![]() ![]() Read the rest of the story, originally published in College of Charleston Magazine. OK, now what? Niederman recalls thinking following the publication of his first crossword puzzle. Yet for all Niederman’s elation at his accomplishment in puzzledom, there was also uncertainty. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t go to all that trouble to make the words intersect.” “Whoever he was, he continued on his way, pleased at winning the joust, evidently not realizing that most crossword makers want people to solve their puzzles,” writes Niederman in his latest book, The Puzzler’s Dilemma. Yet his newfound fame also subjected him to a bit of contempt, such as the time a colleague passed Niederman and boasted with an air of derision, “I solved your puzzle.” Niederman was baffled, not so much at his rudeness but for the fact that his rival seemed not to realize that solvability was the point. Despite the meager payout, the puzzle earned him considerable acclaim and attention, as did the themed crossword puzzles he continued to get published in the Sunday edition of The New York Times – about 20 in the last 30 years. Niederman recalls earning about $100 for that first published puzzle in 1981, necessitating him to keep his day job as a financial analyst. ![]() Unfortunately, crossword puzzles don’t pay the bills, even those published in The New York Times. “As soon as I published a puzzle in The Times,” he says, “I felt I wrote the first line of my obituary.” ![]() Lo and behold, Maleska accepted, making Niederman a very happy man. But the bold and relentless Niederman submitted another puzzle just three weeks later. Instructions: Start each line with an answer word, then type a slash '/' character, then the clue. Maleska, who warned him to allow some time to pass before pestering the paper with another attempt. Rhode Island / The only state with two unique words in its name. He had been rejected three times before by the crossword puzzle editor at the time, Eugene T. After a few years of experimentation during graduate school as a means of procrastinating against writing his thesis, at the age of 26, Derrick Niederman had his first triumph, when The New York Times published one of his crossword puzzles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |