Misplaced Pages

Jeremiah Farrell: Difference between revisions

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
Browse history interactively← Previous editNext edit →Content deleted Content addedVisualWikitext
Revision as of 18:05, 21 August 2022 editToploftical (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users23,310 edits →Biography: fix tenses← Previous edit Revision as of 18:06, 21 August 2022 edit undoToploftical (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users23,310 edits →References: no longer livingNext edit →
Line 25: Line 25:


{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Jeremiah}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Jeremiah}}
⚫ ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
⚫ ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
⚫ ]
⚫ ]

Revision as of 18:06, 21 August 2022

American mathematician

Jeremiah (Jerry) Farrell (December 12, 1937 in Hastings, Nebraska—July 4, 2022 in Indianapolis, IN) was an American professor emeritus of mathematics at Butler University in Indiana. He was well known for having designed Will Shortz's favorite puzzle, the 1996 "Election Day" crossword in The New York Times. He also wrote puzzles for many other books and newspapers, such as Scott Kim's puzzle column for Discover magazine.

Biography

Farrell was born in Hastings, Nebraska, the oldest of three children to Belle Einsphar, and Paul Farrell, a third generation railroad man. Farrell himself worked for one summer on the railroad, as a "grinder", one who planes down the railroad tracks so they stay smooth. He attended Hastings High School, graduating in 1955, and then the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1963 with degrees in mathematics, chemistry, and physics. He later obtained a master's degree in mathematics, and in 1966 was hired by Butler University, where he worked for the next 40 years, teaching nearly every subject in the mathematics department. He officially retired in 1994, but continued to teach.

He was best known for designing many crossword puzzles for The New York Times, starting in the 1970s for editor Margaret Farrar, and then continuing to design new puzzles after Shortz took over. In 1996, he designed his most famous puzzle, the "Election Day" crossword. One of the words had the clue "lead story tomorrow", with the answer being 14 letters long. The puzzle had two correct solutions: "Bob Dole elected" and "Clinton elected", and all the crossing words were designed such that they could be one of two different words, to make either answer work. Shortz called it an "amazing" feat and his favorite puzzle.

With his wife Karen, Farrell helped organize the biannual Gathering for Gardner conferences, which started in 1993 as an invitation-only event for people connected with Martin Gardner.

In 2006 Farrell and his wife took over from A. Ross Eckler, Jr. as editors and publishers of the quarterly publication Word Ways: the Journal of Recreational Linguistics, established in 1968.

Contributed works

  • Zen and the Art of Magic Squares
  • A.K. Peters publications (where he is called a "mathemagician")
  • Discover magazine

References

  • NYT "Election Day" crossword
  • New York Sun, "A Washington Square Park Puzzle Is Solved", May 19–21, 2006
  • Indianapolis Star, May 25, 2006, "Butler Prof Figures It Out"
  1. Jeremiah P. Farrell Obituary , Hastings Tribune, Jul 7, 2022
Categories: