bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1986) — Spring/Summer 1986 // Printemps/Été 1986, p. 38
Elwood Squamish, Logiciam Extra-ordinary and Puzzler Plenipotentiary to Her Majesty in Left of Canada, knows that 1986 is the hundredth anniversary of the publication of one of his favourite fictional stories. Elwood does not have one of the country’s great memories, so it is hardly a surprise to learn that he has forgotten everything else about the story, except that it concerns two men who lived in the same house but never met. Anticipating this development, one day last year he wrote himself a reminder. As is his habit, this note takes the form of a puzzle, as follows: (a) Winter 1985 — Anglo-Irish writer (6) of famous Transylvanian horror story dines with rough-riding New York City Commissioner of Police (9), whom he correctly predicts will one day be president.
(b) Late 1901 – Austrian Minister of Culture von Hartel vetoes appointment of foremost painter of radical Secessionist school (5) to professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts, then accepts Secessionist painting as bribe to confirm appointment of radical Jewish doctor (5) to professorship at University of Vienna; the doctor later makes the fortune of couch-makers everywhere, while the artist finds a vogue among college students in the 60s.
(c) July 1914 — Following departure of Indian lawyer (6) with whom he has been negotiating race questions, Boer War hero South African Minister of Defense (5) writes in his diary: “The saint has left our shores – I hope for ever”. Both men helped found their countries.
(d) May 1922 — The opening night party for a Ballets Russes performance of works by the noted Russian composer (10) of the “Rite of Spring” is attended by the foremost Irish (5) and French (6) novelists of their day. The Frenchman insults the composer, the Dubliner and the set designer, the most famous French-Spanish artist of the century (7), then departs mumbling of “things past”.
(e) Fall 1929 — A well-known English historian, orator and future Prime Minister (9), then unemployed, visits a Tramp actor friend (7) in Hollywood. The actor says he wants to play Jesus, to which the politician replies “Have you cleared the rights?”
(f) August 1936 — In Oslo, a Russian leader exiled for being too radical (7) has his room ransacked by a Norwegian army major (8). The Russian is soon deported to Mexico and assassination, while the major will one day run his country for the Nazis and see his name enter the English language. (9) August 1939 — Concerned about the possibility of Hitler developing the Bomb, a former Swiss postal clerk (8) decides to warn the President.
He first tries to gain audience by writing to a famous American solo aviator (9). The latter, who later claims never to have received the letter, goes on to oppose US entry into World War Il; the ex-clerk gets through to Roosevelt by other channels.
(h) August 1962 — Depressed and lonely, the blonde gentlemen prefer (6) dies in Los Angeles from an overdose of sleeping pills while listening to Sinatra. Her body lies in the morgue until claimed by her athlete second husband, the “Yankee Clipper” (8), from whom she has been divorced since 1954.
(i) Winter 1970 — The Northern Magus (7) is visited in Ottawa by a famous New York singer, actress and “Funny Girl” (9). Perhaps fortunately, she brings her mother along as chaperone; he marries someone else a year later.
Elwood wants you, as Deputy LE & PP, to figure out the puzzle for him, since Mike Wilson needs his help with the latest Budget. All he can remember is that each of the nine passages refers to a connection between two or more famous people; that the figures in parenthesis give the number of letters in each person’s last name; that these 20 names can be spelled out by connecting letter-boxes in the rectangle, a valid connection being defined as vertical, horizontal or diagonal adjacency, with no box used more than once in the whole puzzle; and that when all the name-sequences have been blacked out, the eight remaining letters plus the most common first letter among the 20 famous names, can be arranged to form the name of the author of the story Elwood is trying to remember.
CAN YOU DO IT??? Can you determine the twenty-three missing names, including the names of the men who never meet? bout de papier (on behalf of LE & PP Squamish) will pay $25.00 to the author of the first correct answer drawn. Good luck, whoever you are!!!
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 4, No. 2 (1986) — Spring/Summer 1986 // Printemps/Été 1986, p. 38. Read the rest of this issue →
