Monthly Archives: July 2015

For Leslie

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Hey there, fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers.

A few weeks ago, the puzzle community lost a true original and a rare friend when Leslie Billig passed away unexpectedly.

There have been many kind words shared by constructors and puzzlers who knew Leslie, like Francis Heaney, Tawan Sunathvanichkul, Amy Reynaldo, Tyler Hinman, Dave and Robert Mackey (aka the Puzzle Brothers), and others. I encourage everyone to click those links and read their thoughts.

I never really had the pleasure of interacting with Leslie much. Our only collaboration came when I interviewed her for a session of 5 Questions last year. Otherwise, I only know her by reputation, from many stories and anecdotes lovingly told and retold by those who knew her.

[Leslie, with Ken Jennings, at the 2006 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament.]

Over the last few weeks, I’ve reached out to many of those people, asking if they’d share their memories of Leslie with me, and folks came out of the woodwork in order to do so.

First and foremost, Leslie was a topnotch puzzler.

Leslie began working with the Champion Division of Dell Magazines in the early 1980s and most recently has been the editor of The Crosswords Club and co-editor of Dell’s Puzzler’s Sunday Crosswords.

“Leslie and I worked together on Clubs for over 10 years, but we really got to know each other in this last year and a half of collaborating. Her creativity and wit, as well as her sharp eye for detail, shaped not only Crosswords Club and Uptown, but many publications at Dell Magazines.

We had very different editing styles and we often butted heads about how to do things — but we challenged each other in ways that made our collaborative efforts stronger. She was creative, funny, and silly… her passion for puzzles and her infectious giggle will be sorely missed by everyone who knew and worked with her. I already miss her more than I know how to express.” — Patti Varol

“Leslie was an integral part of the puzzle community for me. I worked alongside her at Dell Champion for a brief period, and worked with her on various other projects as well. She was one of the most meticulous proofreaders I’ve ever seen, and a very easy-to-work-with editor. She was a regular at the after-hours GAMES Magazine game-testing sessions in the late ’80s/early ’90s, and was always up for New York-based puzzle activities of any sort.” — Trip Payne

“In addition to working with me on Sunday Crosswords, Leslie edited first the Uptown Club, and then the Crosswords Club. They both required original titles and blurbs, since the submissions rarely came with usable ones. When Leslie started to edit them, she’s ask me for help–two heads are better than one. When I heard her say, ‘Titles and blurbs? Titles and blurbs?’ I’d drop what I was doing and we would sit and laugh as we did them. After a while, titles and blurbs morphed into kibbles and bits, and for years when I heard, ‘Kibbles and bits? Kibbles and bits?,’ that was my call to drop what I was doing and help her with …kibbles and bits! We had so much fun.

We spoke our own language: Derek Hough became Derek Huggkkhhhh. Susan Anspach (Leslie pulled that name out from the past) became Susan Anspackkkhhh.

And we agreed that the one crossword entry that made us both crazy was — FLENSE!! It only popped up occasionally, but we’d rush to change the entry. There were words we’d laugh over — I remember one word Leslie had in a grid — UNRED. She complained and complained because she couldn’t fix it … until she came up with the perfect clue — ‘Green?'” — Chris DiNapoli

“She FELT puzzles, which is a rare phenomenon for editors. She could feel why adding a comma to a clue was wrong, or removing a question mark was right.” — Mark Lagasse

[Leslie on NPR’s Ask Me Another.]

Leslie’s heart and her sense of humor were frequently the centerpieces of so many anecdotes and warm reminiscences I received.

“Leslie and I were both born on August 7, so we always wished each other ‘happy birthday to us.’ For a while, it turned into a competition to see who would beat the other person to the punch with the first birthday greeting; she usually won. One year she sent me a card; I photocopied it and faxed it back to her at the office. She also wouldn’t send out holiday greetings; she would send out e-mails saying something like ‘Happy 90th anniversary of the crossword puzzle! (Oh, and happy holidays too.)'” — Trip Payne

“Years ago, Leslie and Nancy Schuster and Chris DiNapoli and I were sitting around playing Scattergories. One of the categories was famous writers, and the letter was S. In Scattergories, since you get double points if your answer has two words both starting with the designated letter, I came up with Snorri Sturluson.

