Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Introduction I recently had a crossword puzzle published in The New York Times on Monday, April 28, 2014, which is almost exactly 30 years since my last crossword puzzle was published in the NYT on Thursday, April 12, 1984! Like Rip Van Winkle, I went into a very long slumber between those dates. I got busy with family and career, and put my crossword things in a box, which I looked at wistfully from time to time over the years, but always put back in the closet. Now my family is grown up and retirement beckons, and I have the time to construct crosswords again. The 30 year hibernation is over. Back in the early 80’s I had 38 puzzles published by various syndicates, including 14 in the NYT. I was taught the craft by Eugene Maleska and Margaret Farrar, and I have fond memories of their letters and encouragement. That crossword box in the closet also holds most of the letters I received from various editors “back in the day.” Unfortunately, I don’t have copies of the letters I sent to them, but I’ll reconstruct as best I can the context for their letters. Crossword Editors and Syndicates My puzzles from the early 80’s were accepted by three editors: Eugene T. Maleska edited The New York Times crossword puzzles from 1977-1993. He also edited crossword books for Simon & Schuster. Looking back at his letters, I think he decided to become my mentor. I’ve read on the blogs about other constructors who had a rough time with him, but I never saw that side of his personality. We had a lively and cordial correspondence for six years. Margaret Farrar was the legendary first editor of The New York Times crossword puzzles from 1942-1969. In the early 80’s, she was the editor of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate crossword puzzles, which were carried in papers such as the LA Times and the New York Post. She also edited crossword books for Simon & Schuster, often as co-editor with Eugene Maleska. We had a charming correspondence for four years, and I was thrilled to have this link to the early years of the crossword. Herbert Ettenson edited the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS) crossword puzzles in the early 80’s. The syndicate provided two daily puzzles, a harder puzzle for papers such as the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post, and an easier puzzle for papers such as the New York Daily News. The harder puzzles featured constructor bylines every day of the week … which was a rarity in those days! My correspondence with him was rather terse, but he was very good about letting me know the publication dates of my puzzles.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Letter and Puzzle Images This reminiscence includes all the letters I received from Eugene Maleska, reproduced in their entirety, with two minor redactions to protect us all from the prying eyes of identity thieves: (1) Letter on May 15, 1980. The street address of John M. Samson is removed. (2) Letter on February 7, 1985. A sentence about my employer is removed. Web links to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project and XWord Info blogs are included for all of The New York Times crossword puzzles discussed. Images of the puzzles are also included at the end of this document, for you Neo-Luddites who prefer a more traditional reading experience! And special thanks go out to David Steinberg and his crew of volunteers at the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project, and to Jim Horne and Jeff Chen at Xword Info. Recreating my correspondence with Eugene Maleska would have been impossible without the deep files on those blogs. Early Efforts While an undergraduate, I dabbled in constructing primitive crossword puzzles for friends. They were ghastly by professional standards, with lots of two letter words, forced expressions, and asymmetrical grids. I remember practicing by filling 4 x 4 grids endlessly, trying to work in unusual letters and interesting words. In my senior year of college, one of my history professors marveled at the research possibilities offered by computers, such as mass analysis of millions of census records to pick up patterns of immigration and social mobility. He suggested that any student serious about a career in academia would need to become familiar with computer technology. So, expecting to hate it, I signed up for an Introduction to Computer Science course, and to my surprise it was a lot of fun! I was pleased to learn that computers were not just about math and science, but also about language and logic. After graduating I was faced with one of those life-changing decisions: go to grad school for liberal arts, or “get practical” and switch to a computer degree. My parents were extraordinarily pleased that I chose practicality. So, by 1979 I was about halfway through my MS in Computer Science, and I was both taking grad courses and helping as a teaching assistant with the introductory undergraduate courses. I was still dabbling with constructing crossword puzzles for friends, and decided to “go for the gold” and send a few to The New York Times.