SolvingGROSSWRDPuzzles

onYourLaptop
PlusAmerica'sMostGreativeCrosswords
By the Nation'sTopGonstructors

A CrosswordHall-of-Famer
Margaret
Famar
byHeleneHovanec
ugaret Petherbridgehad norhing dual distinctionof becomingthe first cros- andtired ArthurWynnedecidedto tum over
but
crosswords abourrhat little wordcontributoronrecordaswell asthefirst the crosswordto someoneelse.That"somel\/I
I Y Ifner
puzzlettrat appearedevery oneto receivea byline.
one" was Cosgrove,who dumpedit in
Sunday n The New York World, "The
Wynne continuedto print contribu[ors' Petherbridge'slap.
checkeredsquare,with its columnsof defini- puzzlesexactlyastheyhadbeenconstructed
Petherbridge,who had never solved a
tions,wasunsightly,hadnodecorativevalue, untilSeptember
12,1914,whenheexplained ctossword,choseeachw@k's puzzlesolely
and was publishedas a sort of necessary tactfullythathehad
changed
cluesonlyforthe onestheticappealandsentitto thetypesettrs
nuimncein ttreobscurestcomerof thepaper. constructor'sbenefit "If thepuzzleedior of withouttestingit Sinceshehadno clueasto
Nopnein tlp officeeverdreamedof amusing FUN wereto publishit exactlyasit wassent whatwasor wasn'tin thegrid, shedismissed
himselfby working out one of the snange- in, Mr. Rustwould not haveanycross-word solvers'lettersof complaintas"the work of
looking constructions,or even botheredto puzzletosolvethisweek.
Sotheptru:zlee/iinr cranks."
inquireabouttherulesof thisridiculousjob." hastakenthegreatlibertyofchangingoneor
After hercolleague,
FranklinPierceAdams
It was1921andttreyoungSmithCollege two wordsin Mr. Rust'spuzzlein orderthat Qcnwn as FP.A and creats of the popular
gfaduatecouldn't foreseethe fuhre to know he, too, can havean interestinghour or so 'ConningTowef' column),badgered
herabout
tlnt as ldargaret Farrar she'd becomethe solvinghis own Vtvz\
the
enus,
stp
decided
to
discover
what tlre
"grande
dame"ofcrosswords.Shehadjust
hooplawas
allaboulHerconversion
wasalmosl
"Ibegan
changedcareersfrom bankingto journalism,
Knowingthatone'sprrzzls
by uryingtodooneandthus
lryouldbe
edited immediate:
afterbeingexpectedto file CotyFreresunder didn't scareoff potential contribulors- experierrced
tlrcthroesof acuteagonythatcome
'.F.'With
thehelpof herroommale's
stepfa- prrzzfss
sgsamed.ntaTluWorld.SinceWynne to all solversof puzdeson discovering
defurithershehadlandedajob assecretaryto John usedonly onea week,he
ac*nowledgedthis tionsleftout,numbenwrong,hidmuslywarped
O'llara Cosgrove,ttre SundayeAitorof The problemon March 7, l9l5: "The
editor of definitions,wods notobe foundinsideofany
World. The crosswordbecameherresponsi- FUNreceivesanaverage
of twenty-fivecros- lnown dictionary,fmeigr words-very forbility afterCosgrove
dumpeditin herlapand wordseveryday from readers.Considering eign--andwudsthathadnorighttobedragged
orderedherto "get it in thepaperwittroutany tlnt only one cross-wordis publishedper outoftheirnative
obscurity.
Thenandthere,with
mistakes."
week you can possibly imagine what the my left handreposingon a dictionaryandmy
Thepuzzlehadbeenaregularfeaturesince office of FUN is
beginningro look like. Ev- right raisedin air, I took an mft to edit the
December
21,19I 3,whenArttrurWynnehad erywhereyoureyesreston
to theessence
of perfection.
boxes,banelsand crosswords
Frorn
positioneda"Word-Cross"in thetopcenterof
then
I
crates,
on,
insdMed
procedure
each
one
filled
the
with
puzzle
cros-word
of
doing
the
thepuzzlepagewith terseinstructionsto 'Fill patientlyawaitingpublication.
However,the puzzlesmyselfonthepageprmf-sort of uying
in thesmallsquares
with wordsthatagreewith editorof FUN hopesto usethem
all in time. it on thedog--applyingtheprinciple,
'If it not
the following definitions." After several Thepuzzleeditorhas
be
fair to me,
kindlyfigureditoutthat
readersrespondedby sendingin their own the presentsupply
WhatcareI how fair it be!"'
will last until the second
constructions,
Wynne publisheda second weekinDecember,2Im."
o
puzzle,along with the answersto the frst,
Duringthenextfewyearscrosswords
conPetherbridgemadeimmediatechangescommenting
that"tlrcgreatinterestin FUN's tinued!o be a regularWorld featwe.
with a puzzleswere now set a week in advance
puzzlepromptedthepuzzleeditor following loyal
word-cross
of
andvocalfans.Onsporadic insteadof at the last minute,which enabled
to submitanotherof the samekind."
occasionswhenthecrossworddidn't appear, cluesanddiagramsto be checkedanderrors
For the next few weeks,Wynne's cross- solversreactedangrily:"The
only thingI grve conectedbeforepublication.Otherimprovewords (the original name was soon trans- a hangabouton yourpage
or in your Sunday mentsincludedusingdictionarywordsonly,
posed)appearedregularly on Sundays.On
magazineis thecrosword."
tighteningttre diagram,eliminatingmostof
Februaryl, 1914,Wynneobliquelysolicited
From theoutset,however,thepuzzlewas the unkeyedletters (thosethat didn't cross
"F(JN'S
contributions:
cross-wordpuzzles plaguedbytypographical
enon, misnumbered with other letters),and settingup nrles for
gettingmorepopular
apparentlyare
thanever. definitions,omittedclues,and othersloppy
constructors
sothatthepuzzles
couldbecome
Thepuzzleeditor hasreceivedfrom readers work done
by disgruntledtypographers,
who moreuniform.
many interestingnew cross-wordpvzzles, didn't like
theextrachoresinvolvedin setting
Petherbridge'sassociates
in ttre editorial
whichhewill begladto usefrom timeto time. up the
crossword.Surprisingly,no one te$- departmentwereF. Gregory}larswick and
It is moredifficult to makeup a cross-word solved puzzles
ttre
beforetheyappeared
inprinr ProsperBuranelli.By 1924,the trio, using
puzzlethanit is to solveone.If youdoubtttris,
Naturally,thesetypographicalerrorshin- lum editorialguidance,suggestions
from in!y to makeoneyourself."
deredsolvers'abilitiesto hnish the puzzles trepidconstructors,
and
native
brilliance,
had
Exactlyone week later Wynne printeda andtheyunleashed
theirfrustrationsin angry succeededin shapingthe crosword into a
puzzleby Mrs. M.B. Wood,giving her the letters
!o theeditor.By l92I,an exasperated
(Continucdon page 7)
I

