Split Decisions,PhraseForays,anda Coupleof Gryptics

PlusAmerica'sMostCreativeCrosswords
By the Nation'sTopConstructors

ANDTHEI{WNNERSARE,
Weng,Hook,Cox,Rathvon,
Shenk,pomerance,
andJoline
by HeleneHovanec
Will Weng,theformercrosswordeditor for TheNewyork reachedtheirzenithof deviousness,
Cox andRathvoncreate
Times,haswon thefirst annualWynnerawardasCrossword apuzzlethat'smorecunningthanever.Theirwinningcryptic
PuzzlePersonof the Year for 1990.
was,to saytheleast,intriguing.
Weng,84,washonoredby theeditorsof CROSSWRD
Thewinnerin thecategoryof BestVarietypuzzleis Mike
Magazinefor his numerouscontributionsto the crossword Shenk.Shenk'spuzzle"Marching Bands" appearedin the
world.Duringhis manyyearswith TheTimes,,,WillWeng', FebruaryMarch1990issueof GamesMagazine.Shenk,who
and"crosswordpuzzles"becamevirtually synonymous.
Al- is a contributing
editorof CROSSW RD Magazine,
is edithoughWenghas
retiredfrom full-timeeditingandconstruct- tor-at-largeat Dell ChampionPuzzles and was the senior
ing,to manypeopleWill WengremainsMr. Crossword.
editorofthelate,butsoonto beresurrected,GamesMagazine.
The Wynner awardfor the best book of 1990goesto Shenkdevelopeda unique format that was introducedin
HenryHook,for his Hookedon Puzzles#i. While thereare Gamesandhasdevelopeda wide following.
manyexcellentcollectionsof crosswords
publishedannually,
The Wynnerfor BestCrosswordby a New Constructor
Hook'scollectiondiffersfrom mostin thathe constructsall goesto BrendaPomerance.
Her puzzle,.Athlete'sFeat"
the puzzleshimself. His versatilityincludescrosswords, appeared
inthe October1990issueoi theCrossworder,
s Own
cryptics,v arietycryptics,doublecrostics,rebuses
(withHook's Newsletter.
own artwork),spirals,numbercrosses,andcleveroriginals
And the winnerof the Wynnerfor BestCrosswordin a
thatarebeyondclassification.
Daily Newspaper
is NancyJolinefor herpuzzlein theSaturThe Wynnerfor the bestAmericanCryptic Crossword day, October27, edition of TheNew york Times.
Using a
goesto Emily Cox and Henry Rathvonfor meir puzzle, minimumof obscurewords,abbreviations
or unconventional
"MysteryTheater."
Cox andRathvonareregularcontributors wordsor forms,Ms. Jolinecreateda 58-wordpuzzle.Most
to TheAtlantic Monthly,in which their winning puzzleap- dallypuzzlescontain72 to 80 wordsin a 15-by-15grid.
Only
pearedin June,andarealsocontributingeditorsof CROSS- oneotherconstructoris believedto havedesigned
apuzzle
W RD Magazine.Jusrwhenyou think crypticpuzzleshad with so few entries.
By the endof thecrazeit wasestimated his skills on the word rebuses,anagrams,
7^! rosswordirisspreadrapidlythrough
rheUnitedSr.atesin1924afterSimon
I
thattherewere10million crosswordsolvers charades,
andversifiedpuzzlesin American
Schusrerlaunchedits new pub- in theU.S.alone.
\-rA
Boy and other popular magazines.
Even
lishinghousewith TheCrossWordPuzzle
Oneof thepeoplewhoremainedimmune thoughhedidn'thoponthecrosswordbandBook.
to the hooplawas l7-year old Will Weng. wagonat theoutset,hedid startto solvethe
Crosswords
hadbeenrunningin theNew "My next-doorneighbors
hadthefirstcross- crosswords
in theNewYork H eraldTribune
YorkWorldsinceDecember21, I9l3,buta word book," he recalled."I would try to in the1930s
at aboutthesametimehestarted
bookofthemwasanovelty.Suddenly,
people solvethepuzzleswhenI wentto visit them, workingfor its rival,TheNewYor
kTimes,as
became
obsessed
with filling in theblanks but they were too difficult for me. I got a reporter.
ontheblackandwhite gridsthatseemedto almost nowherewith them." Clues were
After a yearof coveringbridgematches,
popup everywhere.
factualandusedprimarydefinitions:
testimonialdinners,and "whateverelse
Hopingfor a modest.
success,
S & S had
neededto be reported,"Wengwasoffereda
"Legislatlve bodiest'
..Senates"
initially printed3,600copies,which were
job
asa copyreader."The headof thedesk
ttPronountt
..lt t
snatched
up immediately.Subsequent
copremembered
thatI hadhadpracticewriting
ttChoosett
ttElecttt
iesfromadditionalprintingsfaredevenbetheadlinesat ColumbiaUniversity'sSchool
terandby theendof theyear400,000puzzle
Or constructors
unearthed
wordsthathad ofJournalismsohecorralledme.I gotstuck
bookshadbeenpurchased.
remainedsuccessfullyhiddenfor yearsin on tle deskand neverwent back to reportMoreover,crosswords appearedin obscuredictionaries:
ing."
newspapers,
magazines,cartoons,editori('Albumln
Wengcreditshis headline-writing
expefrom
als,gossipcolumns,Broadwayplays,college
rience
as an appropriateapprenticeshipfor
"Ricintt
castor-oil bean"
curriculums,and Sundaychurchservices.
job, for both.requirethe
his puzzle-editing
"Volubletalkativeness', .,Blether,'
Salesof dictionariesand thesauruses
skyability
to
condense
lots of informationinto
ttThebow of Vishnu"
..Sarantt
rocketed
andthecrosswordmotif waseven
pithy,punchyphrases.
reproduced
on clothingand jewelry.
Weng did solvepuzzlesasachild, honing
(Continuedon Page7)
March/Aoril
1991

