1965 Puzzles, Weird Grid, and Olio of Interesting Clues—Plus, Howard Barkin First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Project Update

We've made great progress this week!  On Saturday afternoon an anonymous proofreader sent in 6 puzzles with 10 mistakes, then early Sunday morning Todd Gross sent 11 more with 21 mistakes, and a few hours later, Denny Baker sent another 31 puzzles—thanks so much, everyone!  To top it all off, the proofread 1965 puzzles were sent to Jim Horne at XWord Info earlier today and should be posted soon—thanks again, Jim!  As I've mentioned, the 1965 puzzles had numerous issues in September and October because of the New York newspaper strike; all told, 13 puzzles are missing from that year.  I hope to find them eventually in another paper that wasn't affected by the strike.

Howard Barkin First to Solve Blast! Challenge

On Tuesday at 7:03 p.m. Howard Barkin was the first to send in the correct solution to last week's Blast! challenge—congratulations, Howard!  The clue from this July 23, 1958, puzzle was, "Subject for a contemporary scientist."  The answer:  THERMODYNAMICS.  I remember studying thermodynamics in my physics class last year, but that unit definitely wasn't in the "modern physics" portion of the course.  I always love seeing clues that reflect how much the times have changed!

There's a new challenge up in the sidebar—as always, every day one new letter will be added to the solution, hangman style, until the answer is posted.  Good luck!

Weird Grid

While proofreading a batch of 1964 puzzles, Todd Gross discovered that New York Times typesetters had misprinted one of the solutions such that several entries appeared in white type within black boxes!  In addition, several black squares appeared as blank white squares for some reason.  The puzzle itself, which has a subtle -CH theme, is quite nice—CATCH AS CATCH CAN crossing two theme entries is especially elegant.  Perhaps the constructor included CATCH AS CATCH CAN to taunt any proofreaders who failed to notice the errors in the solution!  Below is a screenshot of this anomaly—thanks again, Todd!

Featured Puzzle

Today's featured puzzle was constructed by Jack Luzzatto; published February 1, 1958; edited by Margaret Farrar; and litzed by Nancy Kavanaugh.  This stellar 68-worder is the cleanest pre-Shortzian puzzle I've come across so far—I was amazed to discover that the grid is free of both major obscurities and pieces of pre-Shortzian crosswordese.  There isn't even a multiple-word partial phrase to detract from this puzzle's beauty!  One could quibble with KOP (which was clued as "Hill, in So. Africa.") or LUPE ("Actress Velez."), but both these entries have more modern cluing options, such as "Keystone lawman" for KOP and "Rapper Fiasco" for LUPE.  In fact, there are so many fun entries in this grid that splitting hairs over entries whose clues aren't as well-known these days or over some of the less in-the-language -er concoctions (such as PANTER and BUSTLER) seems unnecessary.  After all, who doesn't like seeing CATHODE, REARGUARD, DENATURED, RASHERS, KINDRED, and PEPPER POT in a themeless puzzle?  I also appreciated learning a new term:  TRIP LINE ("Rope used as a releasing device.").  Webster's primary definition for trip line is "a line or light rope used to operate a trip (as to free a dog hook in logging)."  In my continuous journey through New York Times crossword history, I've found that certain bylines are particularly thrilling to see—Jack Luzzatto's is definitely among my favorites!  I love how Luzzatto experimented with wide-open grid patterns rather than sticking to standard 72- and 74-word designs that showed up time after time in the pre-Shortzian era; every once in a while, he would even go so far as to include a minitheme in one of his ambitious grids.  And his filling skills give even computer programs a run for their money!  Luzzatto also seems to have had quite the sense of humor—in many of his constructions, I've come across clues that are exceptionally clever for their time.  I didn't see any such clues in this puzzle but did notice the juxtaposed clue pair "Operatic star." and "Operatic aria." for DIVA and SOLO, respectively.  I look forward to featuring more Luzzatto masterpieces in upcoming blog posts!  For now, here's the answer grid for this one:

Olio of Interesting Clues

Below is a list of clues from early 1958 crosswords that interested or surprised me for one reason or another—when considered as a whole, they are truly a mishmash!  The answers to these clues are included in parentheses, and the constructors' names (if known) appear after the dates.  All these puzzles were litzed by Nancy Kavanaugh and edited by Margaret Farrar.