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on July 30, 1979 In early 1979, I constructed two crossword puzzles with state-of-the-art pencils, graph paper, and my handy Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary. I also had a couple of crossword dictionaries, including the Funk & Wagnalls Crossword Puzzle Word Finder which featured words up to six letters. (Those of us of a certain age, who remember the “Laugh-In” TV show, really enjoyed looking things up in our Funk & Wagnalls …) One puzzle featured card game expressions that have entered the language HELD ALL THE CARDS, CARDS ON THE TABLE, IN THE CARDS, CARDSHARPS, and the other puzzle featured railroad terms such as TRAINS OF THOUGHT, READING RAILROAD, IRON HORSE, STEAM LOCO, ALL ABOARD, DETRAINED, LIONEL, DEPOT, ERIE, and CHOO. I sent the two puzzles blindly to the NYT mailing address, care of the crossword editor, and awaited a response, which came from Eugene T. Maleska on July 30, 1979. His first concern was that the crosswords were constructed using a computer program! (In my response, I assured him that no computers were used.) I also had to get used to his shorthand way of identifying puzzles by referencing the 1-Across word. The card themed puzzle BASH had a big problem. I had tried to extend the theme by working in some gambling words, like ROULETTE, which I then crossed with the disgusting body part URETER. Oh, naïve me! To my delight, he accepted the railroad themed puzzle DUSK, and it was my first NYT puzzle, appearing on Thursday, September 4, 1980. I was actually doubly delighted, because railroading has been one of my life-long hobbies. I recall dragging my girlfriend Andrea back then (we’ve now been married for 33 years!) to iconic railfan sites like Horse Shoe Curve in Altoona, PA. Though I did not realize it, this puzzle broke several rules by having 42 black squares, and by including the unacceptable trade name XEROX at 38-Across, but apparently Mr. Maleska didn’t want to completely sidetrack this eager newbie. (When the puzzle appeared, I was surprised to see XEROX changed to LEROY.) (Note that this puzzle would not be publishable nowadays for a different reason: the repetition of the word TRAIN in two of the thematic entries. In the Pre-Shortzian Era, repeated word themes were very common.) Again to my surprise, the payment for the puzzle was only going to be $20 (and all you modern constructors think that today’s rates are low!) … and the puzzle wouldn’t appear for over a year. As he said in a later letter, stay out of the Thruway traffic!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on September 4, 1979 I rewrote the card themed puzzle, BASH, replacing ROULETTE and the dreaded URETER with ROOMETTE and ODESSA, adjusted the other fill, and resubmitted it to Mr. Maleska. He accepted it, though he wanted a few more changes to the fill … and I had my second puzzle in the NYT! BASH (later changed to DASH) eventually appeared on Wednesday, September 10, 1980. Note that he also mentions DUSK, the railroad themed puzzle that he accepted in the previous letter. This letter continued my crossword apprenticeship. Mr. Maleska wrote about the format for puzzle submission, his preferred reference books, and the tremendous backlog of puzzles in his files. He sure wanted me to stop using that Funk & Wagnalls dictionary … apparently, he found it to be no “Laugh-In” matter!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on October 4, 1979 I noticed that Mr. Maleska’s requested changes to the fill of the card themed puzzle, BASH, would have resulted in both ORAL and ORALS appearing in the puzzle, so I altered the NW corner a bit more, resulting in DASH at 1-Across. So, my second puzzle accepted for the NYT now had a new shorthand name DASH. It eventually appeared on Wednesday, September 10, 1980. Note that he also mentions DUSK, my railroad themed puzzle that he accepted in a previous letter. By this time, the constructing bug had really taken hold, and I was pushing myself to try more open grids, longer fill, and lots of Scrabbly letters such as Q and Z. I submitted a new puzzle, NTH, containing six Q’s … which he rejected. However, even in rejection, another door opened. Mr. Maleska suggested that I start sending puzzles to Margaret Farrar, the legendary first editor of the NYT crossword puzzles, who now edited puzzles for Pocket Books at Simon & Schuster! The universe of possibilities was expanding rapidly …

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on January 29, 1980 I rewrote the rejected puzzle with six Q’s, using JAW in 1-Across, and Scrabbly entries such as grid spanners TWENTY QUESTIONS and BEGS THE QUESTION, and other fill such as QUASIMODOS, QUARK, and BRUSQUE. In the early 80’s, it was considered sufficient to have a theme with two grid spanners, often featuring word repetition. JAW was my third puzzle in the NYT, and eventually appeared on Saturday, September 27, 1980. JAW reinforced my feeling that Scrabbly construction just might be my specialty, my winning edge in the fierce competition for acceptance. Future wife Andrea started kidding me about spending hours rearranging fill to try to squeeze in one more Q or Z. Hey, if you look at my recent BODY DOUBLES puzzle (NYT April 28, 2014), what did I manage to shoehorn in at 11-Down … or for that matter, at 9-Down? As the twig is bent, so grows the tree …

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on February 8, 1980 My next submission to Mr. Maleska was apparently ROCK solid, because for the first time he accepted a puzzle without asking for any changes! The puzzle featured four themers: ROCK AND ROLL STAR, ROCKETEERS, ROCK BOTTOM, and DONT ROCK THE BOAT. BABY-SHEBA was my fourth puzzle in the NYT, and eventually appeared on Thursday, January 22, 1981. Again, there were lots of Scrabbly letters in words such as BOZO and ZOMBIE. Interestingly, ZOMBIE didn’t appear again in a NYT puzzle until James Mulhern’s opus on Saturday, January 25, 2014. However, apparently there is a BOZO lurking (or lurching?) around every corner … BOZO has been in fifty NYT puzzles!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on March 13, 1980 For Valentine’s Day in 1980, I wrote a puzzle for my girlfriend (and future wife) Andrea which featured her name at 4-Down. It included lots of themers such as SWEETIE PIE, HEART THROB, TRUE LOVES, and VALENTINE. Mr. Maleska liked it, and it appeared as the Valentine’s Day puzzle the next year on Saturday, February 14, 1981. Unfortunately, back then there didn’t seem to be any prominent women named Andrea, so the 4-Down clue “Painter ___ del Sarto” refers to a male Italian Renaissance artist. Where were NBC news reporter Andrea Mitchell and actress Andrea Thompson back in 1981? Note that Mr. Maleska had some good advice in case the romance ended before 1981.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on March 25, 1980 My next offering to Mr. Maleska continued my homage to women, and to Scrabbly letters, including the themers TIN LIZZIES, LAZY SUSANS, BROWN BETTY and BLOODY MARY. I was starting to get interested in grid design as a visual art form, and wrote several puzzles with extra levels of symmetry. This puzzle JIBS has both 90- and 180-degree symmetry. Mr. Maleska accepted the puzzle (with some minor fill changes), and JIBS eventually appeared on Friday, March 20, 1981. In the letter, Mr. Maleska mentioned that his first crossword puzzle included the name of his girlfriend (and future wife) JEAN at 1-Across. He loved to tell this story! According to several articles about Mr. Maleska, he constructed his first puzzle in 1933, when he and Jean were undergraduates at Montclair State College in Montclair, NJ. His clue for 1-Across was “Most beautiful girl on campus.” As you’ll see in later letters, “1-Across” became a nickname for his wife Jean, and “4-Down” became a nickname for my wife Andrea after the Valentine’s Day puzzle was published in 1981.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on April 9, 1980 I sent another puzzle to Mr. Maleska with a slew of Q’s, and suffered my first unfixable NYT rejection because the grid had 42 black squares, which he considered excessive. This rule was news to me, because he had already accepted my railroad themed puzzle DUSK with 42 black squares. I mentioned that I had sent several puzzles to Margaret Farrar care of Simon & Schuster, as he had suggested, and had never heard back from her. He was dismayed to hear that, and he provided me with Mrs. Farrar’s home address. Note that he referred to his wife Jean as “1-Across” at the end of the letter.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on April 20, 1980 I must have been channeling Dante, because my next puzzle included the themers THE DEVIL TAKE YOU and SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. WEB-SLAKE eventually appeared on Saturday, April 11, 1981. I tried really, really hard to get rid of the two cheater squares, which would have resulted in a sparse and elegant grid with 32 black squares. I originally had WEBB crossing BRIDGE in the NW corner, but couldn’t figure out how to fix the fill in the SE corner. Why, oh why, couldn’t there have been a Crossword Compiler for Windows in 1980? Well, because Microsoft didn’t release the first version of Windows until 1985! Note that Mr. Maleska said that he wrote to Margaret Farrar to introduce me … another kindly act to benefit this neophyte.