TheOscars,the Emmys,and Now...

the
Wynners!
PlusAmerica'sMostCreativeGrosswords
By the Nation'sTopConstructors

.T

-\

BEHINDTHETIII|IES
A Lookat America'sFavoritecrossword
l

by HeleneHovanec
X f hen a62-wordpuzzleappearedin editors for their duly puzzles as well.
If these clues cross with common
|/ V TheNew York Timeson July 21, However,in terms of its writing and its definitions,most solvers
can completethe
Y Y 1990,itsremarkableconstruction
readership,
Ifte NewyorkTime.sstandsalone. ptzzle. But if there'sa gridlock
ofdifficult
featprobablywentunnoricedby99Voof the
SinceTfteTimesinitiated
its crossword crossings
thatprevents
solversfromfinishins
solvers.
in 1942,eacheditorhasput his or her own thepuzzle,they'refurious
and let Maleski
Notmanyaficionados
areawareof word indelible srampon the puzzle. Margaret
know it.
counts.(Most daily puzzleshave72 to g0 Farrar,thefirst
editor,sethighstandar-rls
of
Thishappened
on March24, 1990,with
words.)ButTimes editorEugene
T. Maleska excellencefor her constructors.
Her
motto
apuzzlewhosefour main definitionswere
had challengedNancy Joline, one of his was"fresh
andfelicitous"cluingandabsolute all cluedasTRABANTSandwereanswered
favorite constructors, to duplicate the fairnessto solvers,
while eschewingslang by: "chromosomemoons,,',.porters,"
legendary
58-wordpuzzlecreatedbyanother andtradenames.
Farrarbelieved
thatpuzzlei "durwans,"and "armedattendants."Moit
"synonymous
constructor,
JordanLasher.
were
with entertainment. solvershadno cluethattheconstructor
"Although
had
Joline's word countwas a There are plenty of educational
values delveddeepintotheetymologyofthetheme
littlehigherthan
Lasher's,Ithinkherpuzzle concealedin the puzzles,but they are by_ wordto findtheseanswers.
Maleskareceived
wasbetter,"saysMaleska..,Lasheriook a products."Her
only tabooswere ,deati, morethan200lettersof complaintwhich
he
few liberties,but Jolinetook none.,,
disease,and [axes,"for she believedthai handed over to Betty
Jbrgensen,the
The themelesspuzzle appearedon a solversusepuzzles
asanescape
mechanism. construtorof the puzzle.She responded
Saturday,the day usuallyreservedfor the Farrarfirmly
believed,"If soiversarerying with a form letterto eachcomplainer:
hardestpuzzleof the week.(Timespuzzles to figure
"As
out the answerto 7-Down,ihe!
constructor of the stickler
increasein difficulty from Monday to can'tbe worrying about how to pay n! TRABANTS puzzleI volunteered
to help
Saturday.)The puzzle was filled with rgnt."
EugeneMaleskaanswertheflood of letrcr;
ordinarywords,cluedmatter-of-factly:
a
which cameto TheNew york Times.We
DuringWillWeng'stenure,solverssaw congratulate
"Fierce
you on completingthepuzzle
.,piranha"
fish"
pazzles with Arabic numbers (*76 andwe regretyour
"Left
"Omitted"
bafflemenL;'Jorgensen
out"
trombones"),
Romannumerals
(.,Lifebegins thenproceeded
"Remove"
,,Eliminate"
to explaintheetymologyof
at XL"), musicalsymbols(,,Becky#"), and theword.
.,Area
covering"
rugi,,
,.Bugs
punny
..19o.
"Like
In hindsightMaleskarealizes,..I never
_entries('rabbit Fansit,'for
someD.C.
Bu11y's
transportation").
Weng
even
OarJd
"Senatorial"
should
have published this przzle.,,He
committees"
to "violate a canon of crosiword law" allowed himself
"Jointproblem"
"Arthritis"
to be swayed by the
(accordingto hisassistant,
HarriettWilson) constructorwho beggedhim to publishit to
"These
arefound
whenhe publishedaZl x}l grid with one honorherfriendswhose
..Gargons"
surname
happens
m
in ecoles"
extrasquareappended
to thetopof thegrid, be Trabants.
"stick
answeredby
out like a sorethumb."
.
andonly two unusualwords,clued in the
Maleska'slnodusoperandiisto instruct
Readers
are
also vocal when thev
samemanner:
his audience.Armed with impressive completeapuzzle
anddon'tunderstand
thl
credentials-abachelor'sdegreein Latin,a themeand/orgimmick.
"Mineral
In Augustl9g9 rwo
namedfor
master's
degreein Englishliterature,anda puzzleseachgenerated
morethan200leuen.
its emeraldcoloring" "Erinite',
doctorate
fromHarvard-and anillustrious Nancy_
"Jells,
"Geals',
Atkinson's"Tripleplay" of August
countrystyle"
career in education (teacher,principal, 12 had threemain
enries cluld as .,Cioss
superintendent),
Maleskausesthepuzzl-e
as
word
puzzle"
which wereansweredby:
Thoughsolversmay be oblivious to a forum for his
esotericknowledgeand
word counts,they do notice themesand peppersthe
"Countryraceperfectbox"
clueswith obscurewords:
clues - puzzle componentsunder the
"Exam
inerforwordheaded"
"L.D.Ahenobarbus"..Nero"
domainof the puzzle editor whetherthe
"Referencesofhonorover"
"Exsuccous"
editorworksfor a newspaper
or syndicate.
"Zygomaticbone"'.Malal',
Unfortunately
forcrossword
fans,newspaper
"Nivellate"
editorsdon't placea high priority on itre
_ Thepuzzlewasn'ta difficultone;most
"Level"
of thelettersindicatedthatithadbeen
solved.
"Culloden"
crossword;most buy their puzzles from
"Moor,,
"But
what doesit mean?"solversqueried.
"Bailesyndicated
sources.
Whilesomepapers,such
Cliath
Maleskahad to explainttratAtkinsonhad
asNewsday
andtheWashingtonpost,have
"Atha"
"cross," "word,r,
(Dublin)"
clugd
and ,,puzzle"
,,_
puzzleeditor,TheTimesandUSA
a Sunday
,,Ramos,,
ginftzzr,
individually.
"RaPPee"
Todayue the only paperswith their own
"Snuff'
f

