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Preface
In the late 1960s, while sitting in class during my final year
at the Indiana University School of Law, I noticed the friend
next to me solving a crossword puzzle. I was envious. We
were both bored with the lecture, but he had something else
to do—something interesting, challenging and fun. I got
hooked that spring morning in Bloomington. Since that
time, I have worked one puzzle a day with rare exceptions.
If I do not have time to complete a puzzle throughout my
work day, I finish the exercise in the evening before retiring.
I am addicted.
They allow us to stay abreast of popular culture, develop
vocabulary and enjoy a few minutes each day of solitary
diversion. Solving the Sunday New York Times puzzle is a
ritual in our home. I am often assisted by my wife, Janie.
I hope those of you who share this addiction will enjoy my
favorite puzzles. Those who are not hooked—welcome, but
watch your step. You may be entering a lifetime of joy—a
habit you will not wish to break.
By the way, I lectured to a law school class a few years ago and
I noticed one of the students working a crossword puzzle.
Nothing’s changed.
It is a positive addiction—healthy and enjoyable. It allows me
to exercise my mental muscles. We need to exercise creativity
to increase it like muscle tone. Challenging crossword
puzzles interrupt the normal routine and rev up our brains.
Your comments are most welcome. — mmaurer@ibj.com.
9
First Feeble Attempt
1
In 1988, after completing a New York Times daily puzzle
I found to be inane, I decided to create one and submit it to
The New York Times for publication. (My friends call that
chutzpah.)
I particularly hope that you might see the desirability of
publishing this puzzle during the first week of June, the
anniversary of the birth of Marilyn Monroe. In any event,
I would appreciate your comments.
I had read in the local paper of legendary crossword puzzle
constructor, Henry Hook, who created a puzzle titled,
“Element 18”. He provided a number of clues for words with
the letter “R,” but no Rs were found in the puzzle grid. The
spaces for the “R” words were all short one letter: the letter
“R.” With further study, one could determine that element
18 is Argon or said another way, R-GONE.
I continue to look forward to enjoying The New York Times
puzzles on Sunday mornings.
With that in mind, I created a Sunday-size puzzle (21x21)
to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Marilyn Monroe.
My puzzle, titled “Missing U”, used as the main theme all of
the movies in which Marilyn Monroe appeared with the “U”
missing from those clues. There ended any resemblance to
that extraordinary Hook creation.
Dear Mr. Maurer,
I shot it off to Eugene Maleska, The New York Times
crossword puzzle editor, with the following letter:
Maleska responded with a terse rejection. Wanting to learn
a bit from this experience, I wrote to Maleska by return mail
and asked him for some constructive criticism. His letter of
March 14, 1988, is indicative of his blunt, perhaps arrogant,
personality.
Forgive me for misleading you in my first letter. I was trying
to be kind rather than tell you that your puzzle was a hopeless
case. For example, the diagram far exceeds the maximum for
black squares and the entries contain a plethora of esoterica.
Frankly, I doubt that any crossword puzzle editor would accept
such an amateurish creation.
Dear Mr. Maleska:
Upon my call to The New York Times Magazine department,
I was disappointed to learn that you are reluctant to take
submissions for The New York Times Sunday crossword
puzzle from new contributors.
I do not know whether I was more let down by the rejection
letter or the fact that I had to look up the words “plethora”
and “esoterica.” I have not included “Missing U” in this
book. Maleska was right. But I had to get in the last word.
Note the answer to 27-Across in the following puzzle.
In light of the above, I hope you do not mind my enclosing a
puzzle for your evaluation and perhaps publication.
Word Play
1
5
10
14
15
16
17
19
20
21
22
Trick or fraud
Packer Bart
Part of M.I.T.
Gal of “Damn Yankees”
Spasm or pang of pain
Art _____
Lal
Test
Chaste
Fr. holy woman
“Look _____, I’m as
helpless…”
23 Narc’s org.
25 Italian wine center
27 Yo
32 Security claims
34 Contribution to an idea or
discussion
35 Fudd or Gantry
37 Vinyl records
39 Hovel locale
40 Come in
41 Spanish painter
42 Score for Bo Derek
43 Movie cast member with no
lines
44 “No _____ an island …”
45 Spoil or infect
47 Geo
10
49
50
51
53
56
61
62
64
65
66
67
68
69
Race day sound
Partner of ready and go
Sound like a cat
First lady
_____ a pin
Shade of blue
Krind
Former Georgia Senator
Ancient Roman official
Against
Caesar and Greenstreet
Lascivious man
Existed
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
15
14
17
21
23
28
29
25
31
34
35
26
32
33
36
37
40
45
44
46
47
49
51
52
48
50
53
54
55
56
57
61
62
64
65
66
67
68
69
DOWN
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Serb, e.g.
