Danny Mann

At the blue jays/angels game on sat 822 I was chatting with my cousins Hyla and Debby about our mutual love for crosswords.  

As a bit more of an afficianado, I mentioned to both of them, the names Will Shortz and Merl Reagle, (widely considered the top constructor/editors in the craft)  and my particular joy in doing the Sunday crossword, in the LA (and occasionally) NY Sunday Times.

I also recommended the documentary "Wordplay"(a wonderful excursion into the crossworld).

So the next morning, I picked up my Starbucks cappuccino and the paper, and while my oatmeal was cooking, old fashioned and slowly in a pot, I dove into the LA Sunday Puzzle.

I work on it till the oatmeal is ready, then stop and read the paper while I eat. I have been doing this ritual for about 5 or 6 years having been sucked into it by my parents.

The first thing I stumbled across STUNNED me...

A big picture of Merl Reagle -- and his obituary!

I had just been working on his last* crossword?! I had just been talking about him hours earlier!

I thought of how much pleasure he had brought me over the years and how much I felt like he was a strange, funny, brilliant, invisible friend, who shared my enjoyment of wordplay and humor, and who had helped me keep my brain from getting too soft.

The next thing I thought of was how I had meant to contact him numerous times to comment on something that either thrilled or bugged me in a puzzle. And then when I found out that my friend Phil Proctor KNEW him and he gave me his Email address... I was all set to make this invisible friend real.

But, alas, I never got around to it.

The next thing that popped into my mind was a conversation I had had with my friend Kristi Kane, who is a lifelong crossworder with a much higher

"belt color" than mine.  LOL.

As a very young crossworder, she had written a sort of fan letter to then NY Times puzzle editor, Will Weng, providing him with her suggestion for his epitaph, for when the time came.  Her idea?

"3 Across 6 Down"

Brilliant.  Perfect.  Hysterical.

I think Merl would've loved it!

She later wrote a book of clever epitaphs for famous people with her Dad. With her blessing, I am passing this around to a few friends, and may send it to the LA Times.

*Maybe I'll even send it to Merl's Email address.

Maybe his family will enjoy it.

Better late than never.

I will miss him.