Henry Hook (September 18, 1955 – October 27, 2015) was an American creator of

crossword puzzle A crossword (or crossword puzzle) is a word game consisting of a grid of black and white squares, into which solvers enter words or phrases ("entries") crossing each other horizontally ("across") and vertically ("down") according to a set of cl ...

s, widely credited with popularizing the

cryptic crossword A cryptic crossword is a crossword, crossword puzzle in which each clue is a word puzzle. Cryptic crosswords are particularly popular in the United Kingdom, where they originated, as well as Ireland, the Netherlands, and in several Commonwealth ...

in North America. With

Henry Rathvon Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon are a married, retired American puzzle-writing team. They wrote the "Atlantic Puzzler", a monthly cryptic crossword in ''The Atlantic'' magazine, from September 1977 to October 2009, and wrote cryptic crosswords every ...

and Emily Cox, he wrote the crossword for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

''. Hook began constructing crosswords at age 14, when he sent a rebuttal crossword to Eugene T. Maleska. Maleska's crossword contained the hidden message:

You Have Just Finished The World's Most Remarkable Crossword

Hook's crossword contained the hidden message:

What Makes You Think Your Puzzle Is More Remarkable Than Mine

Maleska subsequently became Hook's mentor. In 1980, Hook joined the staff of ''

Games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

''. In the mid-1980s, he collaborated with novelists

Patricia Moyes Patricia Pakenham-Walsh, also known as Patricia Moyes (19 January 1923 – 2 August 2000) was a British mystery writer. Her mystery novels feature Criminal Investigation Department, C.I.D. Inspector Henry Tibbett. One of them, ''Who Saw Her Die'' ...

and Herbert Resnicow to create crosswords for crossword-themed mystery novels.Puzzled: Secrets and clues from a life in words
by

David Astle David Robert Astle (born 9 November 1961) is an Australian TV personality and radio host, and writer of non-fiction, fiction and plays. He also co-hosted the SBS Television (SBS) show ''Letters and Numbers'', as the dictionary expert, in company ...

; published November 1, 2012, by

Profile Books Profile Books is a British independent book publishing firm founded in 1996. It publishes non-fiction subjects including history, biography, memoir, politics, current events, current affairs, travel and popular science. Profile Books is distribu ...

In 1990, ''CROSSW RD'' ranked his ''Hooked on Puzzles #3'' the best book of the year;And the Wynners are: Weng, Hook, Cox, Rathvon, Shenk, Pomerance, and Joline
by Helene Hovanec, in ''CROSSW RD'' Magazine; volume 1, number 2; March/April 1991; via

Scribd Scribd Inc. (pronounced ) operates three primary platforms: Scribd, Everand, and SlideShare. Scribd is a digital document library that hosts over 195 million documents. Everand is a digital content subscription service offering a wide selectio ...

; retrieved February 15, 2017 Hook subsequently recused himself from future awards.Letters
by Henry Hook, in ''CROSSW RD'' Magazine; volume II number 3 (May-June 1992), via

; retrieved February 25, 2017 Stanley Newman has described one of Hook's puzzles as "one of the toughest crosswords (Newman) has ever published".WordWit Puzzle Contest
by Stanley Newman, at StanXWords.com; published September 3, 2007; via

archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

; "Three winners will be selected at random from all correct entries. Each will receive a copy of one of the toughest crosswords Stan has ever published: "The Beast" by Henry Hook. (Includes annotated solution.)"

Matt Gaffney Matt Gaffney is a professional crossword puzzle constructor and author who lives in Staunton, Virginia. His puzzles have appeared in ''Billboard'' magazine, the ''Chicago Tribune'', the ''Daily Beast'', ''Dell Champion Crossword Puzzles'', '' ...

, the crossword constructor for

Slate.com ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In ...

, described meeting Hook as being like "meeting

Elvis Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Presley's sexuall ...

", while

Will Shortz William F. Shortz (born August 26, 1952) is an American puzzle creator and editor who is the crossword editor for ''The New York Times''. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in the invented field of enigmatology. After starting h ...

called him "ingenious, (and) a truly brilliant puzzlemaker."Crossword Elite Put Lots Of Thought Into Little Boxes
by Sam Hodges, in the ''

Orlando Sentinel The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, and the Central Florida region, in the United States. It was founded in 1876 and is currently owned by Tribune Publishing Company. The ''Orlando Sentinel'' is owned by pare ...

''; published January 3, 1988; retrieved February 15, 2017 Crossword editor and historian Ben Tausig, in his 2013 ''The Curious History of the Crossword'', described Hook as "an under-recognized, polarizing genius with a sometimes tense relationship with audiences."''The Curious History of the Crossword'', by Ben Tausig; p. 131; published 2013 by

Quarto Publishing The Quarto Group is a global illustrated book publishing group founded in 1976. It is domiciled in the United States and listed on the London Stock Exchange. Quarto creates and sells illustrated books for adults and children, across 50 countri ...

Hook died on October 27, 2015, after a long illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hook, Henry 1955 births Crossword creators People from East Rutherford, New Jersey 2015 deaths