Golfer’s quest
“_____ well that …”
Ship part
Filched
Notwithstanding
Safe havens
Send in retreat
Nullifying law
Imagine or conceive
Innextline
Ponzi scheme, e.g.
Large volume
38
41
43
42
13
22
24
30
39
12
19
20
27
11
16
18
If you wish to have the puzzle returned, please supply sufficient
postage.
January 18, 1988
ACROSS
2
18
24
26
27
28
29
30
31
33
36
38
40
41
58
59
60
63
I’ve _____!
Ten percent man
Title of respect
Light rain
Small bay
Dnuora
Total when numbers are
added
_____ violet light
Small shoot of a tree
Breakfast, lunch and dinner
Mediocre
Go to _____ (be excessive)
Disfigure
11
43
44
46
48
51
52
54
55
57
58
59
60
63
Last queen of Spain
Dealt (out)
Ames dwellers
Sore
_____ best friend
Same: Prefix
Oakland pitcher Blue
Way out
Fast horse
Fork part
Poker stake
Outer layer
Tarzan portrayer
Eugene Maleska
Eugene Maleska graduated in 1937 from Montclair State
College in New Jersey, with a major in Latin and a minor
in English. He was an English teacher and public-school
administrator before he was named the crossword puzzle
editor of The New York Times. By then his credentials were
well-established. He had been a prolific contributor to the
puzzle section for many years. But even Maleska had trouble
getting started. He claimed he had been rejected 40 times by
the New York Herald Tribune.
Maleska’s calloused rejection heightened my zeal to publish
in The New York Times. Maleska needed softening up.
Fellow crossword puzzle enthusiasts Bonnie Prystowsky,
Woody Hill, Marianne McKenna, May Annexton, Bob
Bader and I formed the Indianapolis Crossword Puzzle Club
for the sole purpose of inviting Maleska to Indianapolis to
speak. It worked. He spoke before an enthusiastic audience
that we orchestrated.
Maleska lived in Wareham, Mass., just outside of Boston.
He was an avid Boston Celtics fan. We invited him to a
Pacers-Celtics basketball game that night and gave him a
Sports Illustrated cover autographed by Larry Bird.
Maleska was snowed. He was quoted later in The Indianapolis
Star, “The Indianapolis Club is one of the most outstanding
ones in the country. I’m going to feature them in a chapter of my
next book.”
When that crusty exterior gave way, Maleska was really a
nice fellow. I created a puzzle for him to complete at his
Indianapolis presentation. This is an improved version.
1
5
9
13
14
15
16
19
20
21
22
23
24
32
33
34
35
36
38
39
40
41
42
46
47
48
51
53
Mary’s follower
Milne character
Comic
Reed instrument
Margaret _____ Thatcher
Mixed bag
Start of a quip
Golfer’s gadget
Come in
Prescription
K-P connector
LI doubled
Quip, Part 2
_____ in the neck
Emulate Perry White
Long. crosser
Vases
Skoal, e.g.
Lily type
Turner or Cole
Markers
Pago Pago locale
Quip, Part 3
Ump counterpart
One who blows his own horn
Organic compound
Jungle scavenger
Doctor’s org.
56
59
60
61
62
63
64
Subject of quip
Stool starter
Barely wins
Eur. Country
Askew
Trinket
Height measurement?
DOWN
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
14
17
18
22
23
24
25
2
3
4
5
6
7
Plunder
Up to the job
Ala _____
Bonnet occupant
Firearm
Ye _____ Shoppe
Aroma
Owns
“Kissin” relative
Inter _____
Call up
Act like a grandma
Red dye
Mid-east country
Library sign
Welcome garlands
Voucher
Tease
Talk show star
12
Stocking stuffer
Fewest
QB quests
Resin
Typically red toy
Ermine
British fop
Assent in Lyon
Iranian Turk
French river
Lean eater
Faddish
Eric _____
Pig sounds
Miss Kett
Take third
Eye drop
Jekyll alter ego
Spa class
The last word
Distribute
Tennis great
Spider’s snare
Need of 56 across
9
17
18
19
20
21
25
27
36
35
48
28
33
32
49
12
29
30
31
54
55
34
37
38
40
42
11
23
26
39
10
15
16
24
26
27
28
29
30
31
36
37
38
40
41
43
44
45
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
57
58
8
14
13
22
Reading Glasses
ACROSS
1
41
43
44
46
47
50
51
45
52
53
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
13
My First Published Puzzle
Eugene Maleska was an intellectual elitist. He would not
publish a puzzle, no matter how well constructed, unless the
constructor had been published in at least two papers.
