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Bernice Gordon

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  • Comment: Any biography of a living person must have claims well-sourced. This article has many such statements unsourced, including the opening one. Dovid (talk) 05:53, 4 October 2013 (UTC)

Bernice Gordon (born Jan 11, 1914, Philadelphia) is credited as the oldest living New York Times crossword puzzle constructor, and has written puzzles for many publications since the early 1950s.[1][2]

Puzzling History

Having loved doing puzzles as a child, Gordon started creating her own puzzles for fun in the early 1950s, shortly after her first husband died. Soon after, she started submitting them to Margaret Farrar, the first puzzle editor of The New York Times. Despite 6 or 7 quick rejections ("Too many abbreviations", Unfamiliar words, etc), her first puzzle was accepted by the Times in 1952, a weekday puzzle for which she was paid $5 or $10. According to current puzzle editor Will Shortz, this was the first of over 150 puzzles from her the NYTimes would subsequently print. In 1955, she landed the coveted Sunday stumper puzzle, the first of 9 Sunday puzzles she would author for the Times.[3]

Gordon graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BFA IN 1935[2], including a year studying abroad at the Sorbonne in Paris, then later received an MFA. She is an accomplished painter and needlepoint artist as well. She has an incredibly extensive personal reference library, filled with hundreds of books that include encyclopedias, dictionaries, word pattern references, and famous quotes.[3]

Gordon has published thousands of puzzles during her 60+ year career, and continues to write new puzzles daily. She calls herself a "cruciverbalist,"[3] and credits her productivity to chronic insomnia.[2]

Other Puzzles

Though most recognized for her crossword puzzles, Bernice Gordon has also published a number of other types of word puzzles including Double-Crostics. Her technique for constructing Double Crostics is to arrange scrabble letters on a large desktop surface.

Publishers and Editors

Newspaper or Publisher Editor(s) Years
New York Times Will Shortz

Eugene T. Maleska
Will Weng
Margaret Farrar

1952 - present[1][4][5][6]
Los Angeles Times [4]
Simon & Schuster John M. Samson [4][6]
The Pennsylvania Gazette 2012 - present[4][7][8]
The Crosswords Club Will Weng past [6]
The Universal Crossword Timothy Parker past [3][5]
Dell Magazine [4][6]
Wall Street Journal 2009 [3]
Running Press [6]

Notable puzzles

Use of Symbols and Signs

On Sunday, May 30, 1965, Gordon made puzzle history by introducing a convention-busting puzzle with answers including 'COWBOYS&INDIANS', 'CARMEN MIR&A', and 'SC&INAVIA', using ampersand signs in place of letters. This is now a common convention in crossword puzzles. Margaret Farrar initially rejected the puzzle with 10 ampersands in it calling it "trickery", but six months later decided to print it. The puzzle response was overwhelming, both evoking praise for originality, and anger from those who felt tricked.[3][2]

She was also the first to include symbols in her answers, including answers like JIMMY*TER and BI*BONATE, where * had to be substituted for the letters 'CAR'.[3]

Happy Hooker

Gordon once created an X-rated puzzle for the Happy Hooker, aka Xaviera Hollander, a writer and former call girl with a bestselling memoir in the 1970s. Hollander became a family friend after getting to know Gordon's son, Ben Lanard, in Europe. Hollander had to provide the clues and dirty words for Gordon to incorporate.[3]

Collaborations

Norman Wizer

The late Norman S. Wizer of Malvern PA (deceased August 12, 2013[9]), also a veteran crossword puzzle writer[5][6], was one of Bernice's closest friends for decades. The two collaborated often and co-authored puzzles under the pen name "Monica Brenner" - an anagram of their first names, Norman and Bernice. The pair won a best puzzle award for their contribution to the Mega Crossword Puzzle Book from Simon & Schuster.[3]

David Steinberg

David Steinberg, who at 14 was the 2nd youngest puzzle constructor to be printed in the NY Times, paired up with Bernice Gordon, the oldest living constructor[2], on June 26, 2013 to create an age difference-themed puzzle for The New York Times.[1]

At the time the puzzle was published, Steinberg was 16, Gordon was 99. They collaborated remotely, over more than 70 exchanged emails. Will Shortz introduced Steinberg to Gordon initially.[1]

The Flower Show in Rittenhouse Square

The Flower Show in Rittenhouse Square is recognizing its 100th-year celebration in conjunction with Gordon's 100th birthday, in early 2014.