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on May 5, 1980 I always enjoy a good pun (hmm … are puns ever considered “good?”), and I began to work some of the lowest form of humor into puzzle themes. In this letter Mr. Maleska accepted my puzzle ADDS with two long themers MISANTHROPISTS and PHILANTHROPIST and the central themer MIXED FEELINGS serving as both a revealing description and punny comment. ADDS eventually appeared on Thursday, May 28, 1981. In some ways, this puzzle looks ahead to the Shortzian Era, with a revealing themer tying together the other themers. Of course, today’s constructors would no doubt have many quibbles: there are only three themers, the root word ANTHROPIST is repeated, and one of the themers is not pluralized. But in a reminder that we’re talking about the early 80’s, Mr. Maleska asked me for a source for LOVERLY, even though he actually knew the answer from the song “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” in “My Fair Lady.” This was the Information Stone Age, after all. He couldn’t confirm his knowledge with a few Google keystrokes. Enough about the puzzle! The best part of this letter was Mr. Maleska’s reflections on power and courtesy. I had written to him about some of the curt rejections, and in some cases no response at all, from other crossword publishers. He had a lot to say about that!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on May 15, 1980 After the string of closely spaced acceptances, I was beginning to think of myself as a CRACK constructor, and my next puzzle SHOCK featured the three themers CRACK OF DOOM, CRACK OF DAWN, and CRACKDOWN. The puzzle eventually appeared on Friday, May 1, 1981. Mr. Maleska was unsure of CRACK OF DOOM. In my notes about the clues I had mentioned that the expression was used in “The Lord of the Rings” and in Bruce Catton’s Civil War book “This Hallowed Ground” but Mr. Maleska wanted proof. So, I sent him copies of the book pages with the passages “and there on the brink of the chasm, at the very Crack of Doom, stood Frodo” and “Jackson struck Hooker’s exposed flank like the crack of doom.” I was really pleased with the interlocking of the three themers, with CRACKDOWN appropriately vertical down the middle, and the other two horizontally crossing with only one row separating them. The themers all ended up intersecting near the center of the grid, and as a result, there was wide open space in the grid corners. By this time, I had heard back from Margaret Farrar, and was starting to send her puzzles for the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. Mr. Maleska was pleased to hear it. I had also started sending puzzles to Herbert Ettenson, editor of the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS). The syndicate provided two daily puzzles, a harder puzzle for papers such as the Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post, and an easier puzzle for papers such as the New York Daily News. The harder puzzles featured constructor bylines every day of the week … which was a rarity in those days! I had asked Mr. Maleska if there were many other young constructors, or constructors near my home in Upstate New York. He mentioned John M. Samson as his best young “disciple” in Upstate New York, and it turns out that Mr. Maleska had a good eye for talent. The XWord Info database shows 48 puzzles by Mr. Samson in the NYT, and he also went on to become co-editor of the Simon & Schuster crossword books with Mr. Maleska after Mrs. Farrar passed away in 1984. Mr. Samson kept quite busy editing the Simon & Schuster crossword books for almost 30 years. The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project has an extensive interview with Mr. Samson. Check it out! Note that at the end of the letter Mr. Maleska told me to “Lay off for awhile” … so I reluctantly cooled my heels for a spell.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on June 18, 1980 I was surprised to get another letter from Mr. Maleska so soon, but it was great news: the publication dates for my first three accepted puzzles! (1) The railroad themed DUSK on Thursday, September 4, 1980. (2) The card themed DASH on Wednesday, September 10, 1980. (3) The Q themed JAW on Saturday, September 27, 1980. It had been almost a year since the first acceptance letter, and even though I would have to stay out of the Thruway traffic for another three months, it was finally going to happen! September, 1980 would be my month of triumph! The waiting was frustrating. Mr. Maleska had already accepted nine of my puzzles, and we had exchanged eleven letters, and my family and friends were growing tired of hearing that my puzzles were going to appear … someday? Like that old Wendy’s commercial, they