(Continued on page 6)

January/February
199'l

CROSSW RD

Page 5

N.Y. Times (from Page5)

Thus,the(real)answerswere:
(cross)country race;(word) perfect; (puzzle)box
(cross) examiner; (word) for word; (puzde)
headed
(cross)references; (word) of honor; (puzzle)over

Just two weeks later, William

Lufwiniak's"NotaBene:ScaleBack"puzzle
had seventhemeentriescluedby musical
as
noteswhoseanswerswere,in sequence,
follows:
"Shortfor olive drab"
"Impersonalpronoun"
"Symbolfor aluminum"
"Angelesor Alamos"
"USA serviceacademy"
"Contractionfor I am"
"Soundof hesitation"
Maleskahad to print. an explanation
"The sevennotesin the
wittr this answer:
cluesrepresentthe notesof the scale,in
reverseorder.The spellingsof thenotesare
Thus,at 25Across,thenoteis
alsoreversed.
'do,' whichbecomes'od,' whichin turnis
'shortfor olivedrab.'Next,at38Across,the

it,' andthen'impersonal puzzleshimself,he'll doonefor a holiday,if

noteis' ti,' becomes'
in hisfiles.He'll alsopublish
therearen'tany
pronoun,'etc.
o
a stepquote(underthebylineof SamLake,
Some solvers communicatewith an anagramof Maleska)oncein awhilein
Maleska through doggerel, verse, and responseto readers'requests.
"a sleepy moment,"
Fortheuninitiated,Maleska'sstepquote
artwork. When, in
"where
"hanger"
whoseansweris a quotethat
is
a
crossword
!o
see
the
as
Maleskaclued
throughthediagramfromttreupper
Spruce Goose," two artistic solvers descends
responded
to ttrisgaffewith originaldrawings leftto thelowerrightcorners(seeanexample
ofan airplanehangingon a hanger(notin a on pagel7). The lettersat thecrossingsof
hangar!). Maleska is chronicling his theanglesareunkeyed,so solversmustuse
with solversin a book,Tfte theirnativeintelligenceto fill in themissing
correspondence
letters.
FansandI, dueto be publishedin 1992.
In his 1984book,Acrossand Down,
Maleska begins his work day by
"separatingthewheat Maleska revealed his "A" list of
attackingthemail and
from thechaff." He ges so manypuzzles constructors-Louis Baron, Herbert
ignorantofbasiccrossword Ettenson,FrancesHansen,Henry Hook,
fromneophytes
BertKruse,JordanLasher,
patterns, MauraJacobson,
rules-symmetrical
construction
no unkeyedletters,no two-letterwords,and William Lutwiniak, Jack Ltzzatto, Alfio
"crosswordese"-that Micci, Mary Virginia Orna, Tap Osbom,
a minimalamountof
he no longer acceptsentries from new Vincent Osborne,Bert Rosenfield,John
constructorsunlessthey can prove, wil.h Samson, A.J. Santora, Elaine Schon,
photocopies,
thattheyhavebeenpublished Richard Silvestri, Mel Taub, and Will
Weng.
at leastthreeothertimes.
"If theymeetmy criteria,ttrenI'll open
He's especiallyproud of including
thegatesfor them,"explainsMaleska,who Silvestri,a relativenewcomerin the early
'80s,on that list "I'm glad I pickedhim
andnurturingnewtalent.
enjoysdiscovering
He has a stableof about200 constructors becausehe hasfulfilled everypromisethat
Today's
Maleskasays.
whoseworks he useson a regularbasis. hewasmakingthen,"
s "A" list would also include Peter Swift,
anyof.theTime
Thoughherarelyconstructs

Dia|i hgl ig00tNYtlMESr.l

h.e!p,,a completelysolvedpuzzle;theywereimpresseduntil theygot the
the:an$weiS,,that?ll
Get;,bn:thetph0ne.::and.r:get
,1....'..,',,,,1,:!Stumped?
*ho havenothing,betfer
to dowith,:theii
fof rlle,::i:
calt:x,,9.00;884-cl-llE
iphone.:bill!)t!:,,andrtic:beople
tou]gerftioushthe,ciosswoitlpn,de,
slogantraSbeen timeor theiiffiono!:. '
irosswordansweryori need.r this advertising
popping
ieaders
all ttroughT/reNewYorkTimes 'i Theserviceis expensive- 75 centsfor thefirst minuteand50
upatunsuspecting
s feel a,needto sp- d eieial:dollars,,.on,
nitiaied:
Six mbn{slaler ,,:centsrrthe.i,
whe.n:the,service:r'/as]
iinCe,i ufi ...1990.
!g;,,,,Do:,iol,,.v
putatased,the
puzzleandirall thenewSthalrs
wereencouiaged
to' ,,answeis
when,they|.Ve
:rhe,,:1,50:p.apers:,thatrs,ylndica,tb,the:,TimeS::pru2le
"solve
print'?
piemierpuzzte,
Edrtg;sandconstrudtors,.know
for,a,fiaction
0f thatc,oSt?
to
andhe-lp
theirreaders thecountry's
subscribe
:,:,fl!
,eam.'ieVenUe;..and,'he'bligibile.,foi,:ieiu'5..tearr,en0
bf an,emp{y
salivateat the,sighc
cashawardi"
SIld,Thet
I :,tha!,cross.woid,fanaiics
:
pencits
pens,and
filling
in
punch
and
staft
the
blanks,If
in
the
telephone
and
':, Solversmustusea touCh+one
,theylre,
,,,,gtab',,tleii
rbf:,:ther
pu2zle.foi..,which
want:to comBlete,
a taski h today's ;multi-fragmented
:ansWers,,,are..'
and,:::dat
r.mohthr
rSttmied'an-d
,numeiical
i f the :r:wdd;,:thet:might
be:willing10payfor thatprivilege.
desirert-forinstanie,i fiZ. totuti"h 22.Thenthey1reasked
is.:Answers
andihecrossword'S
appealarealsoknown
are
motivations
Down
what
number
or
oneand
itq
clueisanAcross
.r.r
,.ri
,,.,:
,::.,Solversl
analystswhoaregamblingthatthe900servicewill be
to martceiing