• 1/7 (A. H. Drummond, Jr.):  Weapon of the future. (ICBM)
• 1/8:  Current Broadway play. (LOOK BACK IN ANGER)
• 1/8:  Space pioneer. (LAIKA)
• 1/8:  Modern material. (ORLON)
• 1/10 (W. E. Jones):  Army missile headquarters. (REDSTONE ARSENAL)
• 1/10:  German rocket expert, at 17 Across. [REDSTONE ARSENAL] (WERNHER VON BRAUN)
• 1/11:  Recent Eisenhower appointee. (KILLIAN)
• 1/11:  Inhabitant of a satellite. (MOON MAN)
• 1/13 (Helen Delpar):  Recent James Thurber opus (with "The"). (WONDERFUL O)
• 1/13:  Teenagers' idol. (PAT BOONE)
• 1/20 (Madeline Corse):  Force of a rocket. (PROPULSION)
• 1/20:  A kind of space. (OUTER)
• 1/24 (Marcia Gladstone):  Famous octogenarian musician. (CASALS)
• 1/24:  Follower of Schickelgruber. (NAZI)
• 1/24:  Salutation by 47-Across. [NAZI] (HEIL)
• 1/26 (Eugene T. Maleska):  Frisco fans in '58. (GIANT ROOTERS)
• 1/26:  Fifty cents? (DOLLAR)
• 1/26:  Sunday TV fare. (WIDE WIDE WORLD)
• 2/7 (A. H. Drummond, Jr.):  Florida scene of scientific feats. (CAPE CANAVERAL)
• 2/7:  Sidewinder or Bomarc. (GUIDED MISSILE)
• 2/8:  One way to address a Boston celebrity. (SEN JOHN F KENNEDY)
• 2/8:  Historic hurricane. (EDNA)
• 2/12 (Evelyn E. Smith):  Zealous dieter. (STARVER)
• 2/14:  Recent royal visitor to the U.S. (MOHAMMED V)

The most bizarre clue I've seen from early 1958, however, came from the April 8 puzzle by Herb L. Risteen, which was litzed by Ralph Bunker.  The clue:  Supposedly extinct bird, recently found in Bermuda.  The answer:  CAHOW.  This reference is so specific and obscure that it made me laugh out loud—clue/entry pairs like this one make running the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project so much fun!  I can't think of a better way to close off this post than with a picture of a cahow:

Image courtesy of Bermuda Conservation.

Bernice Gordon Turns 101!

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

The Most Shocking Pre-Shortzian Puzzle So Far, Plus Todd Gross's Research on Janet R. Bender

Project Update

We've been making good progress this week!  Sunday evening Denny Baker sent in 26 puzzles, Tuesday afternoon Todd Gross sent 10 more with 13 mistakes, and Wednesday afternoon Dave Phillips sent 29 puzzles with 40 mistakes.  Thanks so much, everyone—at this point, all the existing puzzles from 1965 have come in, and less than a month of 1964 remains to be done!  The year 1965 is the first with major gaps and inconsistencies; as soon as I've taken another look at those, I'll be sending the proofread puzzles off to Jim Horne at XWord Info.

There were no correct answers to last week's Blast! from the Past challenge, which was from the September 2, 1964, puzzle.  The entry was WAITING UP, and the clue was "Parents' indoor sport."  Indeed!  Next week's challenge can be found in the sidebar—good luck!

Todd Gross's Research on Janet R. Bender

Some time ago I received an e-mail from Todd Gross about pre-Shortzian and Shortz-era constructor Janet R. Bender.  According to my (still incomplete) records, Janet published two puzzles in the pre-Shortz era.  Todd had seen the November 3, 2014, puzzle by Janet and that Will Shortz had "not only called her one of the old guard, but mentioned she's from Somerset, PA."  Todd decided to research her on Ancestry.com and Google and discovered she was born in 1947, though he wasn't sure where.  Here's some of what else he found:

My sense is Bender is her maiden name, but I can't prove it.  I haven't found any articles about her crossword work.  But I found other interesting stuff. 

