighted theme entries can be seen below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian entry is NOSTOC.  According to the Ginsberg database, NOSTOC has never been reused in a Shortzian puzzle.  It originally appeared in the September 30, 1989, puzzle by Eugene T. Maleska, which was recently litzed by Todd McClary.  The clue for NOSTOC was "Freshwater alga."  Webster defines a nostoc as "any of a genus (Nostoc) of usually filamentous cyanobacteria that fix nitrogen."  Nostic comes from New Latin and was first introduced into our language in 1650.  I wonder how low Todd McClary would score this entry in his word list—it would probably have an even worse fate than INFANT EYES (see his INONESCUPS/UNTHEMELY #27 post), if that's even possible!  Below is a picture of some nostocs on a microscope slide:

Image courtesy of Connecticut College.

Vic's Second Column, More Publicity, New Litzer of the Month Andrew Feist, Plus a Funny Mistake

I have some more big announcements!  First, litzer Vic Fleming's second column about the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project was published in today's Daily Record!  The column discusses many of the featured pre-Shortzian entries of the day; you can read Vic's piece here.

The project has also received a lot more publicity recently!  Jim Horne's announcement on CRUCIVERB-l gave us another two litzers, which is terrific.  Also, Amy Reynaldo announced the project on Diary of a Crossword Fiend here, and Wordplay blogger Deb Amlen and The Puzzle Brothers tweeted about our work!  Thanks, everyone!

Now that we're in August, we have a new Litzer of the Month:  Andrew Feist!  Andrew hit the ground running—and the 2,400 mark on our thermometer!  To read more about him, click here.

Before I get to the puzzle of the day, I thought I'd share a funny mistake I happened to catch while proofreading.  A clue for TSETSE was supposed to be "Ugandan pest," but it had accidentally been typed as "Ugandan priest"!  Litzing and proofreading are tough jobs, and everyone's been doing a great job!

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by Ralph G. Beaman.  It was originally published on April 7, 1990, and was recently litzed by Angela Halsted.  This puzzle has a very clever gimmick executed to a tee—exclamation points are actually parts of several answers in the grid, yielding a total of 13 theme entries!  In addition, the puzzle included the defining entry SCREAMER, which was clued as "This puzzle's theme, to a printer."  My favorite theme entry is TORA! TORA! TORA!, which has three exclamation points!!!  Because of this theme's complexity, though, some of the nonthematic fill feels strained (particularly ERYTHEMA [clued as "Skin redness"] and ALALIA [clued as "Mutism"]).  Nevertheless, the constructor still managed to include the terrific entries RICKRACK and BUSTY!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian entry is TERAI.  According to the Ginsberg database, TERAI has been reused in only one Shortzian puzzle from 1994.  It originally appeared in the February 16, 1990, puzzle by Peggy Devlin, which was recently litzed by Alex Vratsanos.  The clue for TERAI was "Hat worn for sun protection."  Webster defines a terai as "a wide-brimmed double felt sun hat worn especially in subtropical regions."  Terai comes from Tarai, a lowland belt of India, and was first introduced into our language in 1888.  Below is a picture of an officer wearing a terai:

Image courtesy of the ODM Group.

Vic Fleming's Column on Litzing (Part 1)

I'm delighted to announce that the first column in Vic Fleming's series on litzing and the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project was published today in the Daily Record, and you can read it here.  Thanks so much, Vic—this was a great piece, and I'll be posting the next installments as they're published!

2,000-Plus Puzzles Litzed, 1950s Puzzles, and Vic Fleming's Columns

I'm thrilled to announce that more than 2,000 puzzles have been litzed so far!  A few days ago, litzer Mark Diehl finally pushed us over this milestone.  We are now approximately 1/8 done with all the litzing, which is mind-blowing!