CROSSW RD

Page5

Wynner (fromPage5)
Wengspent30 yearson the Timescopy
desk,includinga stint as a censorofpress
dispatches
duringWorld War II andas the
headof the metropolitandesk.
He startedconstructingcrosswordsduringthe1950swhenhisdesirefor acrossword
with jokes in it led to his willingnessro
devotethenecessary
timeto creatingone.It
tookhim "forever"to construct("It waslike
pulling teeth"),but he finally sentthe finishedproduct
to MargaretFarrar
throughthe
Timesinterofficemail. After he madeher
requestedchangesit waspublished.Clues
included:
"Lament of a landlocked marinerrt
"Penalty for
bigamy"

"I ong time no sedt

"Two mothers-ln-law"

Weng becamea regular contributorto

Farrar'sinventory and found his puzzles
appearingoften in the daily and Sunday
papers.His "The Pun'sthe Thing" crosswordin 1967brokenew groundasthefirst
punnySundaypuzzlewith theseclues:
"Large, tlresome
animals"
"Subway for Bugs
Bunny,perhaps"
"Summonses to a
desserttt
ttRodentts

..Colossalboars"
..Rabblttransitt,
t'Mousse callst,

"Beaver damn,,
cussword"
"Where some
animals play golP' "Publlc lynx"
.
"What author
Virginia got
as a girl"

.,Wmlf utristled'

far,sogood.I nowknewhowtodefrneswim
and skate.But what aboutthe words that
werein front of me?I still drewa complete
blank."
Weng madealmostno changesfor the
first few weeks."I triedto imitateMargaret
from beginningto end,but it wasvery hard
to thinkhowotherpeoplethink. Gradually,
I did my ownthinking,for I knewI'd haveto
sink or swim thisway."
Soon the crosswordsstartedto reflect
Weng'switty style:
"Yuletide itinerant"

,,Caroler"

..NE t
..ELrt
..TTrt
..ACrt

"A\T"

"End of the line"

"Bottom of the barrel"
t'Heart of the matter"
"Center of attraction"
"Center of gravity"

HowWeChosethe Wynners
Nominationsfor thewynner awardswereopento constructors,
solvers,editors,
pubtc.
of
the
Because
many
peopie
received
ttreir
issues
of volume I,
31dryembep
NumberI of CROSSW RD in December,therewasinsufficienttime for usto receive
a lar-gequan_tity
of submissions,
andfor usto examineall of a year'sworthof puzzles
in dozensof differentbooks,magazines,
syndications,
etc,
Whatwe thereforedid for thefirst annualWynnerawardswasinvitesuggestions
andthenreacha consensus
amongtheeditorsof cnossw RD. In theawardareas
in which we wereunableto reacha consensus,
we decidednot to give an awardfor
1990.Thefact that awardswerenamedin certaincategoriesandnot in othersis thus
not a.reflection.onrhequality of the puzzlespublishJdin 1990,but only upono*
inabilityto reacha consensus.
Thisexcuseof insufficienttimeandlackof consensus
will notworkin 199I . Thus.
we invite your submissionsthroughoutthe year for wynners in the followim g
categories:
Best Crosswotd,daily ppcr - consrrrrctar
Best Crosswords,in a book or magaTineedilar
Best Crossword,ilaily paper (yeafs work) edilor
BestCrossword,by a new consbuctor
B est C tosswotd,Swtdayppr - conslmdor

BestAmeriun Crygic Crosword * consbuctar

BestCtoswotd,S utfuy ppcr (yeaf s vor*) edilor
_corrsfrwcbt
BestNontmswordWoilpuzh
Best Crossword,in a hok or magazineconstruclor
CrosswordPrqfu Penonof thc ycar

egf.furnsmaybeobainedbysendingasamped,self-addressedenvelopeto:Wynner
Awards,c/oCROSSW RD lvfagazine,
P.O.Box 909,Bellrnore,N.y. I1710.

"Takesan ungalnly
Weng'sregularbylineinTheTimeswas
ttSprawlst'
a contributingfactorto his beingchosenas
position"
"Old King's
Farrar's successor.After being named
ttColetslawtt
crossword
editorin 1969hedidn't havea lot
saladedict?"
"Placea statute
of cluesas to what his responsiblitiesentailed. Wengrecalledthosefirst daysin a
"[,ay down the lad'
on thetable?'
1982micle for The Four-StqrPuzzler,a
"Hand-y statute?tt "Rule of thumbtt
now-defunctoffshoot of the temporarily"Grade B
defunctGamesMagazine:"I put tlte first
t'Demigodtt
Olymplan"
puzzlein frontof me,lookedatit helplessly,
"One-horsecity?" ttTroYtt
andthenaskedmyself,'Whatdo I do now?'
ttltts oftenstarrdtt t'Sapphirett
MargaretFarrar had left me a couple of
"Placefor a coup" "Etat"
puzzlesto get startedwith-already edited
"Prolific Irish
by her.Thesegavemean inkling of whatit
6'Patpendlngtt
inventortt
wasall about.
"Onewith a
"The definition 'move
through water'
checkered
past?" ..cabrt
(for SWIM) had beenchangedro 'do rhe
DuringWeng'seight-yeartenure,solvers
crawl.' And 'glide on ice' (SKATE) had
beenchanged
to 'emulateHansBrinker.'So saw puzzles with Arabic numbers("76
March/April
1991

trombones"); Romannumerals('Life beginsatXL"); musicalsymbols('Becky#');

visualfill-ins (eggs,stars,flags)andonein
a classall by itself, William Lutwiniak's
"SpotAnnouncements."
Lutwiniakhadusedanold NationalPuzzlers'Leagueinvention,the wordrebus,to
clue his main entries as literally-correct,
abbreviated
expressions:

CROSSWRD

..WHE'

"The mlddle of nowherett

Wengwasunprepared
for the"massmisunderstanding"
of the solvers."They were
ableto finish the puzzle,but theycouldn't
understandwhat it was all about."Letters
flowedinto rheTimesoffrceandsomewere
publishedon theLetterspage. Onereader,
protestingthateditorWill Wengthrewsolvers"a real curveball," demandedto know
themeanings
of "all thoseapparently
meaninglessinitials."
Wengthoughtthattheanswers
were"obvious,"butresponded
diplomatically:"The
lettercluesweresupposed
to givettreliteral
definitionsof thecompleteanswer.Thusthe
clueWIIE yieldedtheanswer'Ttremiddle
of nowhere,'and the middle lettersof the
(Continuedon Page9)
Page 7

Wynner (from PageT)

me in a hallowedclasswith Whitney and

Yale,and,evenattimes,a Biblicalprophet.,,
Weng pursuedhis two main hobbiesplayingduplicatebridgeand swimmingat
theNew York AttrleticClub while conrinuing to edit The Time.rcrosswordbooks
(collections of updatedpuzzles from the
Sundaypaper).Healsoconstructed
puzzles
for Farrar'sSimon & Schusterbooksand
appeared
at somepuzzlecompetitions.His
witty cluesandthemescontinued.

word 'nowhere'areWHE."
Weng even took libertieswith the diagramby printing a puzzlewith anextrabox
appended
to thetopofthe grid andanswered
by "stick out like a sore thumb.',Weng
recallsno "frantic calls"or "poison-penletters" from solversaboutthis plzzle.
BeforeWeng retiredfrom Tlv Tinus tp
penneda farewell column summingup the
pleasure
he hadreceivedduringhis careerand
a
inroducinghis successor,
EugeneT. Nfalesla
In "WengingIt" thethemewaspuns:
Fansagainrespondedwith letters,many
"Fare for a
of whichwereprintedin thepaperonMarch
"Collector's itemt,
conductortt
20,1977.Typicalof rhewarmfeelingfrom
"Snippet of
"Will
solversweretlese words:
Wenghas
"Conversatlon piece',
dialoguett
providedeight yearsof perfectlysplendid
'(Antiquett
"Thing of the past"
puzzles-more than 3,000--managingalwaysto keepthemchallengingbut, never,
In "The PaperChase"heuseda newspawell, hardlyever,exasperating."
per theme:
ActorEli WallachthankedWengfor all
"Like a NewYork
thepleasurehehadgivenhim andexpressed
newqpaperinvestor,
his delightat often seeinghis namein the
"Behind the Times"
"I
In away"
puzzle. neverceasedto be excitedwhenI
"Wall St. runners,
saw: 34 Across,Actor _ Wallach.My
"Financial pagesrt
In a way"
nameusedto leapoutofthepage.Italsoput

't,lewspaper
income,
..Dailybread,t
in awaytt
"Important
newspaper
times".,Bannerdays,t
In 1981his leisuretime wasdrastically
reducedwhen two advertisingexecutives,
Nob Hovde and JonasGold, desiringto
"bring
Will Wengout of retirement,"inhoducedThe Crosswords
Club. Theyoffered
subscribers
four (laterfive) brand-newSunday-sizepuzzlesedited in the inimitable
Wengway.Puzzleswereprintedon quality
paperandincludedcomments
ondifficult or
tricky cluesor answers.
Gold wantedWeng to usea'.gotcha!"
attitudewhenchoosinghiscomments.
Weng
demurred,thinking it would be..quiteunseemly"and suggested
that he confinehis
remarksto "the wordsthat gaveme a little
trouble-authors I neverheardof, or something I didn't know muchabout.,,
Ownershiphaschanged,
butWengis still
involvedin the club, now in its tenthyear,
andcontinuesto usehisownexperience
asa
yardstickfor the comments.He elaborated
(Continuedon PageI0)