It looks like she's an accountant. . . .

More interestingly, it looks like she's interested in genealogy, having worked on an article titled "John Ringler and his Descendents" for the Casselman Chronicles (1996, Vol 2).  I found it referenced in a few places, including this one:

    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=64668404

Other places mention she's done a fair amount of work for the Casselman Chronicles, she was a secretary, I think.  So interested in history and genealogy, there are a lot of Benders in the area, and I think this is Amish country. 

Finally, one more interesting tidbit.  A letter to the editor she sent to the Los Angeles Times (why the LA Times I don't know):

    http://articles.latimes.com/1986-12-27/local/me-858_1_polygraph-scandal-cabinet-members

Thanks so much again, Todd, for all this insightful research!

The Most Shocking Pre-Shortzian Puzzle So Far

When Todd sent in his proofread puzzles on Tuesday, he also noted:

I was rather surprised to see Ms. Farrar have MURDERED as an entry given her avoidance of unpleasant subjects.  In this case, it was clued as [Marred, as by giving a bad performance.]  Hmmm.  That's not how I would use the word.  Note, too, its grid opposite is VENGEFUL, which fits a bit too well with the usual definition of murdered.

I wrote back that I'd seen a puzzle from 1958 that he'd probably be stunned was ever published—one that made MURDERED and VENGEFUL look tame by comparison!  That said, this week's featured puzzle, whose constructor is unknown, was published May 21, 1958; edited by Margaret Farrar; and litzed by Ralph Bunker.  This puzzle is the new earliest example of grid art I've seen in a New York Times crossword:  As suggested by SWASTIKAS at 6-Across, the central block arrangement resembles a swastika!  The constructor/editor clearly tried to offset the strong negative connotations of this symbol by cluing SWASTIKAS as "Ancient symbols of good luck."; nevertheless, I'm amazed that this puzzle was published.  World War II had ended just 13 years prior to the puzzle's publication, so I doubt whether any solvers appreciated a reference to Hitler's regime.  I also doubt this puzzle would be salable today, even though many more years have passed and both SWASTIKA and SWASTIKAS have appeared in Shortz-era New York Times crosswords.

The nonthematic fill is much more pleasing than the disturbing minitheme—I especially like the entries PALEOLITH, MONTEZUMA, CANAVERAL (complete with the Space Age clue, "Focal point in the news."), ABORIGINE, ALABASTER, BELFAST, and CROSTIC!  I'm not thrilled with LAMBARENE ("Dr. Schweitzer's locale."), a city in Gabon whose population as of 2009 was just 25,257, though I suppose it may have been more of a household geographic name at the time of this puzzle's publication.  And I did enjoy reading about Albert Schweitzer, who led a truly fascinating life and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.  In any case, the short fill is remarkably clean, with TRS ("Fund officials: Abbr.") and TAA ("Chinese pagoda.") being the only real blemishes.  Overall, this puzzle has an unfortunate minitheme, though the fill is quite nice, and I appreciate that the constructor experimented with the then-uncommon practice of including art in grids.  The answer grid (with the highlighted theme entry) can be seen below:

Happy New Year Treat: Interview with I. Judah Koolyk—Plus, Barry Haldiman First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Happy New Year Treat:  Interview with I. Judah Koolyk

Happy New Year, everyone!  To start off 2015, I'm delighted to present an interview with the prolific pre-Shortzian constructor I. Judah Koolyk, who had a total of 40 crosswords published in the Maleska era!  Judah first contacted me early last month.  He introduced himself and mentioned that he'd discovered this site; he also included a long list of the publication dates of all his Times crosswords (and even his variety puzzles!).  I was very excited to hear from him and sent along some additional dates of puzzles listed as being his.  When I asked whether he'd be interested in being interviewed for this site, he said he would, though he wondered (needlessly) whether anyone would be interested and worried that his answers might be "too boring"!  (He also mentioned that his 15-year-old daughter would be thrilled to see that her dad was so famous!)  To read Judah's eloquent and informative interview, click here or on the Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews tab above.

