1963 Puzzles Up, New York Times Crossworld in CROSSW RD Magazine, and Howard Barkin Solves Blast! Challenge

Project Update:  1963 Puzzles Up

The 1963 puzzles are now up on XWord Info!  Thanks again, Jim!  What's more, I expect to send off the 1962 puzzles over this long weekend, and all the proofreaders are now receiving puzzles from the 1950s!

It's been another busy week on the proofreading front—Friday evening Todd Gross sent in 10 puzzles with 13 mistakes, which were followed by 11 more with 10 mistakes on Saturday morning.  Sunday night Dave Phillips sent 27 puzzles with 63 mistakes, and then Monday morning Todd sent 14 more with 17 mistakes.  Early Tuesday morning Todd sent another 11 with 31 mistakes, and then Wednesday morning Denny Baker sent 31 more puzzles.  That night Tracy Bennett sent another 30; finally, Friday morning Todd sent in 8 more with 19 mistakes.  Great job and thanks so much, everyone—soon all the puzzles from the 1960s will be done!

Howard Barkin First to Solve Blast! Challenge

Congratulations to Howard Barkin, who submitted the first correct answer to last week's Blast! challenge on Monday, February 9!  The clue, which was from the September 7, 1957, puzzle, was "Mass assault on the world's secrets."  The two-word answer:  GEOPHYSICAL YEAR.  Not as scary as you might have thought!

This week's Blast! challenge, which appears in the sidebar, is from 1963—so no peeking on XWord Info!

New York Times Crossworld—and Eugene T. Maleska—in CROSSW RD Magazine 

The very first issue of CROSSW ORD Magazine featured an overview of the New York Times crossword puzzle world—and its future—and included a profile of then-editor Eugene T. Maleska.  As usual, this insightful article was written by Helene Hovanec; it appeared in January/February 1991.  I've posted it here on Scribd.

Photo copyright 1991, 2015,

Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted

by permission of Stan Chess

and CROSSW-RD Magazine.

Featured Puzzle
The 1963 puzzles are up and tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so what better way to celebrate both occasions than to feature the Valentine's Day puzzle from 1963?  The puzzle—a real beauty (brace yourself for more bad puns within!)—was constructed by Brice Metcalfe, edited by Margaret Farrar, litzed by Nancy Kavanaugh, and proofread by Mark Diehl.  (And now, thanks to Jim Horne, you can solve the puzzle on XWord Info before reading the write-up on this blog if you so choose.)  This lovely construction features five symmetrically interlocking theme entries containing the word HEART; all the theme entries are solidly in the language, and SWEETHEART (clued as "Valentine.") is a particularly apt choice.  My heart really started racing, though, when I discovered that the grid had just 66 words, since 66-word grids were not very common in the days when puzzles were all hand-constructed!  That said, I did notice a handful of unusual and/or esoteric entries:  PLEDGOR ("Legal term akin to promisor."), RAG TREE ("Sacred plant of ancient pilgrims."), MRS WHISTLER ("Famous 'visitor' to Atlanta."), ANGOSTURA ("Bitter bark."), and DELSARTE ("System of calisthenics.").  In the not-obscure-but-not-thrilling category, there's IN SAINT ("'Meet Me ___ Louis'"), REMASH ("Fix over again, as potatoes),  MULCHERS ("Implements for spreading straw, leaves, etc."), and several unsavory three-letter abbreviations.  Although there were more compromises than would have been ideal, I heartily enjoyed seeing the following hexad:  MORASS, DITHER, DEADEYE, SEAHORSES, AL SMITH, and DEWLAP.  I imagine solvers these days would fall into two camps with DURSTNOT ("Was afraid to: Archaic.")—I think it's a quaintly pleasing archaic term, but I can imagine others being frustrated because the word is no longer in common use.  A less controversial part of the puzzle that caught my attention was the timely clue for CHAD:  "African republic, as of 1960."  I always appreciate seeing pre-Shortzian clues that aren't purely definitional!  In sum, I appreciated this puzzle's ambitious theme and grid structure, warts and all.  I hope you all have a sweet and pun-filled Valentine's Day—for now, here's the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries).  The puzzle can also be viewed on XWord Info.

