Interview with Charles M. Deber, New Litzer of the Month John Farmer, Susan O'Brien's Research, Howard Barkin's Crossword Compiler 9 Tip, and More Publicity

Today I'm delighted to present a fascinating interview with pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor Charles M. Deber!  Charles is a research scientist in Toronto who has published 37 puzzles in The New York Times (35 of them Sundays!) and still builds his puzzles by hand.  To read his interview, click here or on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews tab above.

We also have a new Litzer of the Month:  John Farmer!  John is a New York Times constructor with many interests who runs more than 100 miles a month.  To read more about him, click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

Shortly after last week's post came up, John sent in 8 puzzles.  Then Friday evening, I litzed a reassigned Sunday puzzle and put us at 15,900 on the litzing thermometer!  Saturday afternoon, new litzer George Barany sent in 1 puzzle.  Sunday afternoon, Todd Gross sent in 11 proofread puzzles, which were followed that evening by 3 litzed puzzles from Mike Buckley.  Monday morning, new litzer Jon Delfin sent 1 puzzle, which was followed by 2 more from Lynn Feigenbaum that afternoon.  Then Thursday morning, Tracy Bennett sent in another month of proofread puzzles, and late that night, Mark Diehl sent in 12 more litzed puzzles.  And this week Howard Barkin sent in two more months of proofread puzzles!  Thanks so much again, everybody—we're now at 15,919 on the litzing thermometer!

Great news:  Two more litzers decided to try proofreading this week and received their first packets:  Jeffrey Krasnick and Lynn Feigenbaum!  We have thousands of puzzles that need proofreading, so please let me know if you'd like to try the fun but diabolical proofreading self-test!

This week some new bios came in for the Meet the Litzers page—the following people now appear there:  Stephen Edward Anderson, George Barany, Tracy Bennett, Peter Broda, Ralph Bunker, Jeff Chen, Mark Diehl, Vic Fleming, Mangesh Ghogre, Todd Gross, Barry Haldiman, Angela Halsted, Garrett Hildebrand, Nancy Kavanaugh, Roy Leban, Matthew Mitchell (Braze), Adam Nicolle, Doug Peterson, me, Alex Vratsanos, Larry Wasser, and Brad Wilber.  Some litzers and proofreaders who don't have bios on the Meet the Litzers page have appeared on the Litzer of the Month page or in articles elsewhere on the site.  If you're a litzer or proofreader who hasn't yet sent in a bio and photo specifically for the Meet the Litzers page and would like to, please e-mail them to me.  (Also, if you'd like to update your current bio, please send me the new information, and I'll make the changes.)

This week I received an e-mail from litzer Susan O'Brien, who decided to research the missing pre-Shortzian puzzles by querying the New York Public Library to see whether it had the International edition of The New York Times.  Unfortunately, she received this response:

"The New York Public Library only subscribes to the Late City edition. Even the microfilm collection of The New York Times is that of the Late City edition, as is the various database platforms (such as, the "ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1851-2010) with Index (1851-1993)."

Even though this was a dead end, it was still very helpful, because it's one potential avenue we can cross off our list.  Thanks so much again for checking this out, Susan!  I'll be doing some more research myself this summer on the missing puzzles, and I'm hoping to have better news to report at a later date.

I also received an e-mail from litzer (and now proofreader!) Howard Barkin this week in which he shared the following very timely tip about Crossword Compiler 9:

A helpful note, grid mistakes can be corrected (In Crossword Compiler 9, at least) without further clue issues by enabling the option in Options->Preferences, Clue Editing tab, "Changing grid does not delete clue".

I don't know how many times I've found a grid mistake while proofreading, then corrected it (which deletes the affected clues), and then had to retype in the clues!  This is a great tip, Howard—thanks so much again!

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project got some more publicity yesterday!  It was part of an article Kasey Dallman wrote about the Davidson Fellows for Amazing Kids! Magazine—to read it, click here and scroll down.

Today's featured puzzle, "Playing the Angles," which can be solved on XWord Info, was constructed by Charles M. Deber, published April 4, 1982, and litzed by Barry Haldiman (or one of his former team of litzers).  This brilliant, complex construction, which was Charles's New York Times debut, features ten in-the-language, symmetrically arranged theme entries that relate to directions, bending around corners, or overcrowding, such as UP AGAINST THE WALL, AROUND THE HORN, and MAKE ROOM FOR DADDY.  The catch is that each of these entries turns 90 degrees midway through the entry and continues in a different direction!  I've seen puzzles with entries that twist and turn in more recent years, but I believe this puzzle is the earliest example of such a clever gimmick.  What's even more amazing is that this puzzle was constructed entirely by hand—it must have been a real challenge to produce a grid that accommodated for both the vertical and horizontal components of each theme entry!

Deber not only produced such a grid but also was able to make the fill largely junk-free!  I don't love the partials MILE A, AT EIGHT, or TO HER, and UME, RIE, RESCH, and GLOSSIC seem a bit tough, but these entries are a small price to pay for the groundbreaking theme and fun entries like HOT SPOT, TOUCANS, and PULSATES.  I also find it funny that 1-Across starts with a C and 5-Across is DEBAR (sort of like C. Deber!)—I wonder if this was intentional!  And although I'm not familiar with BOUFFES (clued as "Comic operas"), it's a lot of fun to say and looks really cool in the grid!  Merriam-Webster notes that BOUFFE is short for opéra bouffe, which means "a satirical comic opera" and ultimately derives from the Italian opera buffa.  The etymology of the word TRULL ("Strumpet"), an old-fashioned term for a woman of loose morals, is also fascinating—it ultimately derives from the Old French troller, which meant "to hunt for game without a scent or path."  At some point in the 1500s, someone must have interpreted the aimless hunter as the woman with loose morals and the game as the men she interacted with!  In all, this is a thematically exceptional pre-Shortzian puzzle that added several new words to my vocabulary.  The puzzle can be viewed and analyzed on XWord Info, where Jim Horne made this unusual gimmick look awesome!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can also be seen below, although the grid is numbered slightly differently in the PDF (and XWord Info) versions.

