Bernice Gordon (January 11, 1914 – January 29, 2015[1]) was an American constructor of crosswords.[2] She created puzzles for many publications after beginning her career in the early 1950s, and holds the record as the oldest contributor to The New York Times crossword puzzle.[3][4] A 1965 Times puzzle she wrote is credited as the first rebus puzzle, fitting an exclamation point into a single square.[5] She celebrated her 100th birthday in 2014, just a few weeks after the 100th anniversary of the crossword.[6] Her last puzzle was published in the Los Angeles Times on December 2, 2014.[1]
Having loved doing puzzles as a child,[7] Gordon started creating her own puzzles for fun in the early 1950s, shortly after her first husband died.[4][7] Soon after, she started submitting them to Margaret Farrar, the first puzzle editor of The New York Times. Despite 6 or 7 quick rejections (due to "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 of hers that the NYTimes would subsequently print. In 1955, she was assigned the 'Sunday stumper'. This was the first of 9 Sunday puzzles she would author for the Times.[7]
At age 95, she became the oldest known crossword puzzle writer for The New York Times.[8] She subsequently broke her own record by being published in the Times at age 96,[9] 97,[10] 98[11] 99,[3] and again at age 100.[2] Gordon published thousands of puzzles during her 60+ year career, and continued to write new puzzles daily. She called herself a "cruciverbalist,"[7] and credited her productivity to chronic insomnia.[4][6]
| Newspaper or Publisher | Editor(s) | Years |
|---|---|---|
| The New York Times | Will Shortz |
1952–2014[2][3][12][13][14][15] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | Herbert Etteson | '80s, '90s[2][7] |
| Los Angeles Times | 2012,[16] 2013,[13][17][18] 2014[19][20] | |
| Simon & Schuster | John M. Samson | [2][13][14] |
| The Pennsylvania Gazette | 2012–2014[13][21][22] | |
| The Crosswords Club | Will Weng | [14] |
| The Universal Crossword | Timothy Parker | [7][23] |
| Dell Magazine | [2][13][14] | |
| The Wall Street Journal | 2008,[24][25] 2009[7] | |
| Running Press | [14] |
Gordon was born January 11, 1914, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1935.[4] She married Benjamin Lanard, cofounder of commercial realty company Lanard & Axilbund, in 1935.[7] They had two sons, Ben and Bruce Lanard. Gordon was widowed in 1947, then remarried and added a daughter, Amanda, to the family.[7]
In addition to writing puzzles, Gordon was an abstract painter and a needlepoint artist, finding inspiration in the places she traveled to, from her European honeymoon to Spain, Russia, Singapore, China, India, South America, and her favorite country, Egypt.[4][7] She used to live in Philadelphia's Rittenhouse Square.[8] In January 2014, The Rittenhouse Square Flower Market for Children's Charities (RSFMCC) recognized its 100th-year anniversary with a joint birthday bash also celebrating Gordon's 100th birthday.[26] Times puzzle editor Will Shortz attended Gordon's 100th birthday party in Philadelphia.[12] Gordon had an extensive personal library of reference books.[2][7] On January 29, 2015, Gordon died of heart failure at the age of 101.[1][27]
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 ten 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.[4][7] Gordon 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'.[7]
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.[7]
Norman S. Wizer of Malvern, Pennsylvania (deceased August 12, 2013[28]), also a veteran crossword puzzle writer,[14][23] was one of Gordon's closest friends. The two collaborated often and co-authored puzzles in multiple publications,[25] winning a best puzzle award for their contribution to the Mega Crossword Puzzle Book from Simon & Schuster.[7]
David Steinberg, who at 14 was the second youngest puzzle constructor to be printed in The New York Times, paired up with Gordon, then the oldest living Times constructor,[4] on June 26, 2013, to create an age difference-themed puzzle.[3] At the time the puzzle was published, Steinberg was 16, Gordon was 99. Will Shortz introduced Steinberg to Gordon initially.[3] They collaborated remotely and exchanged more than 70 emails.