Two weeks ago, I wrote about LifeQuest. (Thanks, by the way, for all the nice feedback on that column.)
In that column, I noted that I was teaching a class: ’Tis a Puzzlement. That was the title of the class. “’Tis a puzzlement” is a repeating line in “The King and I.” Each week I started my class with a PowerPoint slide with this phrase, separated into two parts, in a crossword grid.
One week, someone who was not a member of the class came in and stared at the slide for a few minutes and then asked, “Who is Tisa”?, pronouncing the final word as though “is” rhymed with “Lisa.” Anyhow, in class five of eight, I asked the class to take a list of one-word movie titles, combine two titles to come up with the title for a film that could have been made, and give the resultant product a crossword clue.
After they had done this, we listed their answers, discussed the project and came to a consensus on three 15-letter answers. I then opened up my crossword constructing software and made a grid around the three answers selected. We then – I, with their input – filled the grid with good lively vocabulary. Each member of the class was then assigned three answers for which to write clues.
I did a smidgen of editing to the end result, which appears as this week’s I Swear Crossword elsewhere in this periodical. (If you’re reading this at dailyrecord.us, then you can find the crossword at Will Johnston’s Puzzle Pointers, http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/11-dr.html.
In the space that is left, let me say how proud I am of this group of curious, energetic people. I was, in fact, so impressed with their theme selections, and with the final finished puzzle fill, that I wrote an email to my friend Will Shortz, puzzle editor of the New York Times, offering him the puzzle.
He replied:
“Thanks for the puzzle suggestion. The ‘movie mergers’ idea, I think, is a little too familiar, so I’d better say no. But I appreciate the offer.
“I like the idea of your eight-week puzzle class and what you’re doing with it. It sounds terrific. /s/ Will.”
Shucks!
What a coup it would have been for the LifeQuest puzzle class to wind up with its group-effort puzzle being accepted for publication in the New York Times!
Oh, well…For the record, here are some of the theme answers that did not make it into the puzzle:
Defecting Minnesota baseballers? UNFAITHFUL TWINS
Cessna that’s too big to fly? TITANIC AIRPLANE
Jumbo-sized voltage regulators? BIG TRANSFORMERS
Wail of one who’s overdosed with Final Net? HAIRSPRAY SCREAM
Realizations occurring in North Dakota’s largest city? FARGO AWAKENINGS
Vic Fleming is a district court judge in Little Rock, Ark., where he also teaches at the William H. Bowen School of Law. Contact him at vicfleming@att.net.