were asking “Where’s the beef?” (Actually, that’s an anachronism, because those Wendy’s commercials didn’t start until 1984.) I had asked Mr. Maleska whether there were many other puzzles that featured Q’s, and he mentioned a NYT puzzle with eight Q’s by A. J. Santora published on Saturday, May 17, 1980. The puzzle had a Q in each corner! Mr. Maleska also noted that he worked with about 200-300 crossword constructors. How did he find time to correspond with all of those people? This letter also had another pleasant surprise: my first puzzle commission. Mr. Maleska asked me to construct a puzzle using a quote from John Henry Newman, “Lead, kindly Light … The night is dark, and I am far from home.” I immediately started working on the puzzle, and finished the grid and fill in three days, but procrastinated on the clues for several months. It eventually appeared in Simon and Schuster’s Crossword Book of Quotations Series 14, published in 1981. He also suggested that I construct a puzzle for the Simon and Schuster Crossword Book series that he co-edited with Margaret Farrar. (I procrastinated on that puzzle until 1982.) Things were humming along at this point!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on July 7, 1980 My next puzzle TELL had two spanning themers CENTER OF GRAVITY and MIDDLE OF THE ROAD, which Mr. Maleska decided to clue as “V” and “OA” in order to “give pause to solvers who think the puzzles are too easy.” TELL eventually appeared on Friday, July 10, 1981. Until writing these reminiscences, I thought that the tricky clues for this puzzle were rare, but the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project now allows us to research such things. It turns out that CENTER OF GRAVITY clued as “V” or “AVI” had already appeared in two other puzzles edited by Mr. Maleska, one of which, Jim Page’s “Literally Speaking,” ran only three months earlier on Sunday, March 29, 1981. Avid Times solvers, with their steel trap minds, must have easily gravitated to the correct answer in my puzzle! And Mr. Maleska used “OA” as the clue for MIDDLE OF THE ROAD two more times in the early 90’s … could even the most tireless Times solvers go that far down memory lane? Once again, I couldn’t figure out how to get rid of the two blasted cheater squares. None of my crossword dictionaries could help with eight-letter words. In recompense, one of the resulting seven-letter entries, HORIZON, contained a nice Scrabbly Z and crossed the even more magnificent SQUEEZER. I told Mr. Maleska that I had finished the John Henry Newman quotation puzzle (except for the clueing), and so he offered up another quotation from Thomas Mann, which somehow I never got around to constructing. He also advised me to get a bit more seasoning before attempting a Sunday-sized puzzle. As he points out, they’re a “hard row to hoe” for constructors. Mr. Maleska, remembering that I was studying Computer Science, offered to introduce me to his son Gary, who was an engineer and computer salesman. Though we never ended up meeting, it was a most friendly overture!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on August 20, 1980 This letter covered a lot of topics. Mr. Maleska wrote about his son and daughter, constructors C. J. Angio and A. J. Santora, Margaret Farrar, and more. He mentioned the puzzle by C. J. Angio, “Mind Your P’s and Q’s” slated for Sunday, September 14, 1980 because he noticed my Scrabbly bent and preference for straightforward themes. One revealing passage mentions how Mr. Maleska had turned down a raise so that the NYT could pay constructors $20 instead of $15 for a daily puzzle … another hint of the “kinder and gentler” side of his personality. He also commiserated about transitioning from academia to the workplace. I had finished every requirement for a MS in Computer Science except a thesis, and had started my first job as a computer professional. It was a busy and stressful time. Mr. Maleska mentioned some minor snafu about my “Q” themed JAW puzzle that eventually appeared on Saturday, September 27, 1980, and he liked my John Henry Newman quotation puzzle, which eventually appeared in Simon and Schuster’s Crossword Book of Quotations Series 14, published in 1981. I told Mr. Maleska that one of my puzzles with Mrs. Farrar had appeared in print! My first ever published puzzle on Thursday, July 3, 1980 was distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate and appeared in newspapers such as the New York Post. Mr. Maleska’s congratulations were most gratifying. Unfortunately, the Los Angeles Times Syndicate did not publish constructor names, so this was the beginning of my “national anonymity.” But, I earned my first paycheck as a professional constructor: $12.50!