lf

November/December
1992

CROSSWRD

Farrar (from Page 5)

almostofnecessity,
startingherdaylatein the lory announcement:
"Beginning
aftemoonand working into the wee hours.
tday, TheNew york Times
more respectablepuzzle. Clues were now "After thephonestoppedringing
wasthebest inauguratesaptu;zlepage.Therewill be nvo
presentedwith just a single number(rather time to think up thatmagicaldefinition."
puzzleseachSunday---onewittr a flavor of
'V'lhenThe
thanthecumbersome
2-3,4-5varietyashad
NewYorkTimesinfoducedits currenteventsand generalinformation,and
appearedin the early puzzles);letterswere Sundaypnzzlepageon February15,1942, onevariedin theme,rangingfrom puzdesin
connectedto eachother throughan overall Farrarwas appointedcrosword editor.The a lighter vein, like today'ssmallerone,
[o
interlockingpattern;andsymmetryprevailed. newspaperwhosemotto was "all the news diagramless
puzzlesof a generalnature."
A regularfeahuein the SundayWorld, the that'sfit !o print" was,at thattime, ttreonly
Farrar'smandatewasto usenews-oriented
crosswordwas an important part of many majorpaperwittroutapuzzle.Theapocryphal cluesand the early crosswordswere almost
lives.
storyis thatpublisherArthur Sulzbergerde- socialstudiesquizzesin apuzzleformat.The
All ttreseimprovementsnotwithstanding, cidedto includea puzzleafterhefoundhim- titles werescholarly-"Headlinesand
Footthecrosswordmighthavelanguishedwereit selfbuyingIfteNewYorkH eraldTribunefor notes,""In and Out of the News,""With
a
notfor t}rebirth of Simon& Schuster's
pub- its crosword.
Flavor of News," etc., and the clues were
lishing house in 1924 (chronicled in
Duringtheheightof thecrosswordcraze, equallydry:
CROSSW RDldagazine's
lvlarcVApril19% TheTirneshaddenouncedthe
croswordin an
Famousone-eyedgenerat Wavell
issue).When Petherbridge,Ilarswick, and editorial:"Scarcelyrecoveredfrom theform
Flier lost in Pacific,1937 Amelia
Buranel[undertooktheassignment
of editing of temporarymadnessthat madeso many
Buy 50 DefenseStamps
50 puzzlesfor the new venture,they never peoplepayenormous
pricesformahjongsets,
wlth thls
Vee
dreamedthat ttreir efforts would startan in- aboutthesamepersonsnow arecommitting
Front page news from the
temationalcraze,catapultabrand-newcom- the samesinful wastein the utterly futile
worldover
panyintothemajorleaguesof publishing,and finding of wordstheletlersof which will fit
Batfles
Important coaling statlon
givePetherbridge
ajob for therestofher life. into a pre-anangedpattern, more or less
for Suez ships
WhenPetherbridge
Aden
marriedpublisherJohn complex.Thisisnotagameatall,andit hardly
Spreads out in line ofbatile Deploys
Farrarin 1926,sheleft herjobattheWarldbut can be called a spo4 it merely is a new
continued
!o edittheSimon& Schuster
(S & utilization of leisurefor ttrosefor whom it
However, the filler prrzzlss, starting wittr
S) books, working from her home on otherwisewouldbe emptyandtedious."
Anna Gram's (Farrar'spseudonym)..Riddle
Manhattan's
UpperEastSide.Sheraised
ln 1942,no referencewas madeto this
two
daughtenanda sonandbecamea nightowl editorial;rather,TheTimes madea perfunc(Continued on Page 9)