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

Project Update

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

Ben Coe Solves Blast! Challenge

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

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

John Samson Profile and Fred Piscop Commentary in CROSSW RD Magazine

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

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

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

Mary Cee Whitten

Photo courtesy of The Evening Independent.

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

Funny Typos

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

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

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

Image courtesy of Collectible Ivy. 

In Memoriam: Bernice Gordon, 1914–2015

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

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

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

CROSSW RD Magazine, Funny Litzing Mistake, and Wacky Words from 1957 Puzzles

Project Update

Last week the 1965 puzzles went up on XWord Info, and I'm almost finished preparing the 1964 puzzles!  This week Todd Gross has been especially busy:  Early Tuesday morning he sent in 18 puzzles with 28 mistakes.  Then early Thursday morning he sent 10 more with 16 mistakes, which were followed by 10 more with 20 mistakes Friday morning and another 10 with 18 mistakes Friday afternoon!  Thanks so much again, Todd!  For those of you currently proofreading puzzles from 1963, I'm hoping to have all of those back within the next couple of weeks.  It won't be long now before we're done with the 1960s!

Blast! Goes Unsolved

No one solved last week's Blast! challenge correctly, though there were some incorrect guesses early in the week.  The clue, from the July 23, 1958, puzzle, was, "One hazard of space travel."  The answer:  MICROMETEORITE.  The most common incorrect answer was WEIGHTLESSNESS, which, amazingly enough, is another 14-letter single word that fits the clue.

It occurred to me that people may want to know whether or not the Blast! challenge has already been solved by someone.  So from now on, I'll indicate that in the sidebar.  If no one has sent in the correct answer, you'll see STILL UNSOLVED! in green; if someone has, you'll see ALREADY SOLVED! in red.  Good luck with this week's challenge!

Funny Litzing Mistake

As I was looking through packets of litzed puzzles from early 1958, I discovered a rather amusing grid mistake that may have been influenced by the litzing contests.  In the January 5, 1958, crossword, instead of keying in BARKIS IS WILLIN ("Message the carrier sent to Peggotty."), the litzer entered BARKIN IS WILLIN (as in litzer extraordinaire Howard Barkin!)!

CROSSW RD Magazine

Today I'm delighted to roll out the first of what will be a series of constructor profiles and other articles originally published in CROSSW RD Magazine.  A donor who wishes to remain anonymous sent me a big box of this amazing publication a couple of months ago—they're truly a treasure trove from the pre-Shortzian and early Shortz eras (1991–1996)!  I've been immersing myself in them as time permits, and when Jim Horne recently mentioned his interest in learning more about legendary constructor William Lutwiniak—who published at least 297 puzzles in The New York Times during the pre-Shortz era—I remembered having read Helene Hovanec's wonderful profile of him in CROSSW RD.  I contacted the owner of CROSSW RD, Stan Chess, who has generously granted me permission to post material from the magazine online.  Today I've uploaded two pieces to Scribd:  "And the Wynner Is . . . William Lutwiniak," by Helene Hovanec, which appeared in the January/February 1992 issue and can be seen by clicking here; and a short letter from William Lutwiniak that was published a few months later in the May/June 1992 issue, together with brief notice of William Lutwiniak's subsequent death, written by J. Baxter Newgate, which you can read by clicking here.

William Lutwiniak.  Photo copyright 1992, 

2015, Megalo Media, Inc. Reprinted by 

permission of Stan Chess and CROSSW-RD 

Magazine.

Featured Puzzle

Today's featured puzzle is another gem by Jack Luzzatto, one of the few constructors who published almost as many crosswords in the Times as Lutwiniak.  The puzzle was published April 17, 1959; edited by Margaret Farrar; and litzed by Mark Diehl.  In this tour-de-force construction, Luzzatto not only filled a wide-open 66-word grid but also included a theme consisting of three 15-letter entries!  The theme is signs, which evokes fond memories of playing a bingo-like sign game during long road trips when I was little.