Over 8,600, PRESHORTZIAN in a Grid, Martin Ashwood-Smith on "Dip," and Publicity

We've now litzed more than 8,600 puzzles!  On Thursday Jeffrey Krasnick sent in a batch that put us over this milestone, so we're now on our way to 8,700.  Great job, everybody!

A few days ago I received an e-mail from litzer Martin Ashwood-Smith about something he thought I'd enjoy seeing—it turned out to be a grid he'd built with PRESHORTZIAN at 1-Across!  I'm delighted to reproduce it for you below—thanks, Martin!  Maybe someday "pre-Shortzian" will indeed appear in the OED! ;)

Martin also sent in the following last Sunday, in response to last week's humorous typo involving NERD:

The typo/mistake for NERD "A real dip" (vs: "A real drip") may not be a typo. Back in the 70s "dip" also meant "loser". Here's a citation (at the very end):

dip  (dp)

v. dipped, dip·ping, dips

v.tr.

1. To plunge briefly into a liquid, as in order to wet, coat, or saturate.

2. To color or dye by immersing: dip Easter eggs.

3. To immerse (a sheep or other animal) in a disinfectant solution.

4. To form (a candle) by repeatedly immersing a wick in melted wax or tallow.

5. To galvanize or plate (metal) by immersion.

6. To scoop up by plunging the hand or a receptacle below the surface, as of a liquid; ladle: dip water out of a bucket.

7. To lower and raise (a flag) in salute.

8. To lower or drop (something) suddenly: dipped my head to avoid the branch.

9. Slang To pick the pockets of.

v.intr.

1. To plunge into water or other liquid and come out quickly.

2. To plunge the hand or a receptacle into liquid or a container, especially so as to take something up or out: I dipped into my pocket for some coins.

3. To withdraw a small amount from a fund: We dipped into our savings.

4. To drop down or sink out of sight suddenly: The sun dipped below the horizon.

5. To drop suddenly before climbing. Used of an aircraft.

6. To slope downward; decline: The road dipped.

7. To decline slightly and usually temporarily: Sales dipped after Christmas.

8. Geology To lie at an angle to the horizontal plane, as a rock stratum or vein.

9.

a. To read here and there at random; browse: dipping into Chaucer.

b. To investigate a subject superficially; dabble: dipped into psychology.

10. Slang To steal by picking pockets.

n.

1. A brief plunge or immersion, especially a quick swim.

2. A liquid into which something is dipped, as for dyeing or disinfecting.

3. A savory creamy mixture into which crackers, raw vegetables, or other foods may be dipped.

4. An amount taken up by dipping.

5. A container for dipping.

6. A candle made by repeated dipping in tallow or wax.

7. A downward slope; a decline.

8. A sharp downward course; a drop: a dip in prices.

9. Geology The downward inclination of a rock stratum or vein in reference to the plane of the horizon.

10.

a. Linguistics A part of a phrase or sentence that is unstressed or less strongly stressed relative to surrounding words, as the words I and to in I have to go.

b. Poetry The unstressed portion of a metrical foot.

11. Magnetic dip.

12. A hollow or depression.

13. Sports A gymnastic exercise on the parallel bars in which the body is lowered by bending the elbows until the chin reaches the level of the bars and then is raised by straightening the arms.

14. Slang A pickpocket.

15. Slang A foolish or stupid person.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dip

Very interesting—thanks again, Martin!

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project received some new publicity this week:  T Campbell linked to the site from Amy Reynaldo's Diary of a Crossword Fiend.  Thanks so much, T!

Today I'm featuring the two pre-Shortzian "vanity puzzles" I've seen so far in which the constructor incorporated part of his or her name into the grid.  The earlier of the two, published on September 20, 1976, was constructed by Jack L. Steinhardt, edited by Will Weng, and litzed by Doug Peterson.  The constructor cleverly masked STEINHARDT (clued as "Envoy to Russia under F.D.R.") in a repeated sound theme of STEIN.  Steinhardt also included the entry STEINBERG, which he clued as "Comedian or conductor."  The comedian's full name is actually David Steinberg—I'm flattered!  If only he had clued STEINBERG as "Comedian or constructor-to-be". . . .  The theme is a bit inconsistent in that BEER STEIN is the only theme entry that isn't a person; also, STEINBECKS ("Author John and family") feels a little weak.  The nonthematic fill, on the other hand, is quite solid—the only mystery entry I see is CERMET ("Heat-resistant alloy").  This puzzle is very clever for a vanity puzzle, and it gets major bonus points in my book for including the entry STEINBERG!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

The second vanity puzzle, published on October 13, 1984, was constructed by Joe Clonick, edited by Eugene T. Maleska, and litzed by Andrew Feist.  Clonick cleverly split his name in the first two Across entries of this "themeless":  JOSEPH was clued as "Owner of a multicolored coat" and CLONIC (which was as close as Clonick could come to including his last name) was clued as "Spasmodic, as a muscle."  In addition, the constructor placed the entry VANITY ("Dressing table") symmetrical to CLONIC, which is how I came up with the term vanity puzzle in the first place.  The nonthematic fill feels decidedly more lively and contemporary than usual—I especially like the entries JANE DOE, MOLOTOV, JEDI, ICEBERG, and IMMINENT.  The JEDI clue, "They returned in a Lucas film," is particularly interesting—it was very unusual for a Maleska-era puzzle to reference current pop culture (Return of the Jedi came out just a year before this puzzle was published).  The clue "Rapper's article" for THA didn't exist yet (instead we get the more obscure clue "Fourth Arabic letter"), and admittedly, AURICLE ("Outer ear") and EVULSED ("Plucked forcibly") aren't the greatest.  Nevertheless, this is a very nice pre-Shortzian vanity puzzle.  The answer grid (with highlighted vanity entries) can be seen below:

The most recent Margaret Farrar–edited Sunday puzzle I litzed, titled "For Global Strategists," was almost like a snapshot of the world on March 22, 1942.  The constructor, Alma Talley, packed in lots and lots of geography-related entries and clued them according to their influence on World War II.  She also included many general war-related clues.  Below is a selection of the more interesting of these clue/entry pairs:

• MALTA, clued as "On Britain's lifeline."
• HAITI, "Good neighbor."
• ESSEN, "R. A. F. target."
• ANTIGUA, "U. S. naval base."
• NICE, "City claimed by Italy."
• DÉAT, "He didn't want to 'die for Danzig.'"
• Refers to Marcel Déat, a French politician who admired Nazi Germany and published the controversial 1939 article "Why Die for Danzig?," in which he claimed that France had no interest in defending Poland against Hitler.
• CHINA, "One of the United Nations."
• TOTAL, "The kind of war this is."
• CHILE, "A good neighbor."
• THRACE, "Occupied Balkan territory."
• RIOM, "Site of a famous trial."
• Refers to the Riom Trial, during which Vichy France tried to prove that leaders of the French Third Republic were responsible for its 1940 defeat by Germany.
• LIÈGE, "Heroic Belgian city."
• DOMEI, "Source of bad news."
• Domei was a Japanese telegraph agency.
• ARGENTINA, "A hesitant good neighbor."
• BELGRADE, "A blitzkrieged city." 
• CHAD, "Free French territory."
• OTORI, "Temporary name for Wake Island."
• Wake Island was called Otori when the Japanese occupied it.
• TOKYO, "One of our objectives."
• MALAY, "Conquered native of Far East."
• ARUBA, "Strategic oil center."
• HESSIAN, "We fought this German in another war."
• INDOCHINA, "An enemy base."
• DRESDEN, "German city."
• DELHI, "A GHQ for United Nations."
• DUCE, "The heel of the boot."
• JAVA, "Scene of a big naval battle."
• RHINE, "Historically disputed river."
• CONGO, "Territory in Africa."
• ROME, "Enemy city."
• GORT, "British general."
• ICELAND, "American outpost."
• LEAHY, "American ambassador."
• EGYPT, "Country of British lifeline."

That's a lot of 1942-related clues/entries!  I'm surprised that Margaret allowed the constructor to use both INDOCHINA and CHINA in the same puzzle.  Nevertheless, this list is quite impressive!  Below is a map that shows what territories that Axis powers occupied in 1942:

Image courtesy of Iowa State University.

Contest Standings, Almost at 6,900, More Publicity, Politically Incorrect Terms

We're making terrific progress in the second litzing contest!  Currently Mark Diehl is leading the pack with a total of 130 litzed puzzles, Howard Barkin is hot on his heels with 123 litzed puzzles, and Jeffrey Krasnick holds a solid third place with 87 litzed puzzles.  On Thursday, Jeffrey put us over 6,800 on the litzing thermometer, and we're now almost at 6,900—well on our way to the halfway-point goal of 8,113 litzed puzzles by the end of February.  Every litzed puzzle helps, so thanks and great job, everybody!

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project received some more publicity recently, first in Tyler Hinman's article "Touch of Genius:  Puzzazz Brings Puzzles to Your Touchscreens" in Wired, in which he interviews Puzzazz founder Roy Leban, who mentions the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project.  Then, in Amy Reynaldo's Diary of a Crossword Fiend, the project was lauded by T Campbell for The Honorary Orcas award for best work in crossword scholarship.  Thanks, Roy and T!

Recently I've received numerous comments from litzers about politically incorrect terms that found their way into Weng-edited crosswords.  One litzer noted a puzzle that contained the entries MORON (clued as "One of low I.Q."), MANIC ("___-depressive"), and HOLO ("Prefix for caust")!  In the same batch, the litzer found a puzzle with its entire theme based on negativism, as well as a puzzle that contained the entry COOLIES.  Another litzer commented that he'd litzed Weng-edited puzzles with references to the Nazis, the KKK, and even fill-in-the-blank clues for racial slurs.  I took a look through Maleska's clues on XWord Info for potentially offensive terms and found that he bent over backwards to avoid cluing them like Weng did—he only clued MORON in reference to an Andalusian city, HOLO as the combining form for complete, and MANIC as a synonym for frenzied.  It should be interesting to see how Margaret Farrar approached clues for such entries—I'm a little leery, though, since I've already seen that she referred to the Japanese as Japs.  But that seems to have been common back then; in general, the clues and entries seem to have become more politically correct over time, no doubt reflecting changes in our society as a whole.

Today's featured pre-Shortzian puzzle was constructed by Jordan S. Lasher.  It was originally published on November 29, 1975, and was recently litzed by Todd Gross.  On the surface, this puzzle looks like a pretty typical Lasher opus—the grid is very open, the theme is concise, and the fill is better than average.  When I looked more closely, however, I realized that there was much more going on in this one—in addition to the theme entries WEIGHTLIFTER, PAUL ANDERSON (who, as Todd pointed out, once lifted more than three tons on his back!), and BARBELL, the blocks in the center of the grid are shaped like a weight!  This ingenious construction is a surprisingly early example of grid art in a standard 15 x 15!  The complexity of this puzzle's theme blows me away—Lasher seems to have been decades ahead of his time.  As I mentioned above, the nonthematic fill is admirable—I especially like the entries CHASSIS, HAIRCUT, RUN AMOK, and GATLING (a type of gun one of my teachers described to our class in lurid detail).  All in all, this is a groundbreaking pre-Shortzian puzzle—I hope to see many more Weng-edited crosswords that are this innovative!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

I was recently looking through some Margaret Farrar–edited puzzles from the 1950s and came across the historically significant clue "Cause of chaos in the entertainment world" in the December 9, 1950, puzzle.  The answer?  COLOR TELEVISION!  Wikipedia notes that back when color television was first being developed in 1950, there were many technical glitches and inaccurate color reproductions; also, at one point, just one hour of color television was shown per day!  On top of all this, the prototype color receivers were only available in the New York area.  I can definitely see why color television might have caused a lot of chaos back then.  Nowadays we'd laugh at a clue like this!  Below is a picture of an early color television set:

Image courtesy of CT-TV Vintage Television.