MY FRIENDMARGARET
I first contacted Margaret Farrar when I was
researching material for my book, Tlu puzzbr's
Paradise, describing the project and asking if I
could interview her. She politely refused, citing
the pressure of deadlines and mentioning her
penchant for privacy. "I am not fond of being
intenriewd and have only done so at the request
of my publisher."
Undetere4I rvrote a secondletter, This timel
offeredcarrots-lunch at arestaurantofher choice
and the chance to meet Will Shoru at the same
time. Margaret had corresponded with him and
knew about his Enigmatology degee. She was
having trouble solving his Christrnas puzzle card,
but wasn't going to hold it against him!
\Yill was certain that she'd refuse again. Boy,
washesurprisedwhenl toldhim shehad accepted!
We aranged !o eat at the Top of the Sixes in
midtown Manhanan. Will and I mer beforehand
and waited for her by the elevalor, He was
unpernrbed but I was a nervous wreck-pacing
the floor, talking a mile a minute, checking my
makeup,hair, etc. Will begged me to calm down
andwamedmenot to make too big adeal outof all
0ris."Don'tjump all overher whenshegetshere,"
he admonished.
Shesteppedoff the elevator and werecognized
her immediately. She held herself erecl smiled
broadly, and extended a gloved hand to each ofus.
We chatted perfunctorily and went in to lunch.
I'll never forget *rat first meal. The three of us
really hit it off. We stayed at the restaurantfor four
hours, barely eating, but talked on and on about

Novernber/December
1992

crosswords. I drove home !o New Jerseythinking

how extraordinary it was that three people at such
different stages of their lives-a 20-something
law student, a 30-something wife and mother, and
an 8O-year-old legend could be so compatible. I
washap'pytobe startingmypuzde careerinafield
that cut acrossartificial boundarie"sand connected
people by interests.
I got a letter from her a few days later, apologizing forramblingonaboutpuzzles. Asif shehad
done something wrongl 'My impression is thar I
gotcarriedaway andtalkedOomuchandtoolong.
I am remenrbering Mrs. Kingsley, who woul4
could, and did talk abour norhing but the doublecrostic, and I remember making a solernn resolutionneverto allow thatkindofobsessionlo happen
to me! I hope you gleaned at least some of the
information that could come in handy for your
chaprc,rson tlp crossword puzzle."
Margaret and I were friends from that first
meeting until her death in 1984. It was my ..job"
to drive her to Will's crossword tournament in
Stamford, Connecticut, every year. I'd arange
to pick her up at 9 in the morning for the ride to
"rhe
country."She'd always mumble something
about "the crack of dawn" whonever we made
these plans. It was perhaps the only day in the
year when she, a night owl, would rise before
her customary noon hour, We always had the
most wonderful chats in the car. On the ride up
we'dcatchup on all thathad transpiredsince we
last saw each other. I'd tell her about my work
and my family and she'd talk about her projects

CROSSWRD

and her grandchildren.