Photo courtesy of unclesgames.com

I probably still have that game, along with my Etch A Sketch and Wooly Willy, somewhere in a bin of childhood memorabilia I'll have to sort through before going to college!  In any case, I was pleased with the signs Luzzatto chose—DANGEROUS CURVES and SLIPPERY WHEN WET are both in-the-language signs and fun entries in and of themselves!  CROSS AT THE GREEN (clued as "Admonition to Gotham pedestrians.") seemed a bit stretchy to me, though—I've never seen such a sign anywhere, which made me wonder whether CROSS AT THE GREEN signs have simply become less common over time.  To test this hypothesis, I typed CROSS AT THE GREEN into Google Ngram, which shows linguistic trends.  Sure enough, the term seems to have spiked in popularity circa 1970.  To my surprise, the sign doesn't seem to have existed before 1954, which means that Luzzatto must have acted quickly upon learning of this then-fresh entry.  Speaking of Luzzatto's observational skills and talent as a constructor, the nonthematic fill is remarkably clean given the constraints posed by the theme and wide-open grid pattern.  I especially like the entries CHARADE, DECOMPOSE, PINHOLE, AIR TIME, FLAGELLUM, and TRIBUTARY—that's a whole lot of goodness for a 66-worder, let alone a thematic, hand-filled one!  On the minus side, the grid contains an odd pair of un- entries (UNHEROIC and UNLURED—the latter feels especially weak), the plural ISOLDES, RASSE (hardcore pre-Shortzian crosswordese clued as "Tree-climbing civet."), the uncommon abbreviation RMC ("Sandhurst military institution: Abbr."), and INTR ("Not transitive: Abbr.").  As is typical with Luzzatto puzzles, though, the list of "meh" entries is inconsequential compared to the "wow!"s.  I was a little disappointed not to see any standout clues in this puzzle, though I appreciate Luzzatto's effort to sway a bit from straight definitions through clues like "Hours in the sky." for AIR TIME.  I did notice that SEATO was clued as "NATO's Oriental counterpart," which is interesting in that such a clue would no longer be politically correct.  In sum, this is yet another wonderfully ambitious Luzzatto puzzle!  As usual, the answer grid (with highlighted theme entries) can be seen below:

Wacky Words from 1957 Puzzles

Now that first semester is finally over, I've had some time to look through earlier packets of pre-Shortzian puzzles, albeit at a much slower rate than our indefatigable proofreaders!  Here are some of the most bizarre entries I've encountered in the selection of 1957 puzzles I've had a chance to examine, along with their original clues and, where known, constructors.

• 7/9/57 (constructed by Madeline Corse, litzed by Ralph Bunker)
• Entry:  FALANGIST
• Clue:  Member of a certain political party.
• 7/21/57 (constructed by Herbert Ettenson, litzed by Ralph Bunker)
• Entry:  BUNDESRAT
• Clue:  Federal Council of Switzerland.
• Entry:  FLANNELMOUTH
• Clue:  Catfish of the Great Lakes.
• 9/25/57 (constructed by Helen Fasulo, litzed by Jeffrey Krasnick)
• Entry:  JALOUSIES
• Clue:  Tropical window shades.
• 9/29/57 (constructed by Eugene T. Maleska, litzed by Jeffrey Krasnick)
• Entry:  TELEDUS
• Clue:  Animals of Java, Borneo, etc.
• 10/5/57 (litzed by C. G. Rishikesh)
• Entry:  BANYAI
• Clue:  Bantu tribe.
• 10/7/57 (litzed by C. G. Rishikesh)
• Entry:  PHALAROPE
• Clue:  Bird in Alan Paton title.
• 10/13/57 (constructed by Hume R. Craft, litzed by C. G. Rishikesh)
• Entry:  ALOIDAE
• Clue:  Mythical giants of Ossa-Pelion tale: Var.
• 10/14/57 (constructed by Mel Taub, litzed by Todd McClary)
• Entry:  PELTATE
• Clue:  Shield-shaped, as nasturtium leaves.
• 10/24/57 (litzed by Brian Kulman)
• Entry:  CAPONIERE
• Clue:  In fortification, part of a ravelin.

Below is a picture of the teledu, which somewhat resembles a skunk:

Image courtesy of The Honey Badger.