Mel Taub Interview, Litzing Contest, Over 6,300, Will Weng Era, Books Donation, Litzer of the Month, More Publicity, and Contribute Link

Happy New Year—there's lots of great news to report since 2012!  First, I'm thrilled to present an in-depth interview with Mel Taub, the pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor who served as interim crossword editor of The New York Times for more than 2½ months after Maleska's death before Will Shortz took over.  Mel's thoughts and experiences are fascinating—to read the interview, click on the link above or here.

In other news, the second litzing contest is now under way and will run through the end of February.  New litzers are welcome, and anyone who litzes at least one week's worth of puzzles will be eligible for a drawing to win a year's subscription (or renewal) to XWord Info!  There are other prizes as well, including e-books from Puzzazz—to read more about the contest, click here or on the Contest Totals tab above.

I'm hoping that by the end of February, we'll have reached the halfway point—8,113 puzzles!  We started at 6,198 puzzles and, just four days later, have litzed 138 puzzles, bringing the total as I write this to 6,336!

I'm also happy to announce that we're now litzing puzzles from the Will Weng era—we'll have eight more years of those before reaching the first pre-Shortzian editor, Margaret Farrar!

A couple of weeks ago I was thrilled to receive an e-mail from Maureen Hathaway, a daily New York Times crossword solver who was the second-place Division E winner at the 2007 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.  Maureen offered to send me some of her old pre-Shortzian puzzle books, suggesting that if I already had copies of these books, I could sell them and use the money to help support the project.  The books arrived on December 31; it turned out that I did indeed already have six of them, which Stan Newman had generously given me last year.  Since the duplicates are in excellent condition, though, I'm planning to sell them and use the proceeds to buy other pre-Shortzian puzzle books that could help identify the still-missing authors of many puzzles.  The seventh book Maureen sent was new to me and is very cool:  It's called The New York Times Crossword Puzzles of the 1950's and is actually a pad of paper!  There's one puzzle on each sheet, with the solution on the back of the sheet, and the pad also includes a removable copy of the very first New York Times crossword!  Thanks so much again, Maureen!

Our first Litzer of the Month for 2013 is Robert Warren Jones, a prolific litzer who litzed more than 200 puzzles in just two months!  Though he's been busy with other things lately, he plans to get back into litzing again soon.  To read more about Bob, click here or on the Litzer of the Month tab above.

I'm happy to report, too, that the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project has received some more publicity lately, this time on Jim Horne's XWord Info blog.  Liz Gorski has also linked to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project website from her Crossword Nation blog.  Thanks so much, Jim and Liz!

I've received a couple of inquiries lately from people wanting to contribute financially to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project.  Donations are always welcome and will be used to help offset the project's expenses and further its goals.  I've created a new Contribute page, which provides information on how to donate to the project.  You can reach it by clicking on the Contribute tab above or on the PayPal button in the righthand column, which links to the Contribute page instead of to PayPal directly.

Today's featured puzzle, "Tom Swifties Redivivus," was constructed by Mel Taub.  "Tom Swifties Redivivus" was originally published on December 11, 1988, and was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  It features a mind-blowing 16 symmetrically interlocking theme entries (and 2 additional asymmetrical bonus theme entries) in a 21x grid that are clued Tom Swifties–style.  For example, BUT IS IT ART is clued as "'____,' Tom said abstractly" and FIND AN APARTMENT is clued as "'___,' Tom said flatly."  When I was a Cub Scout briefly back in elementary school, I received Boys' Life (the Boy Scouts magazine) and remember that the only part that interested me was the page devoted to jokes and Tom Swifties.  Since then, I've come across several Tom Swifties puzzles in the Shortz era but never one with this many theme entries interlocking so elegantly!  In his interview, Mel is quite modest about this crossword construction feat, stating that he merely sorted out the theme entries and came up with a suitable diagram.  Amazing!  And Mel sure did fill his suitable diagram very nicely—I especially like the colloquial LATISH; other nice entries in the nonthematic fill include FLIRTY, IN THE ACT, BULKY, and IMPINGED.  I'm surprised that neither BULKY nor FLIRTY has been reused in the Shortz era—even though their letter patterns are tricky, you'd think they would have appeared at least once.  All in all, this is an exceptional Maleska-edited Sunday puzzle and a paradigm of interlocking theme entries.  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below; the complete puzzle can be seen on XWord Info.

Today's featured pre-Shortzian clue appeared in the February 26, 1978, puzzle by Kenneth Haxton, titled "Fire and Ice," which was litzed recently by Mark Diehl.  The 1-Across clue read "Rid of ice."  The answer?  DEICE!  This has to be one of the worst clues I've seen so far in a pre-Shortzian puzzle—most of the answer itself is repeated in the clue!  The puzzle (which is quite well constructed) has good cluing everywhere else—it's a mystery to me why Maleska chose one of the worst clues possible to open such a fine Sunday puzzle.  I did notice, however, that Maleska didn't reuse that clue (at least in the puzzles we've litzed so far) for DEICE—in more recent puzzles, he generally stuck to "Apply antifreeze" or "Free from frost," both of which are clever, alliterative clues.  I'm guessing he got a lot of mail about the "Rid of ice" clue!  Below is a picture of a plane being deiced:

Image courtesy of UCAR.

At 5,900, Contest Deadline Approaching, Barry Haldiman's 2012 Litzma, Erik Agard's Awesome Clue, and More Funny Typos

We've just hit the 5,900 mark on the litzing thermometer (though I have to confess that we were at 5,897 and I just had to litz the puzzles that would make it an even 5,900!)!  Also, we're now sending out packets from 1977—the last Will Weng–edited puzzle was published on February 27, 1977, so we should be done with Maleska in the next few weeks.  When this project began, I assumed it would be at least a year or two before we reached Will Weng.  The speed at which the litzing is going amazes me!

On another note, the deadline for the contest I announced in last week's post is tomorrow at 11:59 P.M. Pacific time.  Be sure to get your entries in for a chance at winning a free Puzzazz book!

In other news, Barry Haldiman recently dedicated his 2012 litzma to Nancy Joline, who has published many innovative pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era puzzles.  He posted 13 of her best puzzles from the 1990s, most of which are from his personal collection.  Barry corrected me on the meaning of the term "litzma" as well—I had erroneously assumed that litzma was short for "litzing marathon."  It turns out that litzmas were named for Christmas, the time of year when Barry posts them on his website.  That makes a lot more sense!