Project Update

Despite the holiday season, it's been very busy on the proofreading front over these past two weeks!  On Sunday the 20th, Todd Gross sent in 10 puzzles with 17 mistakes, then 8 more with 15 mistakes on Monday night and 10 with 14 mistakes Tuesday night.  Christmas Day Denny Baker sent in 35 puzzles.  On Saturday afternoon Mark Diehl sent in 31 puzzles and then 29 more that night.  Sunday afternoon he sent 28 more, then a few hours later another 25, then 30 more that evening, then 31 more later on—whew!  Monday he took a brief break from proofreading so we could meet for lunch since he was in the area—we had a great time eating pizza in Echo Park, followed by a sojourn to a fascinating place nearby called the Time Travel Mart (a fitting destination, given our time travels through pre-Shortzian puzzles!).  Tuesday afternoon Mark sent another 31 puzzles, and then Wednesday morning Todd sent in 12 with 19 mistakes, which were followed by 30 more from Mark.  Thursday morning Mark sent 28 more, and then another 28 that afternoon, followed by 33 more, and then 30 more that night—whew again!  Finally, Friday afternoon Todd sent 10 more puzzles with 25 mistakes.  What an amazing two weeks of proofreading—thanks so much again, everyone!

Mark Diehl and me taking a break from the project.

Wacky glasses at the Time Travel Mart.

Barry Haldiman First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Congratulations to Barry Haldiman, who, on Friday the 26th at 9:55 a.m., was the first to solve the December 19 Blast! from the Past challenge!  The challenge, from the puzzle published on April 8, 1959, was to guess the three-word clue for the entry HAIRDO; the solution was "Woman's top problem."  Todd Gross came across a great clue-entry pair while proofreading recently, and I've decided to make it this week's Blast! challenge, which you'll find in the sidebar.  As with previous Blast! challenges, a new letter will be added every day, hangman-style.  Thanks so much again, Todd—and good luck, everyone!

Featured Puzzle

This week's featured puzzle, one of my favorites by I. Judah Koolyk (second only to this one I featured in 2012), was published May 10, 1985; edited by Eugene T. Maleska; litzed by Todd Gross; proofread by Kristena Bergen; and can be solved on XWord Info.  This impressive construction features four symmetrically interlocking 15-letter definitions of colors in a sparkly 68-word grid!  For example, the clue for RANK OF A CARDINAL is "Purple"; similarly, the clue for CONFEDERATE ARMY is "Gray."  I like that none of the definitions include the word color, and I especially appreciate that some of the definitions reference a completely different sense of their color words (such as TURN INTO LEATHER for "Tan").  And it must have taken hours to generate a list of theme entries that interlock so elegantly by hand!  Appropriately, Judah squeezed many colorful entries into the nonthematic fill—my favorites include SOAKER, ECLAIRS (yum!), STYMIE, SHANKED, and ARMHOLES.  That's quite a list of strong entries for a thematic 68-worder!  Even better, the only quasi-obscure entry is MILLIME (clued as "Tunisian coin"), which is an interesting word that I would have appreciated learning as a solver.  It turns out that a millime is equivalent to 1/1000 of a dinar, which makes sense, since a millimeter is 1/1000 of a meter.  And the only piece of fusty crosswordese is SKEP, which Judah or E.T.M. gave the original clue ("Wicker basket") to keep things interesting.  When I see the entry SKEP, I automatically think "Straw beehive," so I may well have struggled a bit with the "Wicker basket" clue.  Speaking of clues, "Item in a bar" for SOAP and "Item in the holy of holies" for ARK are particularly nice.  Although the rest of the clues are mostly dictionary-based, I appreciate Judah's and E.T.M.'s eye for fresh definitions, such as the one for SKEP I mentioned above.  In all, this is a standout pre-Shortzian puzzle—just one of many that place Judah among the finest constructors of the Maleska era!  This puzzle can be viewed on XWord Info, though I recommend looking through the page that lists all of Judah's puzzles.  As usual, the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below: