cross-word puzzles

[Benjamin Zimmer]

>>-----
>>Washington Post, Apr 22, 1883, p. 2
>>
>>147 -- Crossword enigma.
>>My first is in fashion, not in mode; my second is in lane and not in road;
>>my third in peach and not in fruit; my fourth in bottle and not in cruet;
>>my fifth in seat and not in trim; my sixth in terror and not in grin; my
>>seventh in honey and not in sweet; my eighth in leave, also in retreat. My
>>whole is a magic potion.
>>-----
>
>Whoops, I included my own typo in this one.  It should read:
>
>"...my fifth in neat and not in trim..."

John Baker emails to point out another error (not mine this time).
There's a problem with the line "my fourth in bottle and not in cruet".
The fourth letter of the intended word is E, which *is* in "cruet". (The
solution, using rot-13 coding, is ARCRAGUR.)

I see that the Post also made an error in printing the solution to the
1884 puzzle posted by George Thompson.  The solution is (rot-13)
THNEQNSHV, but the Post says it's THNEQNSVA.  So apparently the Post
didn't bother with copy-editing the Puzzle Department.

(For decoding rot-13, see <http://tools.geht.net/rot13.html>.)


--Ben Zimmer