PICTURE PERFECT byshrrrey

soroway
ACROSS
1 Duelingmemento
5 Sourceof roe
9 Inthis condition
13 Pasty
14 Lyricpoem
15 Western'monster"
16 Segmentsol history
17 Hearsay
18 Fromscratch
19 Friendship
amongthe
paparazzi?
22 Amesand McMahon
23 Monoliths
24 Cashin
26 Gosightseeing
28 Gofer'sjob
31 Thingsto be cured
34 NeilYoung's_ Never
Sleeps
s7 Prefixlor collegiate
38 "Thecheckis in the mail,',
often
39 Humiliate
41 "_ LittleTeapot"
42 Kindof circleor tube
44 Bootbottom
45 Highlander
46 SingerSheena
48 Kinof etc.
50 _ ls Nota Home(1964film)
53 Cookthe actor
57 Ebenezer's
exoletive
59 Basicsof photodeveloping?
fMarch/April
1991

61
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70

Richardor Walter
Attack
Roly-_
Lunchfavorite
Tinker-Chance
middleman
Fencingweapon
ActressLamarr
Spanishmuralist
Fenderdamage

DOWN
1 Glasses,for short
2 Jeweler'sunit
3 You mustrememberthis
4 Takesexceptionlo
5 Tater
6 Four-bagger
7 Payhomageto
8 Ridicule
9 _ Khan
10 Concerninga racyfilm?
11 _ ThreeLives
l2 Lumberyard
tools
14 Evidenceof error
20 Duesenberg
contemporary
21 Spooky
25 Endingfor northor soulh
27 Toupees,slangily
29 Nautiluscaptain
30 'Darn!"

31
32
33
35

Nastaseof tennisfame
DirectorWertmuller
Helpswiththe focusing?
Hit-showsign

36
39
40
43
45
47
49
51
52

Account
sag

54
55
56
57
58
60
62

Catchesthe scentof
Archaicverbending
Lostone'sfooting
Administers
TLC
Ringgreat
Strainer
Setfoot in

(Solutionis on Page 29)

Hillside
Legendarybeauty
Thusfar
Little Womencharacter
Flu symptom
Biting
Negativevote

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CROSSW RD

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11

Page 9

Wynner (from Page9)

on Buffalo Bill Cody by explainingthat he
"furnishedbuffalo meatfor train construction crewsin 1867and 1868."
Re theentry"R.E.Lee"Wengnotedthat
this "would have been unthinkablein the
early,unimaginativedaysof the crossword
p]uzzle.But a crusadingeditor, Margaret
Farrar,expandedthepuzzleto allow theuse
of word combinationsand phrases,and in
theprocessaddedto thezestof solving."
Wengeditsandconstructsfrom his apartmentin Manhattan.He workson puzzlesfor
a while, goesout, returns,and complelesa
*If I can't makea
batch.His philosophyis
clue better,I won't changeit." He sends
Ilarriett
batchesofpuzzlesto his associate,
his materialfor
Wilson,whodouble-checks
accuacy.
He is so "overwhelmed"with submisthat he haspuzzles
sionsfrom constructors
for the club scheduleda yearanda half in
advance.After recently undergoingmajor
surgery,Wengdoesn'tplanto editanymore
books,but.will continueto edit thepuzzles
for The CrosswordsClub.

Weng chatsand correspondswith constructorsandmeetsseveralof themfor lunch

in Manhattansporadicallywherethey "almostnevertalk shop."But hehasalmostno
concactwith subscribersand doesn'treally
knowwhotheyare."Solversaremorevocal
in newspapers
wherethere'san immediacy
to thepuzzle."