',:'1ft;s,Timel
people
:,;;,;,L,,:
a feeFei call (tlie
uSing,,.
regularadjunCito thectosWord.TheTimbs,gets
won,1:t
figuieson:thenumbei,of
idlease
,,,:a
interview,
promoting
not:divulged
in:
but subscribing,
heavily.
The
massive
Was,
a
telephone
it
advertisthey:re
thisservice,
but
:.i.amoUnt
,
a
call),
expecr
tb
earn
l5'Cents
the
losS,:,ofr,conSumer:.l
mOre
ing....Campaign,...ma
,
,,,. .,.:,i.ir.'
r..be
,,a..,lfu.nCtionr:.of
,,newspapefs,could
(There,was,a,fulli,,
leaSt
An
inteiactive
telephone
Service
was
used
at
onco
befoie
the,,puz2le.
adveitising,rlreh:ra:,desire
rtoihiAnlight
,,, , ,,:,,
l;s s:,:/ngelesTimes;,bu1,was,discontinuedaftei
in August,,:,,1990.),:,
986):ly 111(
rpager,ad:foi:,:thisrser,vice,,on,,rhe:,,fiists,unday
,,0n,:,,1
it wasn'tmakinganymoney
because
Nonetheless,
tothepuzzlc.Although severalmonths,presumably
thenetresultis a ppminence
promoted,
may
nothavebeen
to
b;e
noted
in
the,:
Howeve4theservice
or
enough,foi,its,:location
:fof,thepaper.
,the,,crosSwoid,,is::imporant
Pag-e:.One,eVe-ry,,,day,..it,was.neVer
featured,so,:..
it mayhavebeeninuoducedat thewrongtime.
f Atio'n.,box,:on
,,,,,
in the:::90s
mightbe morereceptiveto computerized
extensivelyr,
,,,,,,t,.,........,SolVeiS
,
(after
many lalge corporationsand financial
t0:
thre
ttpgs,,of
solveis::thC
all,
rvoide:imesSages
,..,,,.,
,,,,',,,.Tfie,900:Servi-ce,probabl)f::appeds
=,neonle,,wn-a,:Canf
,them)
,new:900 Servicej ust might be the,
geneiacion
l
t,,oiiwon:lt
CerviCeS
::uie
:
and
the
,
..imfiediate'.:giatifieation
neit,deltrto
whowantt-oimpiep,, crosswordfadof thedecade.
wait,until,the
soltethepuztlel::lhose
Otherpublications
arefollowingsuitfte:sqory,bf,[
1990
in
August
TV
initiatcd
skills:(Theiels
l]-14e6;61d,,
Guide
and
USA
Today
a similarservice
:,0ffis..*ith,,theiittSulutun,t
--.
parentS,with
puzzles.
moiley
nUmber
imPress
his
for
H;
H.
0f
on
the
t0
their
SpeiitSCadS
:rwho

Apris Maleska:A 6-LetterWord?

