[Ads-l] That "words ending in -gry" puzzle (early-ish sighting, 1974)

[Bonnie Taylor-Blake]

I am certain that some of you know much more about this puzzle's history
than I, but I thought I'd try looking for early mentions of the
brainteaser. Perhaps this is something that will whet the appetites of the
hungry, angry antedaters here.

(If you're unfamiliar with the "words that end in -gry" puzzle, see, for
example, Michael Quinion's analysis at
http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/gry.htm and a Wikipedia entry at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-gry_puzzle.)

I should mention that the Wikipedia page notes that Merriam-Webster first
learned of this puzzle via a letter dated 17 March 1975, but the page also
observes that this may date back to the '50s. Further (and elsewhere), Lois
Aleta Fundis reproduced a message from 1999 to the old Stumpers list that
mentioned finding the "gry puzzle" in a pamphlet suspected, but not
confirmed, to have been printed sometime in the '40s. (Lois noted in 2006
that she had not been able to put her hands on any such publication.)

https://sites.google.com/site/lfundisriversnorth/lfundisgrywords

So, in the momentary absence of printed versions from the '40s (or later),
I give you a mention of the puzzle that very slightly predates that in the
17 March 1975 letter to Merriam-Webster.

What follows isn't much of an improvement, but it demonstrates that "-gry"
was on the mind of the Atlanta Constitution night city-desk by early
September, 1974.

-- Bonnie

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THIRD 'GRY'? The city desk gets many calls for information please. Night
city editor Jim Bentley relayed this one.

Someone on the phone wanted to know if the city side could name the third
word in the English language that ends in "gry." He cited "hungry" and
"angry" as the other two.

The night city desk did not have the answer. Nor do I, not yet. Do you? The
phone is 428-5150.

[In Leo Aikman's "He Now Faces the Music," The Atlanta Constitution, 4
September 1974, p. 5-A.]

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GETTING ANGRY: If that fellow who called night city editor Jim Bentley
asking the third word in the language ending "gry" was pulling our leg, if
there is no such word, some of us are going to join the "12 angry men." We
are hungry for the answer. A few have called saying the challenge has them
"climbing the wall."

[In Leo Aikman's "No Longer Even a Smile," The Atlanta Constitution, 11
September 1974, p. 5-A. Aikman referred to the puzzle again in his 20
September column and reported on a reader's suggestion of another "gry"
word.]

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