Barry Manilow
responded:

'WillWeng
for President!'

corporatedollarsto purchasea membership

in TheCrosswords
Club.
Weng never seemedto take his job or
himselftoo seriously.In theaforementioned
Four-StarPwzler arttclehetalkedabouthis
editing: "My fingers got itchy once on a
definition for NEVER NEVER LAND. I
forgetwhattheoriginal definition was,but I
changedit to 'Localefor PeterPan.'
"Afew dayslateralettercametellingme
that PeterPanhad only one NEVER in his
land. I hadn't read the book, and hadn't
plannedto, but I wassosureI wasright that
I got a copy of the book and read it. And
never,neverwasI so wrong."
And never,neverdoesWill Weng view
thecrosswordasanythingbut apleasurable
vehicle.
Whenaskedby an interviewer,"What is
your main aim wittr a crosswordptzzle-in
otherwords,whatis its purpose?"Wangre.
plied emphatically,'Entertainmenr
Any educationalvaluewouldbeincidenal.'
tr

However, two well-known subscribers

becameknown to him in different ways.
Whenthe ownersof The Crosswords
Club
asked selectedsubscribersif their names
couldbe used!o promotethe club (their list
is confidential)singerBarry Manilow re"Will
with thismessage:
spondedpositively
Wengfor President!"And whenhotelexecutiveLeona Helmsley'sfinanceswere HELENE HOVANEC, atthorof Cr eative
is a writer andpuzzleconbeingexposedin the press,muchmention Cruciverbalists,
was madeof the fact that she had used structor.

APT ACTRESSESbyAtexvaushn
ACROSS
I Looseas a_
6 Righettior Brubeck
10 Electricallyversatile
14 Shell-gameparticipant?
15 Ham'scousin
16 Mao'smainman
17 Star ol Bobin Hood?
19 Tugboatgreeting
20 Luxuriate
21 'The Way"
poet
22 Metaphysical
23 Star ot SlapShoft
26 DoctoralWork
3b Koreanhistoryname
31 Birdiebeater
32 Beatles''Let _'
34 Suflix
37 Star ol BasketCase?
41 Hearthecase
42 Olivefamilymembers?
ttil Unabridged
44 _doble (bullfighte/s
march)
46 Hit in the head
47 Star ol Afterthe Fo/?
52 Walking_ (elated)
53 Shearedshe
54 Glasgowgarment
58 Eavesdroppingdevice
59 Star ol The Soundot
MusiC?
62 The PGAhas one
53 lfs/butsgo-between
64 Sergioof spaghetti
westernsfame
65 Skinnynumerals

Page10

66 Firstor lastnameof a
pitcher
Hall-of-Fame
67 Rigaresidents

DOWN
1 Kindol bag
2 Chaplin,
neeO'Neill
3 Hastitleto
4 Go after
5 NOWgoal
6 Vehiclefor Mr.T
7 Detest
8 Necklineshape
9 Flub
'10 MossHart'sautobiography
11 Halfof the "Basketball
Jones"team
't 2 Lornaof literature
13 Morebuttonlike?
18 1and66:Abbr.
22 Bombdoingstand-up
23 L'Hommeupstairs?
24 Sign on tast-foodrow
25 'That'sa relief!"
26 Blue-book
occasion
27 Pilgarlic's
lack
28 Likeouiche
29 _-mo replay
32 PeterFramplon's'l'm
_"
33 Phoneabbr.
34 Dingdongorganization?
35 Take out ol the text
36 Scottof legalnote
38 _ Hashanah
39 lt'llholdwater
40 Solve/sshout
44 Toolboxitem

'Have
_ newsfor you!"
Fasttime
Over dos?
_-di-dah
Contrary-sounding
singer
61 Out of commission

Firthof Clydeport
"lt'sthe
_ knees!"
Bookstoresection
Tear-jerker?
SCTV'ssleazyJohnny
Dweebish
ChubbyChecker
specialty
54 Snerd'sseat
45
46
47
48
49
50
51

55
56
57
59
60

(Solutionis on Page 29)

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March/April1991