When we revealed our answers, the Leslie-laugh started – ‘Only a crossword person could possibly think of that name!’ she giggled, and we all cackled till we cried for several minutes. Snorri and that happy, happy evening will be forever associated with Leslie in my mind.” — Audrey Thompson

“Leslie was a person who never, ever failed to make me smile. She made me smile with my heart, which is a Rodgers and Hart reference that she would get. We had a lot of the same interests, and we were almost always on the same wavelength about everything. She understood fun and how to make things fun, and boy, was she fun! I didn’t think I was going to be able to write this because it is like saying goodbye, and I’m not ready for that yet. I will miss her terribly.” — Mark Lagasse

“Leslie always called her mom Sally to say hi when the clock read duplicate numbers: 3:33, 12:12, etc. After Sally passed, Leslie had that as an immediate aid that brought Sally to mind. A few nights ago as I was trying to sleep, I thought of Leslie … and remembered her clock association. Sleeping fitfully, I looked at the red numbers of my clock glowing in the dark. It was 1:11. Now memories of Leslie will come to me when I least expect it.

She was a singer, a wordsmith, an amazing woman. A theater buff (she saw Ragtime 27 1/2 times!). And she was my dear friend.” — Chris DiNapoli

She was also a devoted fan of the theater and live shows of all sorts, performing from time to time, as she did in this picture from the 2005 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament’s talent show. (Which she won, of course.)

“She loved the theater and would often accompany me, and a few other puzzle friends, on my annual Broadway excursions. It’s hard for me to even think of the New York puzzle group without Leslie in it.” — Trip Payne

“Leslie was always inviting me to stuff like concerts and Broadway shows, but always at the last minute, and I’m far less of a spontaneous person; I like to plan ahead.

She knew that I’m a fan of the jazz guitarist John Pizzarelli and his singer/actress wife, Jessica Molaskey, so she invited me to go to one of their concerts with her. I would have loved to have gone, but I couldn’t make it. The concert was just prior to one of my birthdays.

She attended the concert, and seemed to pay extra close attention, and must have even taken notes, because when we went to lunch on my birthday, she presented me with a detailed, typed write-up of every song and number on the program, with every joke and anecdote that John told, making me feel as I’d actually been at the concert. That was such a thoughtful thing to do, and I’ll always remember it. And if I don’t, I still have that sheet of paper — somewhere — to remind me.” — Judy Downer

A few other wonderful anecdotes I received mentioned her love of sweets and Star Trek respectively.

“One of the things that Leslie and I had in common was a sweet tooth. For several years, a coworker brought Dunkin’ Munchkins to the office nearly every Thursday. Before leaving on Wednesdays, I would stick my head into the office where Chris and Leslie were working to see if Leslie was coming in the next day. If so, I’d be sure to put aside three chocolate Munchkins the following morning as there wouldn’t be many left by the time she got in.

Inevitably, she would stop by my office with a big smile on her face. After handing her the goodies, she would tell me that I was the best boss in the world! I would laugh and say that I must have it pretty good if that’s all it takes to be a good boss! And need I talk about the Chocolate Covered Caramelized Matzoh? She liked it so much that I made a fresh batch just for her. She was kind enough, though, to share it with others (after she and I made sure we took enough for ourselves, of course)!” — Abby Taylor

“Our previous office had a small, two-person conference room that had a door and next to the door was a large pane of glass. Leslie would do most of her work in there, sometimes closing the door. When I would leave for the day I would walk past and if the door was open we would always have a quick chat or she would walk with me to the elevator.

Now if you didn’t know, Leslie was a tremendous Star Trek fan, a fan of the movies and especially the original TV series and Star Trek: The Next Generation. So whenever I would walk past her and the door to the room was closed I would always stop and press my hand up to the glass and she would do the same, pressing her palm up to mine on the other side, reenacting the final scene between Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you aren’t familiar with the scene, you have to look it up to really appreciate it.

Of my friend, Leslie, I can only say this: Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, hers was the most… human.” — Glenn Covert

And, of course, you can’t think of Leslie without thinking of her signature laugh.

“I will miss Leslie’s spontaneity, her sparkle, her enthusiasm, and, as many people would agree, her uninhibited, absolutely infectious LAUGHTER.” — Judy Downer

“Once Leslie started laughing, it was tough for her to stop. Damn, I’m going to miss that laugh.” — Trip Payne

Feel free to share your own Leslie memories and anecdotes in the comment section below. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this all-too-brief tribute to a wonderful friend and fellow puzzler.

The Pros and Cons of Pronunciation

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Tricky clues can come in all shapes and sizes, from wordplay that sends you down the wrong path (like “Intel processor?” for SPY) to clues with some tongue-in-cheek humor (like “Car bomb?” for EDSEL). But perhaps the most diabolical are clues that rely on alternate pronunciations to deceive solvers.

These clues are especially crafty, because oftentimes, it’s only when spoken aloud that the alternate meaning reveals itself. There were two prime examples of this cluing style in the Indie 500 puzzles I’ll be reviewing later this week.