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on September 7, 1980 In the summer of 1980 I was trying for more open grids and hyper-Scrabbliness, and submitted a pangram with 70 words and two spanners with the fractional theme QUARTERFINALIST and HALFHEARTEDNESS. The puzzle had a lot of cheater squares, but that was the trade-off to squeeze in two Q’s and three Z’s. EGGED-WREST eventually appeared on Saturday, September 12, 1981. Mr. Maleska noted that “when a puzzle is exceptionally good, the TIMES allows me to pay $25.” I was pleased to receive that $5 bonus, but I was even more pleased to hear his wife Jean’s opinion, “No. 1 Across says you are a new Bill Lutwiniak. That’s a real compliment!” William Lutwiniak was one of my favorite constructors, with his ingenious themes, wide open grids, and Scrabbly fill. I had mentioned that I really enjoyed Judson G. Trent’s “Mix and Match” puzzle on Sunday, August 24, 1980. The theme was clues that were anagrams for entries, such as the clue “Importunate?” for PERMUTATION. Mr. Maleska received quite a few letters from confused solvers … and I’ll let you read his reaction! (And again, it is thanks to the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project that I can reconstruct the “Mix and Match” comment in his letter.) My railroad themed puzzle DUSK had (finally!) rolled off the presses on Thursday, September 4, 1980 … and I was a published NYT constructor!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on September 22, 1980 Mr. Maleska was editing February, 1981 puzzles, and he had a reminder note to look for my Valentine’s Day puzzle. In a previous letter, he returned the puzzle to me for safekeeping so it wouldn’t get lost in his files, and now, naturally enough, he couldn’t find it! So, I sent it back to him. Even though it wasn’t a typically difficult Saturday level puzzle, Valentine’s Day happened to fall on Saturday, February 14, 1981. This led to an unexpected reprise of my Valentine to “4-Down” in 1989, when Mr. Maleska included the puzzle in his book “The New York Times Toughest Crossword Puzzles, Volume 2” which reprinted 100 Saturday puzzles from 1979-1981.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on January 26, 1981 Wedding bells rang, and Andrea and I welcomed Mr. Maleska’s and 1-Across’ good wishes and good advice. He had good news about five upcoming dates for previously accepted puzzles. Things were rolling along now! I submitted FLEXING, which was (and is!) one of my favorite constructions. It celebrates the letter X by including seven X’s in the fill and by blocking out a huge X shape in the middle of the grid. The grid has super symmetry, wide open corners, 72 words, 33 black squares, and lots of Scrabbly fill. Mr. Maleska liked it too, and it eventually appeared on Saturday, April 17, 1982. Note that my original submission was “sanitized” by Mr. Maleska. I had LATRINE at 61-Across, which he changed to LARAINE. In the puzzle images at the end of this document, I’ve included the submitted puzzle for comparison, albeit in a condensed format given to friends for test solving. I count 32 clue changes by Mr. Maleska. I had also mentioned to Mr. Maleska my admiration for a NYT puzzle with seven Q’s, which he identified as Vaughn Keith’s work published on Saturday, December 27, 1980. ***************************** FLEXING played a role in my recent return to crossword constructing. About a year and a half ago I Googled my name and up popped a hit on a something called the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project. Someone named David Steinberg had done a write-up on October 28, 2012 about the FLEXING puzzle. He analyzed it in depth, and seemed to really like it! I was astonished … and encouraged to keep working on my comeback. In 2011, I started to dabble with crosswords again, but I had much to learn about modern constructing norms, such as the ban on repeated word themes and the emphasis on “hip” and “sparkly” fill. David Steinberg’s positive review was a timely boost, and I finally returned to the NYT with the BODY DOUBLES puzzle on Monday, April 28, 2014. Thank you David, and thank you to all the Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project volunteers!