EugeneT. Maleskais a free-lanceeditor for Ift e Timesand,as in upstateNew
York.Verymuchthefamilyman,he'sneverfarfrom
such,is not boundby any mandatoryretirementlaws.The 74-yeu his wife andtwo smallchildren.He's mostoftenttroughtof asthe
"designated
old plansto keepon editingaslong ashis "brain holdsout."
heir" becauseof his closeinvolvementwith Maleska
Tradition,albeitonly a twice-used
one,dictatesthatthedepart- andthe Simon& Schusterbooks.If TheTimeswantsan in-house
ing editorpickshisor hersuccessor.
Thus,Farrarpassed
thereinsto editorit wouldbe a culturalshockfor Samsonto uproothis family
Wengwho passedthemto Maleska.WillThe Timesautomatically from their smalltown to Manhattan.Therewouldprobablybe no
approveMaleska'schoiceor will the management
seekout other changein thecrosswordif Samsonwereeditor,for heandMaleska
contenders?
respouse
the samephilosophy.
Various namesare bandiedabout as the person
Will
Shortz,38,themegastarof
thepuzzle
world,
S
a
m
s
o
2
n
:
I
'
;
most likely ro ger the job and/or the most qualified , ,r
is thepersonwhosenameis mostoftenmentionedas
,
3:1
Jadobson
personfor thejob. Arandomandnon-scientificsurvey
theidealchoicefor TheTimcseditorship.He certainly
Shoitz3!1
of editorsand constructorsunearthedthesenamesas :,,,,,,,,,
- 13yearswith Gamesmagazine,
hasthe experience
viablecontenders:
MauraJacobson,
StanleyNewman, ,'$11yss1pi
19;1 first as editor of the Pencilwisesectionand thenas
JohnSamson,Will Shortz,andRichardSilvesri.
N.**"" 100:1" editorof theentiremagazinebeforeitsuntimelydemise.
Warm, witty, and wonderfully personable,the
He is believedto be theonly personin ttreworld with
charmingMaura Jacobsonis a favoriteamongsolverslndEE
a degreein enigmatology;plus, he has a law degreefrom the
structors.Mostly lnown for theiroutrageously
punnythemesand Universityof Virginia.As thepersonresponsible
for theresurgence
clues,Jacobson'scrosswordsarepublishedweeklyin New york of crosswordcompetitionsand as ambassador good ..wiil',
of
to
magazine.Thoughrecognizedmainly as a constructor,shehas EasternEuropean
puzzleconventions,
Shortzhasmorethanenoush
editeda seriesof crosswords
for BantamBooks.TheTimesmight credentialsand experiencefor the prestigiousTimes.
Shortzja
enjoystealingher awayfrom New Yorkmagazine.Solverscould contributingeditorto CROSSWRD Magazine,
is rheconsummare
expecta returnto theWill Wengeraif Jacobsontookover.
politicianwith excellentmannersand a flair for writing, qualities
Brashandbrilliant, StanleyNewman,38,hasbeenthemost neededby apuzzleeditor.Solverscould
expectvery fair puzzles
vocalcritic of the currentTimescrosswordandits editor(though with a preponderance
of new-waveclues.
he'srecentlytakenoff his boxinggloves).Newman,who entered
Richard Silvestri,43, might be thedarkhorsewho wins the
the puzzlefield after his extraordinarysuccessas a crossword covetedprize.He'sa full-timemathprofessor,
moonlightingin the
competitor,is theSundaycrosswordeditorof Newsday,publisher crosswordworld. He's known for his
cleverpuzzleswith just the
of The Crossworder'sOwn Newsletter,and editor-at-largeof right amountof brainstimulationfor manypeople.
Silvestri,cross_
CROSSWRD Magazine.Solverscouldexpecta verybig change word editorof CROSSWRD Magazine,is very
