Alive or dead? Both!

A brief catalogue of Schrödinger crosswords

Nov 03, 2023

Puzzle and magic friends!

In this newsletter:

Schrödinger crosswords
A brand new (Schrödinger) crossword! The Fall Classic
Alive or Dead: a magic trick you can do
The Fall Classic crossword revealed

Schrödinger crosswords

A Schrödinger or quantum crossword is a puzzle in which some clues are written so that multiple answers work.

Also in this newsletter, I’ve written a brand new one for you to solve!

But first, here’s a brief history of the Schrödinger. Lots of history below pulled from xwordinfo.com, so thank you to Jim Horne and Jeff Chen for their invaluable resource.

The term for Schrödinger originated with Joon Pahk, who suggested the name because Schrödinger’s cat who was either alive or dead. Or alive and dead. Something like that … two answers at once!

Erwin Schrödinger - Discovery, Quotes & Experiment — Erwin Schrödinger

The first known Schrödinger puzzle was February 7, 1988 by Ralph G. Beaman. Nine squares have variable answers. This is the only puzzle of its kind in the pre-Shortz era. Here’s the grid.

Next, veteran constructor David J Kahn published a puzzle under Shortz in 1996 that featured 20 dual answers. For example: “What a magician might wave … WAND or HAND” crossed with “Medical chart info … WEIGHT or HEIGHT.” Each Schrödinger square had a diagonal line through it to indicate something was afoot. Here’s the puzzle if you want to solve it.

The most famous crossword ever published, of course, was Jeremiah Farrell’s election day puzzle. On Tuesday, November 5, 1996, the Times printed Farrell’s crossword with the central clue “Lead story in tomorrow's newspaper (!)” The answer: CLINTON ELECTED. As Will Shortz tells it, phone calls poured in to the Times with furious people complaining. How dare the NYT call the election?! But aha, there was a trick! BOB DOLE ELECTED also worked in the grid. The C/B letters were clued as “Black Halloween animal … CAT or BAT”. The N/D came from “Sewing shop purchase … YARN or YARD”. And the best one, the I/B: Provider of support, for short … IRA or BRA. Click on the video below to see both answers.

Amazing right? And solve the puzzle here if you want to give it a spin.

There have been about a dozen more Schrödingers in the NYT. My favorite is probably Damon Gulczynski’s on September 5, 2013. His trick was to have entries in the grid like PORT. This word referenced corresponding Schrödinger squares where “P or T” both worked. STUTTERED and SPUTTERED was clued as “Bumbled verbally” crossed with PANSY and TANSY clued as “Flowering plant”. Here’s the answer grid or solve it here.

New (Schrödinger) crossword! The Fall Classic

Here it is, a Schrödinger crossword for you to solve! Please note that this puzzle was written before the World Series concluded on November 1st. Play it now. Would love to hear your thoughts below in the comments!

Toward the end of this newsletter, I’ve included a breakdown of how it all works. Avert your eyes if you want to solve it!

Alive or Dead: a magic trick you can do

The Effect

On small pieces of paper, your audience member (which magician’s call the spectator) writes down the name of eight alive people and one person who is dead. After they are mixed up facedown, you hover your hand over each piece and can psychically detect which is the one person who is communicating from beyond the grave!

The Trick

The secret: It’s not about the word. It’s about the paper! A clever method of tearing allows you to keep track of which piece of paper your spectator has chosen.

Show your spectator a blank piece of printer paper. Crease the paper by folding it into thirds and into thirds again. You now have nine sections of paper. Tear neatly along those lines and mix them casually. Make sure to keep track of the center piece and place it on top. How?

Here’s the secret to the whole trick: the center piece will be the only piece with four torn sides!

Hand the center piece to your spectator and ask them to secretly write down the name of someone that is no longer living. It could be George Washington, Catherine the Great or Mohandas Gandhi. Let’s say they write down Gandhi.

After your spectator has written the name, have them turn the center piece face down on the table. Then give your spectator the remaining pieces of paper and have them secretly write eight names of people who are living. They could be your next-door neighbor, your kooky uncle, or Tracis Kelce. After they are done, they can turn them all facedown and mix all nine pieces around on the table.

Announce that using telepathic powers you can sense which name radiates a spiritual presence. Focus on the facedown pieces of paper in front of you. Hover your hand over each piece, feeling for “energy from the astral plane.” When you come to the center piece, announce that you feel a cold sensation! It must be this one! Turn it over and reveal that you’ve found Gandhi. As long as you spot the four torn sides, you’ll never lose track of the center piece.

The Fall Classic revealed. Avert your eyes if you want to solve!

This was just so damn fun to make I wanted to share how it works. For the central clue about who wins the 2023 World Series, both DIAMONDBACKS and TEXAS RANGERS fit as an answer.

I hope you enjoyed that. It would have been easier to make if the REDS had played the RAYS!

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