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on April 20, 1981 I submitted a new puzzle titled “Newspaper Columns” featuring three vertical themers CHICAGO TRIBUNE, THE NEW YORK TIMES, and WASHINGTON POST. I submitted it first to Herbert Ettenson, because his CTNYNS syndicate served two of the newspapers, but he responded “Dear Jim, Sorry, but it’s against our policy to give free advertising to newspapers – or any other product! Herb E.” (By the way, even though he accepted many of my puzzles, that is one of the longest letters he ever sent to me!) Mr. Maleska had the same reaction, and the puzzle sits in my crossword box, unpublished, to this day. I had groused to Mr. Maleska about the drudgery of writing clues, compared to the excitement of designing themes, grids, and Scrabbly fill. Back in the early 80’s, it was a lot of work to fact check clues, and also a grind to prepare the puzzles for submission. By this time I had dozens of puzzles constructed on graph paper, without clues. Mr. Maleska pointed to a passage in his recent book “A Pleasure in Words” where he wrote “Some constructors have confessed to me that once they finish putting the words into the diagram they find they lose interest. Defining becomes a chore. To them my reply is: Change your attitude or quit. The clues are the be-all, if not the end-all, of crossword puzzles. They are the final test of excellence.” Another nugget in this letter was Mr. Maleska’s comments about a crossword puzzle contest he attended at Grossinger’s in the Catskill Mountains region of New York State. He was unhappy that many of the victors were professional constructors and editors. And note his greeting to Andrea at the bottom of the letter. My Valentine’s Day puzzle had hit the street a few months earlier, and Andrea was now nicknamed “4-Down” forever!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on June 28, 1981 Mr. Maleska asked me to construct a puzzle using a quote from Abraham Lincoln, “God must have loved the plain people: He made so many of them.” It eventually appeared in the Simon and Schuster’s Crossword Book of Quotations Series 15, published in 1982.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on August 25, 1981 Mr. Maleska accepted the Abraham Lincoln quotation puzzle. It eventually appeared in the Simon and Schuster’s Crossword Book of Quotations Series 15, published in 1982. He also confirmed the publication of my earlier John Henry Newman quotation puzzle in the Simon and Schuster’s Crossword Book of Quotations Series 14, which came out later in 1981. I had constructed 85 puzzles by this time, but only about 30 of them had been published. The rest had completed grids and fill, but no clues. I was trying to figure out how to get more of them published, and floated the idea of starting a new syndicate aimed at college newspapers. I asked Mr. Maleska his thoughts about this, and whether he would provide an endorsement. He replied at length, and explained that “the TIMES would probably consider it a ‘conflict of interest’ if I endorse you. Since I don’t relish being fired, I must say NO.” He then suggested I approach big companies and magazines as a freelance constructor, because they pay up to $1,000 per puzzle. That was huge money compared to the NYT, which in 1981 paid $20 for a daily puzzle, and about $100 for a Sunday puzzle. I also asked Margaret Farrar about the syndication idea, and she also provided a long letter of advice. She concluded “Anyway, I cheer you on, and will be glad to help in any way. You may certainly quote my praises for your clever constructions.” After thinking about it, I abandoned the idea. Most of those unclued puzzles are still sitting in my files. Unfortunately, they tend to have themes that are uninteresting to today’s editors, such as repeated word themes and rhyming themes. I wish I had written clues for those puzzles back then … at least they would have been published somewhere!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on July 2, 1982 Almost a year passed before the next letter from Mr. Maleska. I continued to write crosswords without clues, stacking them up in my box, trying to think of ways to market them more independently. I also constructed my first (and only!) Sunday puzzle for the NYT, titled “Sounds Familiar” which featured punny homonyms of common phrases, such as WILD IRISH ROWS and NEW YEARS DAZE. Mr. Maleska liked it, and despite his prediction that it wouldn’t see daylight until 1984, it eventually appeared on Sunday, July 31, 1983. Note in a postscript that Mr. Maleska pointed out a problem in my submission. For MCGRAWS (114-Across) I had erroneously included the actress Ali MacGraw (of “Love Story” fame) in the clue. In the pre-internet era, it was oh-so-easy to make such mistakes! I asked Mr. Maleska if he was planning to go to the First U.S. Open Crossword Puzzle Championship finals in New York City, sponsored by Games Magazine and directed by (… hold your breath …) Will Shortz. I actually ended up “crashing” the event to hand out my newly printed Crossword Constructor business cards. I think I even met Will and gave him a card! Mr. Maleska’s reply was a gem: “Re the GAMES contest, I don’t intend to attend the finals. In that way, constructors can feel free to vent their wrath upon this stern taskmaster.” Note that for the first time, he signed the letter “Gene” … perhaps a Sunday puzzle acceptance was like a coming-of-age ritual, and he was welcoming me to a higher rank in the constructing Band of Brothers and Sisters?