At first blush, the clue “Layers of rock?” seems to point toward STRATA or something similar, except the question mark indicates some sort of wordplay is afoot. But if you use lay-ers (as in “those who lay”) of rock, suddenly the answer is apparent: MASONS.

Similarly, the clue “Water tower?” seems straightforward until you consider the question mark. But pronounce tower tow-er (one that tows) and you’ve cracked it: TUG.

Friend of the blog and Penny Press crossword guru Eileen Saunders also contributed a terrific example, “Sewer junction?” for SEAM.

Of course, the perils of pronunciation are hardly restricted to the world of crossword cluing. One need only travel abroad and encounter some of the towns in England to discover some curious pronunciations awaiting them.

In the music video below, chap-hop artist Sir Reginald Pikedevant, Esq. offers a litany of examples of curious British pronunciations in his song “Shibboleth.”

In the video, he defines shibboleth as a word which distinguishes between group members and outsiders by the way it is pronounced. The word comes from the Hebrew Bible, where the word itself was used to distinguish between Ephraimites (who could not pronounce the word properly) and Gileadites (who could).

And while historical uses of shibboleths usually had unpleasant connotations, Sir Reginald’s video is simply a whimsical look at the weirdness of language:

And now, given the subject at hand, I have a challenge for you, my fellow puzzlers and PuzzleNationers!

Below I’ve posted a poem called “The Chaos,” designed to highlight the many irregularities in spelling and pronunciation in the English Language. Created by Dutch writer and teacher Gerard Nolst Trenite, it has appeared in various formats for nearly a century, and it’s a taxing read, to be sure.

I hereby challenge any member of the PuzzleNation readership to create a video of you reading the poem in its entirety! [Note: this is, in fact, a truncated version, but I feel it would be torturous to make you read all 274 lines of this version!]

So, if you accept the challenge, post your video on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or wherever, and send me a link! The most impressive performance will earn a suitably puzzly prize!

Good luck!

The Chaos

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

********

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.

********

Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.

********

Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.

********

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.

********

Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.

********

Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.

********

Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

********

Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.

********

Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.

********

Pronunciation — think of Psyche!
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.

********

Finally, which rhymes with enough —
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!

You can submit your videos to any of our social media platforms below! Good luck!

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It’s Follow-Up Friday: Trebek Raps edition!

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Welcome to Follow-Up Friday!

By this time, you know the drill. Follow-Up Friday is a chance for us to revisit the subjects of previous posts and bring the PuzzleNation audience up to speed on all things puzzly.

And today, I’d like to quickly revisit two of my most recent blog posts.

In last week’s Follow-Up Friday post, we celebrated the 144th birthday of creator of the crossword Arthur Wynne, and I set up a little puzzly challenge for my fellow PuzzleNationers: How many words of four or more letters can you make from the letters in ARTHUR WYNNE’s name?

Here are the 110 words I came up with:

Anew, Ante, Aren’t, Artery, Arty, Aunt, Awry, Earn, Earth, Earthy, Entry, Errant, Hare, Hart, Hate, Hater, Haunt, Hear, Heart, Hearty, Heat, Henna, Hewn, Hunt, Hunter, Hurray, Hurry, Hurt, Hyena, Nary, Nature, Near, Neat, Neath, Nehru, Newt, Rant, Ranter, Rare, Rate, Rater, Rather, Rawer, Rear, Rent, Reran, Rerun, Retry, Return, Rune, Runner, Runny, Runt, Runty, Runway, Tanner, Tannery, Tare, Tarry, Tawny, Tear, Teary, Tern, Ternary, Terra, Than, Thane, Thaw, Then, They, Threw, Thru, Thruway, Tray, Trey, True, Truer, Tuna, Tune, Tuner, Turn, Unearth, Unwary, Wane, Want, Ware, Warn, Warren, Wart, Wary, Water, Watery, Wean, Wear, Weary, Went, What, Wheat, When, Whet, Whey, Wrath, Wreath, Wren, Wryer, Yarn, Yawn, Yeah, Year, Yearn.

I’m sure I missed some, so let me know what words you came up with!

[Image courtesy of hlntv.com.]

In yesterday’s post, I discussed some of the newer trivia-based game shows on TV these days. I didn’t really discuss Jeopardy!, easily the most popular trivia game show of all-time, simply because I didn’t have anything new to say on the topic at the moment.

Well, lo and behold, last night I stumbled across a video clip from Monday night’s episode that I simply have to share with the PuzzleNation audience.

In this brief clip, host Alex Trebek gives us a rare glimpse into a rap career that never was — and channels William Shatner’s peculiar rhythmic cadence — as he sings a bit of the theme song from the beloved NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

Enjoy:

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Three ways to TV trivia!

