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Starting marriage with a puzzle clue
A guy proposed to his girlfriend through the Sunday crossword puzzle, something that they both enjoyed doing together every week.
A marriage proposal inside a crossword puzzle yields the correct answer: Yes!
The clue for 111 across in yesterday’s Boston Globe Sunday magazine crossword puzzle was “Generic Proposal.” The answer (spoiler alert, for those still working on it!) was “Will you marry me?”
Most puzzle devotees no doubt just moved on to the next clue when they solved that one. But for Aric Egmont of Cambridge, those 14 letters on the grid were the actual proposal he’d been plotting for months to his girlfriend, Jennie Bass.
Get the pun? Generic = Jen + Aric.
Doing the crossword puzzle together is an underrated couples activity. Before Isabella came along we used to do the puzzle together every night at dinner. Unfortunately, we’re too distracted these days during dinner, but I still like doing the puzzle with her when we get a chance. It reminds me how brilliant she is and it’s fun accomplishing something with her that we both contribute to, playing off each other’s strengths.
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COMMENTS
How nice that you sometimes do the crosswords together—wish my husband thought that way. He’s not interested, but I love them, so I do them when he isn’t around. He likes Sudoku and algebra problems, which as a math-challenged artsy-fartsy I don’t even dream of trying, but I guess it’s a question of “chacon a son gout”. May you spend many more happy years “puzzling” together!
Posted by
on 09/27/07 at 09:38 AM I know the constructors quite well, being one myself. As soon as I got (spoiler alert) WILL YOU MARRY ME with JENNIE (clued as Winston Churchill’s mother, I believe) I knew it was a proposal. In fact I emailed Emily and Henry right away to see if the lucky lady had accepted or not…they weren’t sure at that point.
Get the pun? Generic = Jen + Aric.
Now that escaped me, even after learning that ARIC was the groom-wannabe. I wonder if the constructors even realized they’d made another pun in the clue? 
Unfortunately, we’re too distracted these days during dinner
Its rare when I find a typo in one of your entries Dom. Since the distraction is Isabella, the proper word would be “fortunately”.
Posted by
on 09/28/07 at 07:25 AM Snif. That’s so sweet! And may that be the only cross word between them. 
Re: crossword
Man, I can never get that cryptic stuff. I try and try, and yet I’m lucky if I can figure out one or two.
Re: sudoku
It’s got nothing to do with math; it’s just 9 symbols being pushed around in various orders. Letters, shapes, colored blocks—no difference.
Color—yeah, that’s what I’ll do. Color in my sudoku with ROYGBIV plus black and white crayons. Ha! (And yes, I’m sure this isn’t a new idea…. But I like playing with crayons, and have no kids to give me an excuse.)
Posted by
on 09/28/07 at 11:27 AM I was curious enough about the “Gen” + “eric” clue to ask the constructors about it. Their reply:
Hi Kelly,
Oh sure, the “Jen + Aric” pun was intended from the start. That was all we could think of in terms of wordplay, their names being sort of odd (Aric? Jennie with an ie?).
We suppose…the marriage-proposal stunt is old
hat now, having been perpetrated at least three times previously. But this did not deter the principals - an incredible sweet couple - in their enthusiasm, and the whole thing ended up being one of the happiest experiences we’ve ever had with puzzles.
I feel silly now not getting the pun in the “Will you marry me” clue…but then I often have difficulty solving my own puzzles, sheesh.
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