Finally, I am pleased to submit according to the form prescribed
a puzzle for your consideration. Thank you in advance for your
consideration.
I wrote him the following letter:
Of course, Maleska did not know that I had convinced a
friend at our local paper to publish my free puzzle in The
Carmel News-Tribune and that I owned the Indianapolis
Business Journal.
Dear Mr. Maleska:
Bonnie Prystowsky, secretary of the Indianapolis Puzzle Club,
shared with me your letter of November 18, 1991, in which you
stated that you no longer accept puzzles from tyros.
Please let me convince you that I do not fit in that category.
I am enclosing a reprint from an article in The Carmel NewsTribune of June 14, 1989, which included one of my puzzles
published in that newspaper. This particular puzzle was what
you refer to as a “new wave” puzzle. I published one puzzle a
week in that paper for a year.
The Indianapolis Business Journal commissioned me to do
a series of five “Who’s Who In Indy” puzzles, all of which
are enclosed for your review. According to the Indianapolis
Business Journal, these puzzles were well received in the
community. The Indianapolis Business Journal continues to
publish one of my puzzles each week.
He responded:
1
1
5
9
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
22
23
24
26
29
34
37
49
40
43
Retail event
Buddies
Slag
Satanic
“Cat on _____...”
Mother _____
Distribute
Load as a ship
Bowling lane
“_____ Mama”
Actor Fernando and others
Try hard
N.Y. setting
Killer whale
“My Mother _____”
Minced oath
Utah ski resort
Anklebones
Spring holiday
Jot
44
45
46
48
50
52
57
60
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
5
6
7
My first New York Times puzzle — boy was I proud. Maleska
sent me an autographed copy, which I framed. The puzzle
is easy, published on a Monday, although you could have
difficulty with 62-Down. It was used 127 times in Maleska
published puzzles but his successor, Will Shortz, considered it
too arcane for his taste. Consult your almanac for 40-Across.
The title is fitting given the dedication of this book.
17
18
19
20
24
26
34
35
27
36
Big rigs
Prevent
Liquid measure
Resin
Arnie of golf
Melville captain
Miner’s mother _____
Cubic meter
Famine
Lung sound
Air France destination
Fr. holy women
Bashful
Call forth
Remain
Mama _____
Swamp tree
Relative of etc.
Coral reefs
“It’s a Sin to Tell _____”
28
37
29
38
12
13
30
31
32
33
54
55
56
39
41
42
43
44
45
47
58
11
25
40
46
10
22
21
57
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
21
25
27
28
30
31
32
9
16
50
DOWN
8
15
Your copies of published puzzles and your contribution prove
to me that you are ready to become a TIMES constructor.
Congrats! Your puzzle will probably appear in the fall. An
advance check will give the exact date.
14
4
23
Dear Mr. Maurer,
Drug addict
Other
Conforms
“Arrivederci _____”
Curve
Bee or beetle
Accident reminder
“_____ Mother”
(“Arrangement in Grey and
Black No. 1”)
Mother _____ nursery
rhymes
Slangy negative
Length times width
At _____ for words
Ash or elm
Group of seats
Memorable Washington
hostess
Prophet
Morays
3
14
Mom
ACROSS
2
59
48
49
51
60
52
61
53
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
33
34
35
36
38
40
41
42
Cruise port
Follower of mother or father
Miss Kett
Fellow
Edible root
Italian’s “Mamma _____!”
Dancer Tamblyn
Intended
47 Mother _____, 1979 Peace
Nobelist
49 “_____ Roberts”
51 Sharp blows
53 Blackboard
54 Strange
55 Basket for fish
56 Autocrats
15
57
58
59
61
62
63
Only
Doves’ sounds
Vice prin., e.g.
Employ
Arrow poison
School of whales