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on July 20, 1982 By this time I had about 70 puzzles without clues in my box. I offered a “bold proposal” to Mr. Maleska: let’s jointly publish a book of crossword puzzles. I would supply all the puzzles, and he would edit the puzzles and help find a publisher. He wrote “My reply: Sorry.” He explained that he was contractually bound to Simon & Schuster. But he also suggested contacting Bantam Books and other competitors. I never pursued this idea further. My work in the computer field would soon consume my entrepreneurial energies.

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on August 3, 1983 My Sunday puzzle “Sounds Familiar” had finally hit the streets on July 31, 1983! For the first time, I had a byline in The New York Times! In the year since the last letter from Gene, I finished that pesky thesis requirement for my MS in Computer Science (writing crossword clues wasn’t the only thing I procrastinated about!). I submitted my final puzzle to the NYT in the Maleska Era. LAB featured four themers BOBBYPINS, TOMMYGUNS, TEDDYBEAR, and BILLYCLUB, arranged in a pinwheel grid with both 90- and 180-degree symmetry. It had tons of Scrabbly letters. LAB eventually appeared on Thursday, April 12, 1984. I had mentioned the TV game show “Fantasy” with actress Leslie Uggams as a co-host. Gene had a most interesting anecdote about Ms. Uggams. I also sent an article from the Democrat and Chronicle newspaper in Rochester, NY, profiling Gene and the NYT crosswords, which appeared on Saturday, July 9, 1983. He noted “That Rochester article about me was the best of umpteen. Very accurate.” In a postscript, Gene pointed to an enclosed sheet declaring a moratorium on crossword submissions from August 1, 1983 to January 1, 1984. Fortunately, I had submitted LAB just under the wire. Note that the enclosed sheet also announced that the NYT had raised the payments for crosswords, effective June 1, 1983, to (drum roll, please) Daily $25, Sunday $125, and Diagramless $35. We were all going to be rich!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on August 17, 1983 Gene forwarded a fan letter about my Sunday puzzle “Sounds Familiar.” I was quite flattered!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Simon & Schuster letter on April 16, 1984 I received a press release from Simon & Schuster about Eugene Maleska’s new book, “Across and Down” which “reveals the colorful, never-before-told inside story of the fascinating crossword puzzle world.” A cover letter noted that “Dr. Maleska has requested that you receive the enclosed announcement concerning ACROSS AND DOWN, and that you be informed that you are given high honors in the book.” Well, I ran right out to the bookstore and purchased a copy, and found my name listed in the “most promising newcomers” section of Chapter 6 “The Constructors and Editors.” What a wonderful surprise!

Correspondence between Jim Modney and Eugene Maleska 1979 – 1985

Eugene Maleska letter on February 7, 1985 It had been about a year and a half since Gene’s previous letter. LAB, my final puzzle in the Maleska Era, featuring four themers with boy’s names, had appeared in the NYT on Thursday, April 12, 1984. Another puzzle, “On The Bias,” had appeared in the Simon and Schuster Crossword Puzzle Book Series 133, published in 1984. I submitted the puzzle to Margaret Farrar, who co-edited the book with Mr. Maleska. She introduced the puzzle with “Modney is an expert, has his cards imprinted with CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR, and this 92-word exercise proves his skill.” Actually, my crossword constructing skills were rather rusty by this time. I was very busy with my computer career, and well into Year One of my thirty year crossword hibernation. I had sent greetings to Gene because he encouraged another Upstate New York crossword constructor, Warren W. Reich, to contact me. Warren and I met for lunch, chatted about crosswords, and I then wrote to Gene about the meeting. Warren Reich was another youngish constructor, who had fourteen puzzles published in the NYT from 1982-1995. In my letter, I also sent greetings to “1-Across” and Gene’s response was a poignant bombshell. His wife Jean had passed away in 1983. Fortunately, there was also good news. Gene had met Annrea Neill Sutton, a portrait artist on Cape Cod, and they were going to marry in two days! (He eventually married a third time to Carol Atkinson.) This was my last contact with Gene Maleska. Though we never met, or talked on the phone, our correspondence over the years showed me many sides of this wonderful and generous man. I can only imagine the totality of his correspondence with hundreds of constructors during his NYT years. It was an honor, and a delight, to know him.