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project was mentioned in an unusual (but fitting!) way recently.  On his weekly crossword metapuzzle site Glutton for Pun, Erik Agard clued 29-Down in his most recent puzzle as "Help out at www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com."  We all know the four-letter answer to this clue, of course (and no, it doesn't contain a rebus of OFREAD!).  The puzzle, titled "Butt Heads," is a lot of fun—it's definitely worth heading over to Erik's site to give it a go.

As the 1987 proofreading continues, our proofreaders have come across many more humorous typos.  Here's another hilarious pentad that should leave you riant:

• A clue for RAVEN was entered as "Foe's bird" instead of "Poe's bird"
• A clue for NADER should have read "Consumer advocate" rather than "Consume advocate"
• A clue for CERES was accidentally typed as "Asteroid of goddess" instead of "Asteroid or goddess"
• A clue for FAROE was supposed to read "___ Islands of Denmark" but was accidentally typed as "___ Islands on Denmark"
• A clue for ALIDADES should have been entered as "Firefighters' instruments" instead of "Firelighters' instruments"

And now for the puzzle.  Today's featured crossword was constructed by Maura B. Jacobson.  It was originally published on August 4, 1978, and was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  This puzzle contains six theme entries (four of which are almost double-stacked) that relate to tennis but aren't clued as tennis terms.  For example, SERVICE LINES is clued as "G.I. queues" and FOOT FAULT is clued as "Podiatrist's concern."  Two others relate to mixology:  "What clumsy bartenders do" leads to  DROP SHOTS and "What the generous bartender did" yields MIXED DOUBLES.  The nonthematic fill includes many additional tennis-related entries, including WADE, ACED, and LETS, as well as the Scrabbly entries PROXY, OXALIC, and BIJOU.  Overall, this is an exceptional pre-Shortzian puzzle!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Today's featured clue originally appeared in the November 5, 1988, puzzle by S. E. Wilkinson, which was litzed by Barry Haldiman (or one of his former litzers).  The clue, which led to FOUR, read "Number of fingers per hand."  Maleska probably didn't count thumbs as fingers since they have two phalanges, while all other fingers have three.  Interestingly, Will Shortz ran the clue "Finger count" for TEN in one of my puzzles.  Webster seems to support both clues—it defines FINGER as "Any of five terminating members of the hand: a digit of the forelimb, especially: one other than the thumb."  If you have an opinion on this, please comment—if there are enough responses, I'll post a recap next week on which clue people thought was more accurate.  In the meantime, below is an anatomical diagram of the hand:

Image courtesy of the American Society for Surgery of the Hand.

Thanksgiving Thoughts, Progress Update, More Publicity, Funny Typos

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving!  I'm especially thankful for all the litzing, proofreading, downloading, and other help I've received.  Without it, the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project would never have been able to move forward so quickly.  Thanks again, everyone!

I'm also very happy to report that nearly 5,700 puzzles have now been litzed!  Soon we'll be at 6,000, another major milestone.  We've also whizzed through 1979 and are now almost halfway through 1978, a relatively short year because of a long newspaper strike.

In other news, the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project received some more publicity this week on a new blog, MetaRex, which will comment on Rex Parker's blog and which is written by pre-Shortzian constructor Wayne Eastman (who contributed puzzles under the name Wayne Hall-Eastman).  Thanks, Wayne!

Before getting to the puzzle of the day, here are some more humorous typos our proofreaders have caught as we continue to move through 1987:

• A clue for ARTE should have read "Commedia dell'___" instead of "Cornmedia dell'___"
• A clue for DEAD was typed as "Another kin of duck" instead of "Another kind of duck"
• A clue for ERE was entered as "Prior, to Pope" rather than "Prior, to Poe"
• In a copyright field, Eugene T. Maleska was accidentally typed as Eugent T. Maleska (the litzer obviously thought very highly of Mr. Maleska!)
• During the October litzing contest, a litzer in a hurry typed the entry RUSHED as RUSEHD

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by Tap Osborn.  It was originally published on February 12, 1979, and was recently litzed by Denny Baker.  This puzzle is certainly one of the most elegant pre-Shortzian Monday puzzles I've seen so far.  It features five symmetrical 15-letter dog breeds perfectly interlocked with the 15-letter reveal WESTMINSTER SHOW, which runs right down the center.  Just imagine all the hours of research Tap must have put into this puzzle to get it to work so neatly!  That said, some of the fill feels a bit tough for a Monday—I could do without EAR-ROT (clued as "Corn disease"), AAC (clued as "In the year before Christ: Abbr."), and YNE (clued as "Chemical suffix").  Nevertheless, it's amazing that Tap was able to pull off this brilliant Monday puzzle without any computer software!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

As the litzing has progressed, I've come across a number of not-so-great abbreviations that pre-Shortzian constructors were forced to use when stuck in a particular section of a grid.  Of all these abbreviations, here are a few worth calling out:

ABN (clued as "Carried by air: Abbr.")
BGHT (clued as "Opp. of sold")
TTS (clued as "Nondrinkers: Abbr.")

My least favorite of these three is definitely TTS, which doesn't even appear in the dictionary!  ABN isn't great either, but at least it's legitimate.  Please comment if you've encountered other questionable pre-Shortzian abbreviations either while litzing or while looking at pre-Shortzian puzzles on XWord Info—maybe there will be enough for a recap next week!  In the meantime, below is a picture that TTS would appreciate:

Image courtesy of Sisters Running the Kitchen.

T-shirts Arrived, More Publicity, Link to Pennsylvania Gazette Profile of Bernice Gordon, Interview with Husband-Wife Litzing Team Barry Haldiman and Beth Welsh

The October litzing contest T-shirts have finally arrived, and they look totally awesome!  Everyone who won or ordered a T-shirt should be receiving it soon—below is a picture of me in my T-shirt:

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project received some more publicity this week, first in an article in the Palos Verdes Patch, then a write-up in The Puzzler (which can also be seen on Tumblr).  Thanks, everybody—it's great that more and more people are finding out about the project!

