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PlusAmerica'sMostGreativeCrosswords
By the Nation'sTopGonstructors
entered
thecrossword avid solvers,addictedto the crosswordin thetorpedoes"insteadof "damnthetorpeflrances Hansen
in
BIG
a
way
nearly
30years theSundayTimes.Intenton filling in every does."
ff.r"n"
L
agowhenshecreateda Sundaysize blank spot in the grid by early afternoon,
Hansen'seggpuzzlecreatelastir. While
(23 x 23) crossword,typed it on custom "they wouldtelephoneeachotherfuriously most solvers enjoyed
tle gimmick, one
printedoversizedpaper,packedit in a large Sundaymorningsuntil they all completed "rotten egg" complained
bitterly to editor
envelope,andmailedit to New YorkTimes the puzzle."
EugeneT. Maleska:"I havebeena crosseditor Margaret Farrar.
Hansencouldn'tunderstand
herfriends' word puzzle fan for almost50 years.But
Not knowingany of thecrossword-sub- obsession
with crosswords;
nor hadshethe what hashappenedto the oncegeat Sunmittingrules,
Hansentloughtthiswouldbe time to solveon Sundaymorningbecause dayNew YorkTimespuzzlesdistresses
me.
an appropriateway to gain Farrar'satten- shewasbusy
teaching
Sunday
school.
When The'gimmicks'areridiculousandtoday's
tion. She was right; the p:uzzlecouldn't she"retired"af.teral2-year stintshejoined is theworst.How aboutgoing
backto good,
possiblybe ignoredas it coveredFarrar's her friendsin their crosswordpursuis. A regular,challenging,
intelligentpuzzles?"
entiredeskandspilledover onto the floor. yearlatershesentthatfirst puzzleto Farrar.
This was a minority opinion, for other
Unfortunately,the oversizedpaperwas
solverssentappreciativenotesto Maleska
merelyHansen'ssmallestsubmission
error. Mary had
alongwith completedpuzzlesthat hadall
a little lamb
Shehadbeensolvingcrosswordsfor only a
theeggsdrawnneatlyin thegrid;onesolver
yearat this time and "had this crazy idea Shesaid it gaveher grief
evenuseda setof coloredpencilsto decothatconstructinghad to be easierbecause If shehad had a little ham
rateeveryegg.Farrarcongratulated
Hansen
youknew all the answersbeforehand."
"I'm still
postcard:
with
a
missing
a few
"I made
everymislakein thebook," she WouldMary havea beefr
eggs,but sofar thereis noneon yourface.,'
"I
recalls. usedtwo-letterwordsand hada
Whenthelimes recentlycelebrated
its 50th
veryhighwordcount."Hansennow admits
After her puzzle debutedflansen sent anniversaryof the Sunday crossword,
thatshehadnever"heardof a word count Farrar a puzzle that would become her Hansen'seggpuzzlewas
reproducedin the
(themaximumnumberof wordspermitted trademark.It was basedon her original special
supplement.
in the grid). I did know rhoughthat the poetryand simply titled, "Limerick":
Flansenis alsorecognizedfor her witty
puzzlehadto be symmetrical."
and punny clues. For a ptzzle on snake
"Sald W. SomersetMaugham
Farrar rejectedthe puzzle,sentHansen
punst}teclue, "Why did the snakesbreak
'I shall visit the lslandof
Guam.,
a two-pagesheet of puzzle-constructing
their engagement?"was answeredby
If I find lt ls hot,
"Anaconda
rules,and encouragedher to rework the
they hada fight."
I
shall
leaveon the spot.
gdd. If she followed theserules, Farrar
Hansen's
work appearsin numerous
I
detest
feellngoverly waugham."
promised
"My biggest
tolook atthepuzzleagain.