non-controversial
in thecrosswordwith a heavyemphasison new-wavecluesand andMaleskaregards
himhighly,oftenusinghispuzzlesinTheTimes
innovativepuzzles.
andin theSimon& Schusterseries. If Silvestriis chosen.solvers
Bookishand
serious,
worksoutofhisstudy wouldseefair andwitty puzzles.-H. H.
JohnSamson,43,
NancyRoss,
CharlesDeber,EmstTheimer, phrases("ox moigue").Maleskasenthim a puzzles,photocopiesa setfor himself,and
Arthur Verdesca,and his favorite,Nancy stylesheetandSamsondid his homework. sendsthe originalsto his assistant,
Harriett
Joline.
He studiedTirnescrosswords,submitted, Wilson,at T&e Times.Wilson
test-solves
the
In ttrepast,Maleskapersonally
nurtured altered,resubmitted,and flourishedunder puzzlesandthenspendshourson thephone
andlaunched
thecareers
ofsomeoftodav's Maleska'stutelage.He is now Maleska's with Maleskadiscussingand arguingover
top crosswor
d puzzleconsEuctors.He;ry co-editoron theSimon& Schusterbooks. clues.Nextsheoversees
thetypesetting
and
Hookwasa brashneophytewhenhe solved
o
proofreadsthe camera-ready
copies.-She
jigsawstepquote
aMaleska
with themessage
Adherenceto basicconstructionrules thensendstheproofsto Maleskawhogives
"you have just
"apro
solved the world's most isn't enoughto gain acceptance
formaglance."Heacknowledges
into the them
remarkable ptzzle." Hook composed a Maleskainner circle; he also wantsfresh thathe'svery dependent
on Wilsonandhas
crossword
andmailedit to Maleskawith his themesandcleverclues.Althoughhemight thehighestpraisefor herskills.,.I,d be lost
"Whatmakes
message:
youthinkyourpuzzle changeanywherefrom
lOIa9|Voof apuzzle, witlout her," he says. Maleskaworks at
is moreremarkablethanmine?"
includingthe grid, Maleskawantsto start leastfour monthsin advanceandalwavshas
Maleskawassufhcientlyimpressed
with with a substantialpuzzle. He has 40 a stockpileof completedpuzzles.
Hook'sraw talent to offer to critique his notebooksfilled wittr everyclue he's ever
o
crosswordsand send him a style sheet usedin a ptzzle. By his own estimatehe
Maleskadoesn'tforeseeanychangein
indicatingacceptableconstructionrules. clues40,000wordsa year.In additionto the the puzzle page, for instance,
by adding
After Hook quickly learned the rules, 365 puzzles for The Times,he edits six anothercrosswordor a
different
type ol
Maleskainroduced his work to other Simon & Schusterpuzzlebooks a year, puzzle,"Solvershaverequested
two cbpies
crossword
editorsand Hook quickly found severalbooksof reprintsfor TheNew york of the puzzlein the Sundaymagazine-,
to
anoutletfor his puzzles.
Times (whichhaveto be updated)andany enabledual-solvingspousesto havetheir
In a similarmanner,Maleskanurtured newprojectsheis assigned.
He codesall the ownpuzzles.I advisethemto arrangeto get
JohnSamson,
whosefirstofferingtolvlaleska Timesclueswith a "T" androtatesthemin the magazine section on Fridav
and
wasa crudecrosswordwith all the typical thedailyandSundaypuzzles.
photocopythepuzzleat work."
tyro's mistakes - a non-svmmetrical
Maleskaworks from his home,"Over
Maleska believes that it's alwavs
diagram,two-letterwords, and contrived Jordan,"on CapeCod.He editsa batchof
(Continued on page 8)
January/February
1991
CROSSWRD
Page 7