Awards and Recognition

  • Currently the oldest living contributor to The New York Times, having had her latest puzzle published at age 99[1][2]
  • Lifetime achievement prize and annual constructor award named after her by Universal Crosswords, editor Timothy Parker, 2000[3]
  • Recognized as one of only a few constructors to contribute puzzles to The New York Times for over 50 years[3]
  • Best Puzzle Award for Monica Brenner-penned puzzle in Simon & Schuster's Mega Crossword Puzzle Book, co-authored with Norman Wizer [3]
  • Margaret Award for puzzle in Simon & Schusters' Series 217[6]
  • $1000 annual prize in her name by Masterpuzzles for outstanding work appearing on computers[6]

Online Puzzles

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e http://wordplay.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/25/four-score-and-three/
  2. ^ a b c d e f http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1112/pro01.html
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l http://articles.philly.com/2009-09-24/news/25268332_1_puzzles-letter-crossword-creator
  4. ^ a b c d e http://www.preshortzianpuzzleproject.com/p/pre-shortzian-constructor-interviews.html
  5. ^ a b c https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/rec.puzzles.crosswords/ogE9f2xn0LI
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h The Crossword Obsession: The History and Lore of the World's Most Popular Pasttime, by Coral Amende, Berkley Books, 2001
  7. ^ www.upenn.edu/gazette/0913/window.html
  8. ^ http://www.upenn.edu/gazette/1112/window.html
  9. ^ http://www.legacy.com/funerals/goldsteinsfuneral-philadelphia/obituary.aspx?pid=166407830

References

SAMPLE-TO REMOVE Gina Kolata (April 7, 2013). "Scientific Articles Accepted (Personal Checks, Too)". The New York Times. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
SAMPLE-TO REMOVE "Book title", by Author; published year, by publisher

  1. Peter Mucha (Sept 24, 2009). "Construction worker Bernice Gordon, 95, has been coming across with downright nifty crossword puzzles for 60 years." The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  2. Molly Petrilla (Nov/Dec 2012). "Longtime Puzzler (2 words, 13 letters)", The Pennsylvania Gazette. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  3. Deb Amlen (Jun 25, 2013). "Four Score and Three", Wordplay: The Crossword Blog of the New York Times. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  4. Deb Amlen (Jul 1, 2012). In Search of Bernice Gordon, Wordplay: The Crossword Blog of the New York Times. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  5. David Steinberg (Mar 2013). Pre-Shortzian Constructor Interviews: Interview with Bernice Gordon, The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project: Bringing Old New York Times Crosswords into the Digital Age. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  6. Sarah Smith (Jun 26, 2013). Puzzling collaboration has Phila. connection, The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  7. Timothy E. Parker (Oct 9, 1997). "Universal signs Bernice Gordon", rec.puzzles.crosswords (Usenet)
  8. Aug 13, 2013. [http://www.legacy.com/funerals/goldsteinsfuneral-philadelphia/obituary.aspx?pid=166407830 Norman Wizer's obituary. Philadelphia Inquirer & Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  9. Peter Mucha (Oct 4, 2009). At 95, Bernice Gordon is still master of the crossword puzzle, The Philadelphia Inquirer (syndicated by Deseret News). Retrieved Oct 4, 2013.
  10. "The Crossword Obsession: The History and Lore of the World's Most Popular Pastime", by Coral Amende, 2001, Berkley Books
  11. "Crossword Puzzle Book: 50 Never-Before Published Puzzles #213", edited by John M. Samson; Apr 1, 2000, Simon and Schuster. (Monica Brenner puzzle)
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