In other news, my family gets The Pennsylvania Gazette, the alumni magazine of the University of Pennsylvania, and I was thrilled to discover a profile of the amazing pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor Bernice Gordon in this month's issue!  "Longtime Puzzler (2 words, 13 letters)" was written by Penn alumna Molly Petrilla, who also directs readers to a crossword created by Bernice especially for the Gazette titled "Across the Green and Down the Walk."

And now for my interview with Barry Haldiman and Beth Welsh, the first husband-wife litzing team for the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project!

Beth Welsh and Barry Haldiman, not litzing

Barry, how does it feel to have Beth litzing and proofreading now too?  You're the first husband-wife litzing team ever!

Initially, a bit annoying.  She’s helped occasionally in the past when I came across particularly thorny conversion issues or whenever I really needed a second look at puzzles.  But she never showed much interest, especially if they were Maleska puzzles.  At least I have my beer-tasting hobby that she won’t join in.   ;)

Beth, you started litzing and proofreading for the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project relatively recently.  What got you interested in it?

I thought it was pretty interesting from the time Barry first told me about it (when he originally got involved), but it didn't occur to me at the time to participate.  I guess it finally occurred to me that, since I already knew how to litz and I'm very good with details, plus I have the time to help since I work part-time—why shouldn't I volunteer?

Do you prefer litzing or proofreading, and why?

Litzing is more active, since you're typing a lot, and I feel a little bit like I'm creating something when I litz an old puzzle.  However, my typing skills have gone way downhill, and I make too many mistakes to be efficient.  Proofing is fun in its own way because it's like a treasure hunt:  finding each error is a little reward.

Barry, you litzed/obtained some of the puzzles Beth has been proofreading a long time ago.  Do you remember and discuss the puzzles?

I think Beth would come across particular puzzles in a collection that she thought were particularly good and she’d mark it “to litz.”  I don’t recall her converting very many, as we know it’s pretty labor intensive.  None of the puzzles come to mind, as it’s been quite a few years since then.

Do you ever litz together, or do you basically each stick to your own tasks on your own machines?

BETH:  Really, it never occurred to me to litz together.  I suppose we could try it, but I'm sure it's more efficient working separately like we do now.

BARRY:  Nope.  I’m pretty sure we litz differently anyway.  I put in the answer grids for the whole week of puzzles first, then enter the clues later and solve the puzzle regularly as an editing check.  I think Beth does more of a copy editor type of review.

Do you usually solve crosswords separately or together?

BETH: We solve certain crosswords together—tough ones.  Barry collects the printouts, and we usually do them when eating out, while we're waiting for our food to arrive.

BARRY:  And [we solve] many of the variety crosswords seen as the second Sunday New York Times puzzles and in the Saturday Wall Street Journal, though I’ve not gotten her to solve cryptics.  Finally, we do the New York Times and Wall Street Journal acrostics online together as well.  Still, we solve the large majority of our crosswords separately.

Beth, Barry already answered this question in his Litzer of the Month interview, but which aspects of the eventual pre-Shortzian database are you most excited about and why?  

The scale of the project itself is the most impressive thing to me.  I'm not a constructor, so the database won't be of practical use to me—although, who knows?  By the time it's done, I may have taken up constructing. . . .


Thanks so much, Barry and Beth—it's great to have you both on board!

Before the puzzle of the day, here are a few more funny typos our proofreaders have caught:

• A clue for PALM was typed as "Lifetime location" instead of "Lifeline location"
• A clue for OCARINA should have read "Wind instrument" but was accidentally typed as "Wing instrument"
• A clue for POMADES was supposed to be "Hair ointments" instead of "Hair ornaments"
• A clue for SOHNE should have been entered as "His boys, to Vater" instead of "His boys, to Water."
• A clue for TRIGRAPH was entered as "Cluster of three leaves" rather than "Cluster of three letters."

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by William Lutwiniak.  It was originally published on July 28, 1979, and was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  This puzzle's gimmick is so subtle I almost missed it altogether, though it is very clever!  It features eight theme entries with the same letter four times in a row, clued as if they were sounded out.  For example, UUUU is clued as "Woolly beasts?" (ewes), and CCCC is clued as "Understands?"  The nonthematic fill certainly makes up for lack of symmetry in some of the theme entries—I love the entries CORN POPPER, MATADORS, HOT PLATE, and SAWED OFF!  Overall, this puzzle is a real gem—to my knowledge, its brilliant theme wasn't reused until well into the Shortzian era!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Instead of highlighting a single entry or clue of the day, I'm featuring several theme entries that appeared in the February 17, 1980, puzzle by Jordan S. Lasher.  This puzzle, titled "The Name of the Game," was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  It featured the names of eleven unusual games beautifully woven into one of Jordan Lasher's signature wide-open, well-filled grids!  Below are four of the more bizarre-sounding games:

NINE-MEN'S MORRIS

Original clue:  Version of a game also called mill or merels

Further description:  Webster didn't define nine-men's morris very well, so I did some more research.  Nine-men's morris is a two-person strategy board game.  Players first take turns placing their nine game pieces on the board's twenty-four spaces.  If a player places three pieces in a row (called a mill), he can remove one of his opponent's pieces from the board.  After all the pieces are placed, players take turns moving their pieces to try to form more mills.  The first person down to just two pieces (or with no legal moves) loses!  Below is a picture of nine-men's morris:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

SNIPSNAPSNORUM

Original clue:  Card game also called "Earl of Coventry"

Further description:  According to Webster, snipsnapsnorum is "a game in which one player lays a card on the table, the others in turn must match its rank if able, the first to do so says snip, the second snap, and the third snorum, and the winner is the one who gets rid of all his cards first."  Below is a picture of snipsnapsnorum:

Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

HOUSEY-HOUSEY

Original clue: British keno or lotto game

Further description:  Webster lists housey-housey as a variant of the British card game house.  I hadn't heard of house either, so I looked into it some more.  Apparently house is a gambling version of bingo or lotto played with paper and a pencil.  The game was usually played by soldiers.  Below is a picture of housey-housey:

Image courtesy of Book Drum.