As many litzers have noticed, I've been sending out puzzles from the 1950s for litzing.  I sent these puzzles because I was out of town for two weeks and hadn't downloaded enough 1990s puzzles to satisfy such a great demand!  I figured that the rest of 1991 would be enough to last two weeks, but I couldn't have been more wrong.  In addition to the 1991 puzzles, I ended up needing more than 15 additional weeks to send out!  The 1950s puzzles have been very interesting so far.  Though many of them were themeless, some had surprisingly elegant themes.  One particular puzzle, which will be featured in a future blog post, had nine interlocking theme entries and very little crosswordese!  This is still incredible by today's standards.

Finally, litzer Vic Fleming is dedicating three of his "I Swear!" columns, which can be seen in the Daily Record and other Southern newspapers, to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project!  I've had the pleasure of reading two of them in advance, and they are wonderfully written and a lot of fun to read!  I'll be posting links to them as they're published over the next few weeks.

As promised, today's featured puzzle is another Ronnie K. Allen masterpiece.  It was originally published on April 20, 1991, and was recently litzed by Jeffrey Krasnick.  In addition to having a fun letter insertion theme (WENT OUT ON A LIMBO [clued as "Took a chance with a dance?"] and BUY A PIG IN A POLKA [clued as "One way to get Polish sausage?"] ), this puzzle also uses the rare 13-/14-/15-letter stacking pattern.  Though I wasn't fond of all of the long adverbs in the bottom section, the fill sparkled for a Maleska puzzle.  WEATHER CHARTS, STARSKY, and SARDONIC are all excellent entries!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian entry is TOMBOLOS.  According to the Ginsberg database, neither TOMBOLOS nor TOMBOLO has been reused in a Shortzian puzzle.  TOMBOLOS originally appeared in the October 30, 1991, puzzle by Bert Rosenfield, which was litzed by Peter Broda.  The clue for TOMBOLOS was "Island-to-mainland sandbars."  Webster defines a tombolo as "a sand or gravel bar connecting an island with the mainland or another island."  Tombolo comes from Italian but can more specifically be traced to the Latin word tumulus, which means "mound."  Tombolo was introduced to our language in 1899.  Below is a picture of a tombolo.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

We're in 1991—Plus, a Litzing Tip!

Amazingly enough, we're already litzing puzzles in 1991!  Just last week, before I announced the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, we were still in December 1992.  It's amazing how the crossword puzzle community has come together and made so much progress in such a short period of time.  At this rate, we'll be litzing the last few puzzles of 1942 in a few years!

Litzer Vic Fleming shared a very useful tip to speed up time and increase accuracy when entering the author, editor, and copyright into the information field.  He suggested saving the following template into Crossword Compiler (or other program) for litzing Maleska-edited puzzles:

Title: NY Times, Day, Mon no, 199_

Author: First last

Copyright © 199_, The New York Times.  Editor: Eugene T. Maleska.

Thanks for this great tip, Vic!

Today's featured pre-Shortzian puzzle was constructed by Timothy S. Lewis.  It was originally published on March 21, 1992, and was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  Both Mark and I liked how BENJAMIN/DISRAELI symmetrically intersects with one of Disraeli's quotes.  This must have been a very lucky coincidence for Timothy S. Lewis—it's extraordinary that he was able to pull that off!  Plus, in addition to the quote and author, he also included the titles of two books that Benjamin Disraeli wrote:  Tancred and Lothair!  On top of all of this, the fill was relatively clean for a Maleska puzzle (with the exceptions of MINIE balls, the partial TRIAL BY, and SCYE).  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian entry is SCISSEL.  According to the Ginsberg database, SCISSEL has never been reused in a Shortzian puzzle.  It originally appeared in the September 21, 1950, Margaret Farrar–edited puzzle, whose author we don't know yet.  The clue for SCISSEL was a real mouthful:  "Plates of metal with circular blanks after cutting for coinage."  Webster defines SCISSEL as "metal scrap clippings left over in various mechanical operations; esp. the remnants of fillets from which coin blanks have been punched."  Below is a picture of scissel:

Photo courtesy of the Canadian Numismatic Publishing Institute.