Hansen
publications.
marketis theZos
wassufficientlyencouragedto acceptthe
Farrar was reluctant to use the p:uzzle Angeles Times syndicate,edited by Jim
challengeand had the unenviabletask of becauseshehad neverpublisheda cross- BoldL" Because
Hansenconstructs
somany
fixingthepuzzle.In retrospectshesays,"I wordbasedonoriginalverse(manypuzzles of thesyndicate's
Sundaypuzzlessheuses
shouldhavestartedover from scratch;in- had beenbasedon quotedverse)and she the pseudonyms
of Letitia Luxton and
steadI cut and pastedand reworked the neededconvincingthatFlansen
hadcreated Franny Bancroft. She also contributes
puzzle."
the limerick. WhenHansensentcopiesof regularly to The CrosswordsClub, Dell
The energyexpendedwas worth it for her publishedverse from the women's ChampionCrossword
Puzzles,TheWashFarrarpublished"Ykcowrebbaj" in Janu- magazines,
Farraracceptedthepuzzleand ington Post, The New York Times,
uy 96a. Solvershadto look at crosswords paved the way for what would become CROSSW RD
Magazine,andthe Simon
in a newdirectionwhentheyansweredthe Hansen'strademark---original
limericks
in
&
Schuster
books.
Sheconstructsabout50
clue,"Well-knownpartof ' Ykcowrebbaj"' crosswords.
puzzlesa year,preferringto work in the2l
by writing in the grid backwards:
OvertheyearsFlansendevelopedanother x 2l size, but creating smaller ones as
"ebarg
tuo shtaremomeht dna"
speciality-rebuspuzzles,wherea familiar required.
Alwaysfacile with words, Hansenhad symbolis substitutedfor an answerword.
Someof Hansen'sotherassignments
inhonedherskills by readingvoraciouslyas Shehasconstructedpuzzlesusingmusical cludecreating
custompuzzlesfor corporaa child and in her adult yearsby playing symbols(Becky#);blant<s
("_check', and tions.She'sconstructed
puzzlesfor Random
Scrabbleand creatinglight verse,which "point _"); arrows ("Mia F+ "); eggs Houseto usein its
in-housemagazineand
she sold to Cosmopolitan and Good ("Wall Streetlaysan 0 "). Shealsocon- for a major
carcompanyto usein its showHousekeeping magazines.
structeda "bleep" puzzlewhereoffensive rooms.
Most of Hansen'sadult friends were wordswerechanged
to"bleep,"e.g.,..bleep
(Continuedon page 7)
July/August
1992
CROSSWRD
Page5
and thenconcentrates
on amassingall the is themorning."
words,sentences,
andphrasesshecanfind
Severaltimesa monthHansen
journeys
Now a 72-year-oldwidow, with grown to fit thetheme.,,I look
in booksandI think into Manhattan
to
attend
operas
unO.turri_
sonsandpreteengrandchildren,Hansen,s aboutthetleme."
Sheconcentrates
on get- calconcerts.
AlthoughHansenisextremelv
life revolvesaroundpuzzles,exercise,mu_ tingpairsof entries
of thesamelength,ig., knowledgeable
in classicalmusic. shl
sic, family, and friends.Her daily routine two l0-letterphrases
at a time,for symmi_ doesn't bombardsolvers
with obscure
startswith breakfast and The New york try.
..If I
musical
references.
..I
can
use
anariathat
Timesdatlycrossword. solve theTimes
Sheplacestheentrythemesinto thegrid I know instead
of an overworkedentryI,ll
puzzleeverymorningwith my secondcup andthendiagrams
aroundthem.Her favor_ useit, but I don,tgo out
of theway to use
of coffee; that's part of my waking ui ite part is the construction
of the puzzle arias."
process.
It's a goodway to getmyselfinto itself. Shetries not
to repeat definitions.
Many of her puzzlesare basedon her
a working frame of mind becauseI'm but.will write
down favoritecluesif she original five-line limericks
or four_line
thinkingwordsat that point.,'
feelstheybearrepeating.
Ifshe's stuckin a verses(seesamplesonpage9).
Hansenfirst
llansenthenretreatsto heroffice on the cornerduring
theconstruction
phase,she'd createsa versecomposedof 2
I or 23 letters
first floor of her homein Metuchen,New rather use familiar
words than try to use in eachline. Shehas to
be carefulalso to
Jersey.The l2-by - l2bookcase_lined
room termsthat the solvercan't possiblyknow. keep
the beat. "sometimes you have to
is filled to the brim with referencebooks Her goal is to "have
the solver finish the relinquisha much more apt
word just be_
and file cabinets.Formerly dubbed..the pluzzle.If the
solver can't completethe causeit won't fit."
lorturechamber,"Hansenhasrechristened pluzzle,theconstructor
hasfailed."
