Mel Taub, the brilliant creator of The New York Times’ cherished Puns and Anagrams puzzle, passed away on September 14th at his home in Austin, Texas, at the remarkable age of 97. He was a true master of wordplay, known for his clever and often ‘groan-inducing’ puns.
His son, Daniel, shared the news of his passing.
Within the world of puzzles, Puns and Anagrams crosswords, affectionately known as ‘PandAs,’ offered a refreshing twist. While they shared a distant kinship with the notoriously challenging British cryptic crossword, PandAs served as a delightful diversion from the traditional crossword. Although some seasoned cruciverbalists might have deemed them less rigorous, these puzzles garnered a passionate following among those who reveled in a truly awful pun or the satisfying discovery of a brilliant anagram.
Deb Amlen, a senior puzzle editor at The Times, fondly referred to Mr. Taub as ‘the king of the groaners’ within their puzzle-making community. She emphasized that ‘His puzzles were crafted with the sole purpose of bringing a smile to your face.’
To truly appreciate his genius, consider this example from a 2017 puzzle:
An embedded interactive puzzle from 2017, showcasing Mel Taub’s signature Puns and Anagrams style, would typically appear here for readers to try their hand at his unique wordplay.
Among Taub’s many brilliant creations, one clue from an August 21, 2011 puzzle stood out: ‘Offspring of many fodders.’ The ingenious answer? ‘DODDERS’ — referring to a type of parasitic vine. Classic Taub!
Another memorable example, from May 21, 2017, asked: ‘Male or female, in Boston.’ The eyebrow-raising answer: ‘AGENDA’ – a nod to the Boston accent’s pronunciation of ‘gender.’ A true ‘groaner’ indeed!
Outside of his passion, Mr. Taub maintained a career as an underwriter for Guardian Life Insurance. His renowned puzzles, however, were crafted during evenings and weekends at his family’s dining room table in their Brooklyn apartment. Each creation was a labor of love, typically taking around eight hours to complete and featuring an average of ten meticulously placed puns.
In a 1982 interview with The Four Star Puzzler magazine, he revealed his unique starting point: ‘I like to begin each puzzle with a pun I’ve never used before. And then I pray,’ he quipped. The magazine noted his ‘rapid fire’ delivery, a trait he shared with his comedic idols, Henny Youngman and Rodney Dangerfield, which undoubtedly shaped his distinctive wit.
He famously offered ‘Salad ingredient on the Titanic’ as a perfect example of his punning style, with the answer, of course, being ‘ICEBERG.’
For Taub, every definition was a puzzle in itself. He shared with The Puzzler, ‘The ones I like best are those where the letters in the word to be anagrammed lend themselves to a smooth definition. For example, ‘He doesn’t have an end seat,’ for STANDEE.’
A delightful revelation for many readers was the discovery that ‘Mel Taub’ itself is an anagram for ‘mutable,’ a perfectly fitting description of his adaptable and ever-changing craft. Though, on days of extreme frustration, some solvers might have humorously preferred ‘bum tale’!
A classic black-and-white photograph shows Mr. Taub in the 1960s, a period when his reputation as a puzzle innovator solidified. A Times colleague affectionately described him as ‘the king of the groaners in our puzzle family.’
The Puns and Anagrams puzzle made its debut alongside The Times’ inaugural crossword in the Sunday magazine on February 15, 1942. Initially titled ‘Riddle Me This,’ it was attributed to ‘Anna Gram’ – a pseudonym that current Times puzzle editor Will Shortz suspects belonged to the paper’s first puzzle editor, Margaret Farrar.
At just 26 years old, Mr. Taub’s path to publication was not without its challenges, requiring three attempts. His initial submissions were traditional crosswords.
In his first rejection, Ms. Farrar acknowledged, ‘This is an interesting puzzle,’ and optimistically added, ‘And I foresee you will land in the puzzle corner.’ However, she took issue with ‘the crossing of djo and oont’—referring to obscure answers for ‘a Japanese unit of measurement’ and ‘an Indian camel’ respectively.
Despite the rejection, she extended an invitation: ‘I hope you’ll come again. We pay $10 for the dailies.’
His second submission also met rejection, this time due to Ms. Farrar’s disapproval of what she saw as forced abbreviations, such as ‘diph’ for diphthong. Perseverance paid off with his third puzzle, published on October 24, 1954. His inaugural Puns and Anagrams puzzle followed in May of the next year, earning him $15.
Beyond PandAs, he also crafted double-crostics, publishing them in a series of books, though not for The Times. For The Times, he continued to contribute occasional traditional crosswords and even ventured into a few cryptic crosswords.
His puzzle ‘Hail to the Chief,’ featured in The New York Times Magazine on January 17, 1993, was a clever tribute to the then newly elected President, William Jefferson Clinton. Remarkably, President Clinton returned the completed puzzle, filled out in pen, just a day later, accompanied by a note expressing his enjoyment ‘in between spurts of speech writing.’ (His inauguration was only three days away!)
A notable clue from that puzzle: ‘The White House is her Everest.’ The answer? ‘HILLARY.’
Melvin Seymour Taub was born in Brooklyn on September 4, 1928, the youngest of David and Esther (Schwartz) Taub’s four children. His father had a varied career, including a stint as a part-time bootlegger during Prohibition, crafting slivovitz, and later working in a luggage factory.
Mel pursued an English major at Brooklyn College, initially aspiring to become a comedy writer. When that path didn’t materialize, he transitioned into the insurance industry, where he worked until his retirement at a meticulously precise ‘63.5 years of age,’ as recounted by his son Daniel. (His exactitude, of course, comes as no surprise.) In 1959, Mr. Taub married Phyllis Spinrad, an administrator at Brooklyn College.
A photograph captures Mr. Taub in the 1990s alongside his wife, Phyllis. Phyllis herself contributed two daily crosswords to The Times, making them a true power couple in the puzzling world.
He is survived by his sons, Daniel and Dave, and one grandson. His wife, Phyllis Taub, who was also a published crossword constructor for The Times, passed away in 2023.
While Puns and Anagrams puzzles continue to feature bi-monthly in The Times Magazine, they are no longer available online. However, over a hundred of Mr. Taub’s ingenious creations are preserved and accessible on xwordinfo.com, a dedicated website curated by puzzle enthusiast Jim Horne.
By his own meticulous count, Mr. Taub contributed an impressive 350 to 400 PandAs to The Times, with his final puzzle appearing on October 20, 2019.
As his wife, Phyllis, wisely observed to The Four Star Puzzler in 1982, ‘He doesn’t just play with words; he preys on them.’