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Trivia-based game shows seem to be having a bit of a resurgence these days, between ABC’s 500 Questions, Fox’s BOOM!, and GSN’s The Chase.

Unlike Jeopardy!, television’s longest-running trivia-based game show, which relies mostly on the questions themselves to generate interest, this new class of game shows adds all sorts of gimmicky flair to dress up the trivia, be it pursuit by other players (500 Questions) or an in-house trivia master (The Chase) or the threat of being covered in something slimy (BOOM!).

I thought I’d take a look at each of these shows from the standpoint of a self-confessed trivia fiend.

[Image courtesy of reviewjournal.com.]

In BOOM!, the splatter appeal of shows like Double Dare is mixed with the multiple choice style of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, hoping to ratchet up the tension with a wrong answer resulting in some serious messes.

You’ve got multiple answers to a question, and all but one of them are correct. (For instance, you’ll be given the titles of four movies, and then told 3 out of the 4 have been inspired by books.) Each of those answers is color-coded to a wire on the bomb, and the contestant must cut each wire they think is correct in the time allotted in order to defuse the bomb.

[Image courtesy of fresnobee.com.]

If you cut all the right wires, the money for that question goes into your bank. If you get a wrong answer, the bomb “explodes” and you get splattered (there has been pesto, alfredo sauce, maple syrup, and yellow mustard), your team loses the money for that question, and you’re eliminated.

When every team member is splattered, you’re done. If any member of your team survives the six trivia bombs, you go after the Mega Money bomb, which if defused will multiply your banked money by a factor of 4. A perfect run will yield $500,000 for the team.

The show debuted last week on FOX.

[Image courtesy of abc.go.com.]

In 500 Questions, a contestant tackles ten rounds of 50 questions each. Three consecutive wrong answers will knock a contestant out of the competition (correct answers can erase one or two wrong answers).

Along the way, a challenger dogs the contestant at every turn, hoping to knock the contestant out by choosing tough categories if the contestant has acquired two wrongs in a row. The challenger only has one 50-question round to eliminate the contestant; if the challenger fails, a new challenger emerges for the next round.

[Image courtesy of usmagazine.com.]

For every board of 50 questions completed, the contestant is guaranteed the money earned in that round. However, any wrong answers acquired will follow the contestant into the next round.

It’s worth noting that these rules may only apply during the first 200 questions. Since no one has ever completed the fourth round, there could be alternate rules or new wrinkles awaiting contestants and challengers in round five and above.

The show ran for seven straight weeknights, and it’s unknown at this point if it will return.

[Host Brooke Burns and trivia pro The Beast.
Image courtesy of The Blog is Right.]

In The Chase (which is based on a British game show of the same name), a team of contestants pits their trivia wits against the chaser — known as The Beast — who is waiting to capitalize on any mistakes they make. In the early rounds, each contestant faces off against The Beast one-on-one, answering a certain number of questions in a row in order to lock in their prize money and continue in the game.

Any mistakes made by the contestant create opportunities for The Beast to catch them, preventing them from banking any prize money. If the contestant stays ahead of The Beast by answering more questions correctly, the prize money gets banked and the contestant moves on to the Final Chase.

[Image courtesy of variety.com.]

In the Final Chase, whichever contestants survived their individual chase rounds work together to answer as many questions as possible in two minutes. They move a space ahead on the gameboard for every correct answer. The goal here is to build as big a lead as they can before The Beast takes his turn.

The Beast then answers a different set of questions, with each correct answer bringing him one space closer to catching the contestants. If he answers a question wrong, the Chase is paused and the contestants get a shot at answering that question. A correct answer increases their lead by one space; an incorrect answer simply continues the game.

If the contestants can outpace the Beast, they win, splitting the banked money equally; if the Beast catches them, they go home with nothing.

The show’s fourth season on GSN resumes on July 16.

Now, I must admit, 500 Questions didn’t appeal to me because I don’t enjoy feeling obligated to watch something every single night. I understand it’s meant to be a special event and all that, but oversaturation, even in the short term, tends to leave me disinterested. (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? committed the same mistake by airing far too frequently for my tastes, and I quickly abandoned the show.)

I quite enjoy The Chase, but less as a viewer and more as a competitor, since I like to test myself against The Beast. Although I tend to do well, he has bested me more than once. He is a worthy foe.

Although only one episode of BOOM! has aired so far, I find myself watching it less for the trivia — which is very common sense and common knowledge, thus far — and more for whether the contestant botches the question and gets splattered. Whether that remains enough to keep me tuning in week after week… only time will tell.

Are you watching any of these newer trivia game shows, fellow PuzzleNationers, or do you stick with the classics? Let me know! I’d love to hear from you.

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