N.Y. Times (from PageT)

possibleto expandhis vocabulary."Just
recentlyI learneda new definition from
"When Bill
William Lutwiniak," he noted.
'eels'
'
clued
as oneofthe apodes,'I thought
hehadmadea mistake.But I lookedit up in
thedictionaryandthereit wasasa secondary
definition.After 40 yearsI'm still learning
newwords."
Maleskaacknowledgesthat he can't
pleaseall of the solversall of the time and
that thereare varying degteesof difficulty
thatsolversexpectandwant.Whenaskedto
gathera compilationof his hardestpuzzles
for aTimesbook,Maleskawascertainthat
therewouldbe no marketfor it. However,
the first book sold so well that the editor
commissioned
a secondedition.Maleskais
nowconvincedthat"therearealot of solvers
out therewho wantdifficult puzzles."
Maleskaloves to recoun[an incident
thatsumsupthedifferences
betweensolvers'
expectations
andtheirabilities."Onemonth
afterI took over at The TimesI receiveda
letter that a retireehadwritten to theMiami
Herald complainingthat the puzzleswere

too hard. He threatenedto organizethe

retireesin Miami and boycott the paper
theTimespuzzle.
it wassyndicating
because
'BringbackWill Weng,'" he said.
"In the samemail I got a letterfrom
a
fellowonParkAvenuewhocomplained
that
ever since I took over, the puzzleswere
ridiculouslyeasy.'Bring backWill Weng,'
hesaid.SoI tookbothletters,crossed
off any
identifyingmarksandI senteachcritic the
other person'sletter. I never heardfrom
eitheroneagain."
Maleska'sfavoritepuzzlesarehis first
stepquoteand Ronald Friedman's"Strip
Tees." In the latter, the gimmick was to
removeevery"T" from the puzzleanswer.
Thus"Tim's tune"became"ipoehroughhe
ulips" ("tiptoe through the tulips") and
"nondrinker"was
answeredby "eeoaler"
("teetotaler").The Times publishedone
solver's kudos,writtenin the samegenre.
He found thepuzzle"quie a surprise"and
presumed"i joled a lo of he fansou of heir
rouine."
Joltingpeople'smindsis whatMaleska
"newwave"
enjoys.Whileheacknowledges
clues(references
topopcuhure-rock music,

