MORE PIECES TO THIS PUZZLE: Here's a little more on that New York Times crossword puzzle crafted by a partnership of former President Bill Clinton and Little Rock Traffic Judge Vic Fleming.
The puzzle, constructed to be included as part of a yearlong celebration of the 75th anniversary of the newspaper's puzzle, is set to appear in The New York Times on Friday. (The puzzle is set to appear in this newspaper on June 16.)
Clinton, who is known to enjoy and be very good at working crossword puzzles, was interviewed and appeared in the 2006 documentary Wordplay, a film about crossword puzzle enthusiasts and competitions.
The former president and Fleming became friends in the early 1980s through their daughters, who were childhood friends.
"Occasionally, Bill and I worked New York Times crossword puzzles together, at least once in the Governor's Mansion and once in the White House," Fleming recalls.
Recently, The New York Times crossword puzzle editor, Will Shortz, asked the two to team up for a themeless puzzle. Shortz added he hoped the puzzle would reflect Clinton's life and work.
"I got in touch with Bill in January and, through email and phone calls, brainstormed the possibilities," Fleming says. "Some relevant seed entries came to mind, and I was able to work those into a themeless puzzle diagram."
Clinton chose to write the clues and Fleming was more than happy to oblige.
"He did a great job, too, but I couldn't resist tweaking a couple," the judge recalls. "I sent him my revisions. He circled my tweaks and wrote, 'Too easy and boring -- might as well print the answers in the puzzle!'" So Fleming, who, counting this puzzle, has seen 46 of his creations printed in The New York Times, backed off on changing Clinton's clues and sent it unchanged to Shortz.
The judge and the former president will both receive compensation for their efforts -- $300 each, the going rate for those who construct puzzles for The New York Times. Not a princely sum, to be sure. But it's not about the money. For them, it's a passion, rather than a profession.
TESTING THE TEACHERS: Schoolteachers Mary Parker, who teaches English and French, and Cody Vest, who teaches English, both at Rogers Heritage High School in that Northwest Arkansas city, will compete this week in the teachers tournament on the Jeopardy game show. The contestants are participating in a two-week competition, kicking off tomorrow. They are vying for $100,000 and a spot in the next version of the long-running game show's "Tournament of Champions."
SOMETHING STRANGE AFOOT: Shannon Purser, who stars as Barb Holland in Netflix's hit series Stranger Things, will visit Hot Springs as a special celebrity guest of 2017 Spa-Con, a multigenre comic and sci-fi convention set for Sept. 22-24.
Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 607-0675 or lindashaymes@gmail.com.
SundayMonday on 05/07/2017