BUMBLEPUPPY

Original clue:  Poorly played whist

Further description:  Webster defines bumblepuppy as "whist [a trick-taking card game that was a forerunner of bridge] played poorly or without regard for the rules."  Who knew there was a special word for an unusual card game played badly?  Since I couldn't find a good picture of bumblepuppy, below is a picture of what whist is supposed to look like:

Image courtesy of NewMachar.

Litzing One-Third Complete, 1988 Puzzles Up on XWord Info, More Publicity, T-shirts Ordered, List of Constructor Names, and Interview with Original Litzer Denny Baker

Great news—we're now more than one-third done with all the litzing!  Even though things slowed down a bit after the October litzing contest ended and Sandy temporarily left some litzers without power, we're still moving at an amazing pace.  Thanks, everybody!

The proofreading is also going well—all the 1988 puzzles are now up on XWord Info!  Be sure to check out Jim Horne's awesome animation of Ralph G. Beaman's "Space Saver" puzzle that was featured a month or two ago.

In other news, the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project received some more great publicity this week!  Patrick Merrell announced the project on his blog Pat Tricks.  In addition, the Palos Verdes Peninsula News recently ran a great article that included more information about the project.  That part is about halfway through the article.

The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project T-shirts have been ordered and should be arriving soon!  As soon as they do, I'll be sending them to everyone who won or ordered a T-shirt.  Since the design on the current T-shirt is geared toward litzers, I'm considering creating a second T-shirt design that should have broader appeal.  If you have any design suggestions, please let me know!

Last but not least, litzer Jeffrey Harris finished typing up all the Will Weng–era constructor names from Will Shortz's index and Rolodex cards.  He sacrificed many lunch breaks to do this, and I really appreciate it.  Great job, Jeffrey, and thanks so much to you and Will again!

A week and a half or so ago, I received an e-mail from Denny (Holden) Baker, a Shortz-era constructor and one of Barry Haldiman's original litzers.  Denny converted many puzzles from 1957, and I thought readers might be interested in his reminiscences of litzing "back in the day."

You were one of the first-ever litzers—how did you become involved with litzing?

The New York Times’s Crossword Forum was moderated (for a couple of years at least) by Hex (i.e., Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon).  Many constructors were participants on the forum; we called ourselves the CRU.  One of the things that happened on the forum was that people would post their own puzzles, or, sometimes, puzzles from sources other than The New York Times, for the delectation and consideration of other CRU.  Somebody on the CRU—I’m thinking it may have been Lloyd Mazer—coined the term litzing for what we were doing.

You litzed 79 puzzles back then, which was a lot!  Did you have a particular goal in mind, and what software did you use for litzing?

I did my litzing starting in late 2002 and on up until at least Jun 18, 2003.  I had no software for doing this.  I basically copied a puzzle by hand—entry by entry, clue by clue—into Crossword Compiler and then sent it to Barry Haldiman, who put it in the proper format for posting.  I used as my source Daily Puzzles, Crosswords from The Times, edited by Margaret Farrar, #11 in the series, published in 1964.  (Most of the puzzles were from 1953.  Barry did a great job of figuring out the original publication dates of almost all of those puzzles, as well as those of other books in the series.)  I litzed a few cryptics (my favorites) from a collection I had from the old Saturday Review of Literature, but I gave up on that due to the copyright difficulty.

How many other litzers were there, and did you see each other or mainly communicate by e-mail?

I knew the other litzers by name only, though the names were familiar to CRU members, and I met some of them at various ACPTs.  I met Barry on a trip west as we passed through KC, because he shares with me an interest in birding.  We had a great KC barbecue lunch, and he gave us some excellent suggestions on birding sites in Kansas.  A couple of years later, we again stopped for a barbecue lunch with Barry.  (Then he put up Denny’s Den on the Internet!  And it’s still there!)

What are the best and worst entries you've come across in a pre-Shortzian puzzle?

I have no particular least favorite or most favorite entry from those days; the puzzles were pretty dull, no themes whatsoever, no punning clues, in fact, few interesting clues or answers.

Which aspect of the eventual pre-Shortzian database are you most excited about?

It will be interesting to see what the pre-Shortzian word list looks like.  It might occasionally be helpful in filling difficult corners.


Thanks so much again, Denny!

Today's featured puzzle, "Svittles," was constructed by Phyllis Fehringer.  It was originally published on October 21, 1990, and was litzed a few months ago by Andrew Feist.  This phenomenal construction features ten symmetrically interlocking food-related terms that take on a humorous meaning when an S is added to the front of them.  For example, SMOCK TURTLE SOUP is clued as "Dinner course, dressed up?" and SHAM BURGERS is clued as "Grill counterfeits?"  My personal favorite theme entry/clue is "Inebriated vege-taters?" for SMASHED POTATOES.  In addition to all these theme entries, the blocks in the center of the puzzle (which were shaded a different color in the PDF) form a giant S!  On top of all this, the fill is remarkably clean considering how open the grid is—I especially like the entries SLOWS UP, EXTRUDE, and AGITATOR.  TELEMARK (clued as "Skier's turn") and KERNITE (clued as "Important ore of boron") are a little obscure; overall, though, this is a fine pre-Shortzian puzzle.  The complete puzzle can be seen on XWord Info, and the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) appears below:

Today's featured pre-Shortzian entry is TATTERDEMALION.  TATTERDEMALION originally appeared in the November 21, 1979, puzzle by William Jarvis, which was recently litzed by Beth Welsh.  According to the Ginsberg database, TATTERDEMALION has been reused in a few Merl Reagle puzzles, though never in a Shortz-era New York Times puzzle.  The original clue for TATTERDEMALION was "Ragamuffin."  Webster defines a tatterdemalion as "a person dressed in ragged clothing."  It also lists tatterdemalion as an adjective meaning "ragged or disreputable in appearance" or "being in a decayed state or condition."  The origin of tatterdemalion is unknown, though it is known that the term was introduced into our language around 1608.  Below is a picture of a tatterdemalion flag:

Image courtesy of UnitedStatesFlags.com

Progress Update, New Litzer of the Month, Pinterest, and Interview with Litzing Contest Champion Mark Diehl

I'm thrilled to report that even though the litzing contest has ended, litzers have continued to send in puzzles at a rapid clip!  We've now sent out the first few packets from 1979, which is very exciting!  I've already started noticing some fascinating trends in the puzzles from 1979 and early 1980.  For example, as we continue to litz back in time, we've started to convert puzzles by some of the other masters who stopped constructing puzzles around this time period, including Herb L. Risteen, Jordan S. Lasher, and Louise Earnest.  Pretty soon we'll be litzing some Jack Luzzatto puzzles!

