![]() ![]() "My ( 8 Across: One of the things Morris Albert used to sing a lot about) is that puzzles should reflect life and embrace everything in life," says Shortz, now 61. He got a job with a crossword magazine, confusing the school's placement officials, who wondered why he wasn't applying to law firms. Shortz wanted to spend his life in puzzles but figured he'd need a real job at least for a few years, he told U.Va. He then graduated from the University of Virginia's law school in 1977. He received his bachelor's degree in enigmatology - the study of puzzles - from Indiana University. The glossary in her thesis defines a "Maleska-ism" as "an obscure word that requires a dictionary." A retired ( 6 Across: A job to please teachers or tenants), Maleska never let go his role as educator. ![]() Maleska is not a beloved figure in the crossword ( 10 Across: Chevy left it recently), Feigenbaum says. He replied: "I am no longer accepting contributions from neophytes." Will Weng - the editor who didn't abide Shortz's "belly button" answer - said no, citing, among other flaws, "far too many black squares." She revised it and tried Weng's successor, Eugene T. As a young editor in Miami, she created a puzzle packed with journalistic references - "gossip columns" was the answer to "Pillars of society" - and submitted it to The Times in 1976. She did them on the beach - and, later, in a dull politics class at Cornell University. Since it didn't have any comics, she took up the crossword. The Times was one of the few English-language papers available there. or maybe not) started a furniture business. Her family moved to Puerto Rico, where her (9 Across: You admit your worst deeds to him. Her crossword infatuation began when she was a teenager. The Times, though, bent to the craze and printed its first puzzle in 1942. Feigenbaum's thesis quotes a 1924 Times editorial labeling puzzles a "form of temporary madness" and "a primitive sort of mental exercise." The New York Times joined critics who saw it as a mindless pursuit. "If they can't tweet, comment, rant and rave about a great or lousy puzzle, they're not going to have any interest in it," Feigenbaum says.Īrthur Wynne, an editor of the New York World, created the first crossword puzzle - in the shape of a diamond - as a holiday offering in the Dec. More important, it's attracted younger generations. ![]() It's changed the habits of older puzzlers like Feigenbaum, who does at least two a week on her computer. ![]() It's provided added income for The Times, which charges even subscribers for access to online puzzles. The emerging online presence of puzzles and related blogs might prove their salvation, she says. What happens to crosswords if they go away? Her title refers to a dilemma that hits close to home for Feigenbaum, a retired Virginian-Pilot editor: Print newspapers have been the main vehicle for puzzles. Scott's curious Benjamin)." Shortz, in contrast, has approved puzzles with such answers as "scumbag" and "man breasts." One of Shortz's predecessors rejected a puzzle he had constructed with the answer "belly ( 4 Down: F. Last year, Feigenbaum added her own words on the subject.įor her master's degree in humanities from Old Dominion University, she wrote a thesis, "Crosswords at a Crossroad," covering the origins of the puzzle, which turned 100 in December the succession of Times editors, and evolving tastes. Her collection includes "Kehlor Key to Crossword Puzzles" from 1933, "Word Freak," "Wordplay: The Official Companion Book" and "Banned Crosswords." (Of the last, she says, "I'm not a prude at all, but I don't care for them very much.") She's told her children: "This is my DNR: If I can't do The New York Times puzzle in some form, either on computer or paper, cut the cord."įeigenbaum's bedroom shelves ( 4 Across: What adulterers do) her passion. "But it doesn't help much."ĭespite those handicaps, Feigenbaum, who will turn 71 ( 7 Down: When to visit Morrie), is a crossword zealot. When she's in the supermarket, "I take the long line so I can read People magazine," Feigenbaum says. And she's not up on popular culture or the sporting world - the source of far more clues since ( 13 Across: Abbreviated nap) took over the Times puzzles about 20 years ago. She doesn't have a solid handle on Roman numerals. Plus, Feigenbaum owns up to damaging liabilities. But "I don't sit there practicing with a stopwatch, like some people do." To train for the tournament, she's intensified her crossword regimen from two to three a day. ![]()
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