Margaret always had a wonderftl time at the
tournaments.Shewas acelebrity from themoment
she walked through the revolving doors at rhe
Stamford Malrion Hotel. People surrormded her,
shook her hand, chatted with her, photographed
her, bought her drinks, etc. She never stopped
smiting and had a kind word for everyone.
Her job was to award the prizes to the contest
winners, and she did this with wit and charm.
She'd pose for picnrres with photographers and
co[test{nts and always agreed to be interviewed
by anyone who was writing up the toumament. It
was hard to get her out of the hotel. We were
inevitably the last ones to leave.
There was so much to talk about on the ride
back to Manhattan. Margaretlovedleaming more
about the participants and constructors-who thev
were, what they did, where they came from, how
they fared in the toumament, etc. She had a keen
memory and liked meeting people and getting to
know something about *rem.
Sho always called me late on ttrose nights to
make sure I got home all righr and to thank me
again for nansporting her. Of course, with her
mamers, she'd followup withahandwrittenthank_
you note,
When she died in Jrure, 1984, her secrerary
called to invite me to the memorial servic andtold
me thar Margaret always "had fun ' when she was
with me. Ihad a lotof fun too. Ifeel lucky to have
known her.

-H.H.
Page 7

Farrar (from Page7)

rained underheraegis,"andto express..my werevertoten,andtwo-letterwordswereno

fervent appreciationfor all the challenging longerallowed."The topicalpuzdewasnow
Me This," usedpeppiercluing:
pleasureshehasgivenme."
emergingandconstructors
wercpayingmuch
Retirementwas perhapsttre only word moreattentionto interestingdefinitions."
How to wake up the quem Poker
'"The1950s
Farrarcouldn'tdefrne.
AfterleavingTluTimes,
wereremarkablefor themost
Shootthesebut never
she
continued
to
edit
the
puzzle
S
&
S
books,
importantof
innovations--the
freedomtouse
loed them
Dlce
calendars,and the PocketBookscrosword phrases,fi.rll names,book and song titles,
Anlmal that becomeslater Ratl
series;constructedthematicpuzzlesfor spe- quotationsorpartsof quotations,etc."Frrar
Mr.Snore
Sefior
cialize<lmagazines;
andtookupawholenew creditsl{arcld T. Bers as t}re originatorof
TIUTines inroducedadailypuzzleonthe careerin 1977,whensheraveled iopluzzle the"innerclue"crossword."Solverswereapt
bookpagein 1950"as a little brotherto the toumamentsto awardprizes O the contest to find the namesof a dozenbrandsof cigaSundayone." Famr's wor&loadincreased winners.(Seesidebar)
rettesor of cars(Camelwouldbe 'shipof ttre
butthequalityremainedhigh.Herfamily was
Fanar'seditingof ttreS & S boola for 60 desert'andC-adillac
was*p'French explorer,
"Originally, consecutiveyearsis
dulyunimpressed
with hercareer.
an unparalleledfeat in colonizerof Denoit'). The concealedtie-in
thefamily tendedto hidethefactthatMother publishinghistoryandcould very well be a wouldbeginto dawnassolvingprogressed."
wasapuzzleeditor.
WhenIjoinedTluTinus recordthat will neverbe broken.Whenttris Also duing this time, quite possiblyas a
I becamelalpectable."
milestonewasreached,shecelebrated
at nvo meansto savepreciousqpace,hintsasto the
GraduallyFarrardroppedttrenewsyclues back-to-backparties.On April 8, l9&4, she numberofwordsin tlp answerweredropped
and edited the prrzzlss in an enter6ining presidedoverthefirst-evergatheringof crossThe 1960swerecharacterized
by experimanner.Yearslater shedescribedtheevolu- word editors.The wit and warmth that had mentation.Theemu-moa-rocvarietyof defition of ttreTirnescrossword:
endeared
herto hercolleagues
overtheyears nitionswereeliminatedandconstructors
were
"Thepageproceeded,
by almostimpercep- camethroughwhen, after blowing out the freeto usefreshideas,new themes,andnew
tible metamorphosis,
to achievea more so- candleson her crosword cakg she com- clues.EugeneT. lvlaleska'sStepquotepuzzle
phisticatedform of entertainment,
principally mentedthatherjob hadalwaysbeen,,apiece wasinroducedduringthistimeaswasFrances
through ttre ingenuity of pioneering con- of cake."Thefollowingevening
shehosteda Hansen'soriginallimericks.
structorswho havedevelopedttreirwork inO "Now We Are Sixty" partyat thelotos Club
Always self-effacing,Farrarcreditedher
a fine art.Many of themhavegrownup wittr in New York City. It was her last public cons0rctorswith initiatingthesechanges.
If,
thegameandhavebroughtfertileimagination appearancebeforeher
deathonJuneI 1,1984. indeed, this is fue it was becauseFarrar
and deft experimentationinto the field of
Fanar's legacy is immense.She took a allowedconstructorsthe freedomto be creplay."
ptu.le thatwasthrownogettrerandriddled ative. She was the gentlestof editon.
She
WhenTheTimes announced
Farrar'sre- with errorsandmde itrapectableby devis- rejectedpuzzlaswittr handwrisennotesinditirementin 1969(they had a mandatoryre- ing rulesfor its cons0uction.Theevolutionof catingthe errorswould-beconshuctors
had
tirementpolicy), herdevotedfansresponded thecrosswordfrom a cut-anddriedinforma- made in ignoring the basic rules.
She enwithabarrageoftributes,manyofwhichwere tional puzde to a witty form of wordplayis couragedthoseshe thoughthad
talent and
reprintedin themagazineonJanuary26.Two directlyamibutableto herinfluence.Seventy- wouldlmk at multipletransformations
of ttre
standouL Don Parks of Cranston,Rhode nineyearsafteris inroduction,thecrossword samepuzde.Shecheckedeachfact
andwhen
Island,pennedthispoem:
still hasenormousappealfor its aficionados. shecouldn't verify somettringshe'daskttre
Farrarracedthedevelopment
of thecross- constructorfor a source.
word
in the50thanniversarybookof theS &
Ilail Margaret(Gretchen,Maggie,Meg)!
Shealsoinroducedsolverstomanygenres
S series:In the20s"primarydefinitionswere of puzzles-puns and anagrams,doubleThouwast,or wert,a goodold egg!
derigueur."Consluctorsliked to rely on ttre crostics,diagramlescrosswords,
Theani in theupastree,
andcryptics.
Funk
& Wagnallsdictionary"because
Theem uponthe Azov Sea
itwas Again,manyof theseideasweregenerated
by
full of wordsignoredby Websterbut sorely constructors.
Singaveandadieuto ttree!
neededbyconstructors."Puzzle#1
Thenibesof Otoeandof Ute you
inbook#l
In a guestcolumnnThe Tilrcs in 1974
was
thework of Gregorian,a pszudonymfor Fanarconfessed
Softequentlydescribedsaluteyou!
thatshehad..womoutthree
F.
Gregory
}lartswick.The I lx11 crossword unabridged
You will be missedinEtrn, Tara
dictionaries"andowned.hragbag
hadtwo ll-letter words-Proprietors(Own- vocabularyusefulonlyto acrosswordeditor."
St.Lo, Samoa,OmskandNara!
en) and Conspirator(Ploue0 crossingeach Shesummedup her"accidental"caleer:
Whatwill you do whenyou retire?
"If my gain
other-"quite a featfor l9Z standards."
Raiseeland?Or becomean ayah?
hasbeenaragbagof words,it
In
the
1930s,
thereweremorewide-open hasalso beenthe humblingknowledgethat
Or maybereada bookor twocomersandfewerpuzdeswith unkeyedlet- 'out there' in the U.S.A. were a heap
Emma?Kipling's Kim? Omoo?
of
ters. Constructon still relied on primqry solvers,at least 20 million Across and l0
of which repeatedthe an- million Down. I'm reasonablysuretlat all
And EJ. Kahn, Jr., of TheNew yorkcr, definitions,many
"Slave
ships"for..slavers." yousolversenjoywith mesuchbonuses
describedhisrolein adaily competitionon a swerword,e.g.
asthe
"safe
nameof Paul Revere'shorseandof Noah,s
Westchestercommuter train. Participans Solversliked "aandsand'clues.
In the 1940s, favoredway of making wife, thewordfor 'havingbeautifulbuttocla'
wouldraceagainsteachotherto completethe
crosswords
moredifficult, andpossiblymore (fromtheGreek,natch),etc.Etcetera-Andso
puzzlebefore the fain pulled into Grand
interesting,
was
to useremotewordsandthe forth."
Cenral Terminal. Although Kahn left the
tr
"the
most
unusual
definitions
exlanl" But crossuburbsas
undefeatedchampion,"the
purposeof his lettdr was not to brag but wordswerechanging.Thereweremoreven- HELENE HOVANEC is ediorandpub_
"merely
to indicate how faittrfully I have turesomepattemsemerging,unkeyedletters lisherof Kids' PuzzleExpress.
November/December
1992

CROSSWRD

Page 9