November's Litzer of the Month is animal lover Nancy Kavanaugh!  In addition to being a professional dog groomer and New York Times crossword constructor, Nancy has also found time to litz an incredible 250 puzzles.  She only needs to litz one more batch to pass me—great job, Nancy!

In other news, the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project recently received some publicity on Pinterest, a website whose mission is "to connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find interesting."  The blurb is currently on the far right of the top row, though it may move around a bit.

Finally, October litzing contest champion Mark Diehl has revealed the secret to his amazing litzing pace!  Below are his very inspiring answers to my interview questions:

You litzed 289 puzzles this month and have now litzed 1,327 puzzles total.  How do you do it?

By litzing a few puzzles every day.

Do you have a regular litzing schedule, or do you just litz whenever you have the time or inclination?

I try to litz at least one puzzle every morning before going to work.  It gets my mind limbered up to start the day (I've never been a coffee drinker).  After dinner and while watching TV, I'll litz some more—I find it a nice way to unwind from the hectic pace at work.  I try to average a week's worth every day.  On the weekends, I aim to average a bit more.

You've even litzed while traveling—how does that work?

I take my laptop with me and try to keep up the daily schedule, unless it conflicts with away time with family and friends.

What's the most unusual place you've ever litzed?

I've litzed a few puzzles while flying.  I'm not a fan of flying and litzing has been a nice way to distract me from running crash scenarios during the flight.

What motivates you to keep litzing so many puzzles?

There are still lots of puzzles to go, yet there is a definite end point.  As a community we're making good progress, and I will stick it out to the end.

You also did a great deal of work on The 21st Century Crossword Puzzle Dictionary with Kevin McCann, who said somewhere that the project would never have gotten finished if not for you.  Was that work similar in some ways to litzing, and did you get a similar sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from doing it?

The 21st Century Crossword Puzzle Dictionary was a huge data-crunching undertaking that required analyzing all the clues used during a multiple-year period from several major newspaper sources, looking for identical (or very similar) clues used to describe the same answer.  Each entry was typed into a database that eventually became the dictionary.  I set aside a few hours every day to slowly tackle the job, and after more than a year, it came to fruition.  The letter "S" took at least a month by itself!  The dictionary required more decision making than litzing (which is strictly copying like a scribe), but both are/were satisfying in a detailed, compulsive sort of way.

Do you have any tips for other litzers hoping to win or place in future litzing contests?

Litz several puzzles a day, every day, and your numbers will pile up just as quickly.


Thanks again, Mark—this is a great strategy not just for litzing, but for any other monumental goal that can seem daunting at times!  

Today I am featuring two puzzles whose themes relate to sports team names.  These puzzles were only published a year apart, though their executions are surprisingly different!  The first was constructed by A. J. Santora.  A. J. Santora published many brilliant pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era puzzles, almost all of which were jam-packed with theme entries and lively fill!  This puzzle, which originally appeared on April 8, 1981, and was recently litzed by Jeffrey Krasnick, is an exceptionally well-done Santora opus.  It features an incredible 10 symmetrical, interlocking theme entries, some of which are triple-stacked, in a standard 15 x 15 grid!  Each theme entry is a word or phrase that contains a member of a major sports team; also, the theme clues cleverly hint at the locations of the teams hidden in the theme entries.  For example, "Man in an L.A. shelter?" leads to TAX DODGER and "Minnesota cots?" leads to TWIN BEDS.  The nonthematic fill is fantastic as well—I love the entries SLOBBERED, WINE PRESS, and SEXY!  My only small complaint about the puzzle is that the theme entry DEEP REDS contains REDS in the plural, while all the other theme entries contain a singular team member.  Nevertheless, this is an outstanding pre-Shortzian puzzle!  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

The second puzzle was originally published on June 25, 1982, and was recently litzed by Mark Diehl.  It was constructed Bert Rosenfield, another masterful pre-Shortzian constructor who published many puzzles with novel, interesting themes!  This puzzle also features 10 symmetrical, interlocking theme entries, though the sports team theme is much more subtle.  Each sports team in the puzzle is clued in a way that's not related to sports in all caps (probably to ensure that solvers don't miss the ingenious gimmick altogether!)—for example, BREWERS is clued as "COFFEE MACHINES," and BRAVES is clued as "STANDS UP TO."  This 74-word wonder also has some very nice entries in the nonthematic fill, such as UNMANLY and EYELASH.  The answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Both the Bert Rosenfield and A. J. Santora puzzles are exceptional—these puzzles' thematic similarity is a great example of how crossword constructors both think alike and think differently.  It will be very interesting to track the development and evolution of various themes over the years when the pre-Shortzian database is complete!

Today's featured clue originally appeared in the December 5, 1982, puzzle by Virginia P. Abelson, which was recently litzed by Barry Haldiman.  The clue for EMAIL was "Enamel."  I was really surprised to see the entry EMAIL appear in such an early puzzle—it must have been considered atrocious fill back in 1982!  In fact, according to Merriam-Webster, the term EMAIL as we know it was first introduced into our language in 1982.  Apparently, EMAIL means "enamel" in French . . . good thing we don't see that clue anymore!  According to the Ginsberg database, Maleska also used the clues "Bleu Louise" and "Blue-green color" around this time period.  In 1993, Maleska finally modernized and  used the clue "Telecommunicated messages."  Though this clue is a bit clunky, it was certainly progress!  Below is a picture of some blue French enamelry:

Image courtesy of Barbara Stroud.