Margaret Farrar

Margaret Petherbridge Farrar (March 23, 1897 – June 11, 1984) was an American journalist and the first crossword puzzle editor for The New York Times (1942–1968). Creator of many of the rules of modern crossword design, she compiled and edited a long-running series of crossword puzzle books – including the first book of any kind that Simon & Schuster published. She was described by the Los Angeles Times as "the grand dame of the American crossword puzzle."

Early life Margaret Petherbridge was born March 23, 1897, in Brooklyn, New York, to Margaret (Furey) and Henry Petherbridge, who owned a licorice factory. A lifelong resident of New York City, she attended the Berkeley Institute in Brooklyn and graduated from Smith College in 1919. After graduating, she worked briefly as a bank secretary. She had been hired as the secretary to the editor of the Sunday edition of the New York World; he eventually assigned her to assist crossword inventor Arthur Wynne, who was overloaded with reader submissions of puzzles and complaints about flawed puzzles. She subsequently described her reaction as "[taking] an oath to edit the crosswords to the essence of perfection;" Petherbridge, along with two co-authors, was given an advance of $25 and asked to compile a book of crossword puzzles.

In 1926, Petherbridge married John C. Farrar, one of the co-founders of Farrar & Rinehart and Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

After the United States joined World War II, The New York Times''' Sunday editor sent a memo, attaching a letter from Margaret Farrar, urging the paper to publish a crossword puzzle. Farrar's note said, “I don’t think I have to sell you on the increased demand for this type of pastime in an increasingly worried world. You can’t think of your troubles while solving a crossword.” Farrar returned to journalism in 1942 as founding puzzle editor of The New York Times.

From the start of her work at The New York Times'', Farrar "raised the level of the language in crosswords."

In 1959, a New Yorker article described Farrar as "robably the most important person in the world of the crossword puzzle." Will Shortz wrote of her:

"Perhaps Margaret Farrar's greatest legacy is the large number of expert puzzlemakers she discovered and/or nurtured over the years – Will Weng, Eugene T. Maleska, Frances Hansen, Anne Fox, A.J. Santora, Diana R. Sessions, Jules Arensberg, Herbert Ettenson, Harold T. Bers, Mel Taub … the list goes on. Other editors have left their mark on the world of crosswords … but it was Margaret Farrar, more than anyone else, who established the American crossword rules and format, and whose smooth, sensible, timeless style of editing I still try to emulate today."