TV shows,movies,brandnames,
celebrities,
youngereditors
etc.)espousedby
andrelished
by youngersolvers,he feelsthatasthe last
editor trained by MargaretFanar he is
carrying on her tradition. He has taken
libertiesthatheknowsFarrarwouldn't have
allowed.
"I havebent,"claimsMaleska,"I
used
'Duz' in apuzzle I've
and
defined'Oreo'as
an'integrated
cookie.'I alsoused'POSSLQ'
(an acronymfor 'people of oppositesex
sharingliving quarters').But I feel thatthe
old standards
shouldbe upheld."
The 74-year-old Maleska has no
immediateplansto retire.He haschosena
successor,but will not reveal his or her
name.WhethertheTimespuzzle
changes
to
a completely new-wave orientation or
whetherit staysthewayit is will "ultimately
bedecidedby
thesolvers,"believesMaleska.
"In theendthefanswill
decidehow far the
editorcango. If the newTimeseditorgoes
too far, they'll tell him or her."
tr
HELENE HOVANEC,authorof Cr eative
Cruciverbalisrs,
is a freelanceconstructor
andwriter.

WOMEN'S WEAR byLoissidway

ACROSS
1 Pundit
6 WordfromUncleSam
10 Secretive
sound
14 Pointson a plane
15 Waterpitcher
16 Secondhalfof a game
17 Letterclosing
18 CBS'seye,e.g.
19 Shankar
offering
20 Lightplane
23 Nutthat'snothing
to
sneezeat?
26 Tempestt,
on TV
27 Makerof briefs:Abbr.
28 Cryof discovery
31 Serbiancity
32 Ductopening?
33 Uncouth
35 " 'Nuff_"
38 Linguallapse
42 LouGrant'spaper,lor
43
44
45
47
48
49
53
55
58
59
60

short
Machotypes
Wooden-shoe
sailor
Run up a tab
ScreenScrooge
Stoppingplace,perhaps
Distinguished
Skull-and-crossbones
stuff
Somekidsor
chrysanlhemums
Kinof 1O-Down
Bitol legalese
Pileup

64
65
66
67
68
69

_ about(circa)
Laurelor Lee
Abounding
in dialogue
Hasthebesttime
Blabbed
Puckish

DOWN
1 FamilyStoneleader
2 Court
3 Prickyprelix?
4 RoleforGandice
5 Boneof contention
6 I Walkthe Line star
7 Missing,
butnotin
action?
8 Hotspotin lsrael
9 Paris,forone
10 Tortellinitopping
11 Insults
12 Wiseguys
prize
13 Pageant
21 Towerover
22 Concord
23 Cleveland
cagers,in
24
25
29
30
33
34
36
37
39

headlines
Leaning
Partof a flight
Biblicalverb
Clambakeleftovers
Bit of haunted-house
decor
Dan Jenkins'_-Tough
_ fatuus
Italiancathedral
Blazesthe trail

40
41
46
48
49
50
51
52

54 Take to the soaobox

56 Colleagueol Jerry,Jimmy

TheSunDevils'city
Adam'sapplearea?
Get the helpof
Bleak
Pieceof pasta
Frequently-taped
Nixon
Suffixfor add or part
KemoSabe'ssidekick

a n dJ i m

57 Heal
61 FurryMelmackian
62 CompeteagainstTamara
McKinney

63 Dictionaryabbr.
t0

l4

z0
a3

t6

l9

t1
a6
a6

tz

a9

JO

l4

J3

t8

,9

,5

,(t

t/

i2

10

t2

IJ

16

t0

+E

i2

t4
t6

)J

)U

io

)0

t4

t5

i6

)t

)U

CROSSWRD

13

t2

a4

at

l9

tz

i3

69

(Solutionis on Page29)

January/February
1991