Althoughthemajorityof herversecon_
theroom"the escapehatch.',Sheworksfor
Hansenworks steadilyfor four to five forms
to the 2l-letter limit, someeditors
severalhoursata timeon hercommissioned hours and really
enjoys constructing...I haveallowedherto break
wordsin unusual
work.
almost think I'd rather be working than places.
Unsuspecting
solversmightbecon_
Her extensivereferencesinclude two doing anything
else.', She takesa break fusedwhentheycomplete
a lineln thegrid
complete
encyclopedia
sets,at leastl0 un_ around mid-afternoonwhen she
heads and seean unfinishedword as they
abridged
did in
dictionaries,
..I
includingall l3 vol_ outsidefor a long walk. usually
havea "With Malice TowardNone":
umesof the Oxford English Dictionary, destination-the post
office,library, grocery
Benet'sReader's Encyclopedia,six
ATOI.ERJA}TNNNOFTABRT
books store,etc., and if I don't I'll walk for a
ZE.OU
of quotes,andreferenceson films, comics, while."
NDSE\ERAI.ELIESONHTSCXIEE
songs,sports, literary characlers,etc.
SEWIIEI|ToI.DIE!4USTS:I{ATHEs
Work continuesin theevening...At night
Hansen
admitsto being.,hopeless
AT DNOTflIIINTUIEY?REI{EL
in sports,,, if I'm homealoneandwarcningiV t'tt tite
but tries to includethem in her work. Her my workin
@METOEATIiITATNIEYPI.EJASE
with me.I can'tjustlookat TV.
favoritereferenceis .,TheAlmanacof Fa_ If theprogram
is goodI'll watchTV; if it,s
Ilansenhaslivedin Metuchen
mousPeople,"which gives information mediocreI'll probably
almostall
get moreinterested of her life; her family
movedtherewhen
aboutfamousfolks from all areas_film. in what'son my
lap."
shewastwoyearsold.Shemetherhusband_
theater,
politics,music,etc.Hansenfindsii
Hansen'sroutine
varieswhensheattends to-be when she was
"comprehensive
16, but her parents
and handy.',
exerciseclassesat the local yMCA in the packed
her
off
to
her
mother's
family in the
Claimingto getherinspiration
from,,the morning.Shethendeferspuzzlinguntil the
Southwhenshewas lg to makeherdebut
ideafairy," Hansenfirst thinksof a theme afternoons
"preferred
but her
workingtime
(Continued on page 9)
"Into
THEMESANDCLUESFROMTHEHANSENFILE
..Bunyen,splckrxcutout?,,
,,il;::::ilfil;::'=
nll,.3{"'n"ouzzlewhichshederinesas"""6p;;;;l;;;;;
| "Malapropisms"
"How
"VYhy
"How the
tree's wlfe wes uprmtedrt
"I{ow the
tree kept her plantedr,
"How they
burled the hatchet"
"Quiptic
Comments":
"Any compllment
from 8rlch?"
"Why we missed
Mark's arrlval?"
('Poet
John's last words?"
..He opened
another brench,
..Shecalled
lta shedy deat,,
..She started
to pack her trunk,
..Crooned
don,t evr leafme,,
..she sald
baby take e bough'
..A pleasant
Remarque,,
.iDldn,t meet
the Twaln,
..What ls done
is Donnel
"Bunyanesque"
- anexampleof a themecarried ..exFemes,,:
to
"Bunyan'ssan{}9altt
"Bunyan's
lce culslrt
'Eunyan's daily
constltutional?rt
's barbecueplt?',
"The Palnted
Desert"
ttMulr
Glaclertt
"Oregon
Trall,t
..Jackson
Holert
...,mnd(.rno^,
ff;l#;,T;*,
"X.rated fllm?"
"Advlce to the
uptight?"
'rDon
Julnts concern?tt
"Phonographlc
movls',
"Sit back
and relapse',
'"The
erroneous zones"
"On
"Lookworkprsslapdoturn
"Avanctevionval
tt
ueterrdt
"Stetem Inegraduatehandrt
"Pourrlghttroddenstage',
'dTooretadtsecraordlarbr'*
* Hinc to be readbackward
CROSSWRD
Page 7
HANSENVERSE
July/August
1992
CROSSW RD
Page 9