In Practice

I felt profound disappointment when I opened The Nation and there was no puzzle! It is my favorite piece, besides Calvin Trillin's poems. I don't know what I'll do if Lewis retires....

I happened upon your homage to Frank Lewis as I was writing the Nation to express my dismay.

I realize this is not the most earth-shattering issue; however, Mr. Lewis' puzzle was one of my weekly "treats" - kind of a nice reward after working through many somewhat depressing articles in the magazine.

Oh, for goodness sake. We're talking about crossword puzzles, not heavenly dispensations. When it starts to snow Prozac, I'll worry about Frank Lewis. Til then, though, I'm waiting on science and medicine. More news from the front, please.

This situation has never been far from my thoughts since The Nation first revealed it (very gracelessly) several issues back. No warning...no preparation...a veritable ambush. My heart sank when I opened to the back page....and found something called 'Back Talk' in the very space forever occupied by Mr. Lewis's latest creation.

I still refuse to read 'Back Talk' and I'm seriously thinking of cancelling my subscription. Meanwhile, color me m-o-r-t-i-f-i-e-d.

Why did the geniuses at The Nation not foresee this development? At 95, it seems obvious that Mr. Lewis just might want to slow down or even to retire eventually. I realize Mr. Lewis's shoes would not be easy to fill; but that's all the more reason for seeking out an assistant or apprentice for him...in case something like this happened.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

I have had the pleasure at the age of 29 to know have Frank enter my life. I knew from the moment I met the man that he was a delight of a human being, and every time I see him, or a friend or colleague meet him, I am more and more enamored. Be at ease my friend, Frank is doing just fine!

I would very much like to know more about Mr. Lewis. Is there a biography?

I only subscribe for the crosswords...although I do get to much of the content of the magazine. What will we do when Frank really retires? I tried to make my own in homage to him... but... harder done than said.

After their recent revamp, the Crossword feature went kablooy. Golden Oldies arrive. Then depart. The weekly online puzzle, despite their insistence to the contrary, has disappeared from my screen. When it was available, only the first two Across clue appeared and on printing out the grid, only the black blocks remained, requiring one to fill in all the lines. Communications with their people proved fruitless as they continued to insist that the puzzle was right there in the weekly online edition. I had five people nationwide download the current issue (all with different ISPs). None reported they could find the whole puzzle at any time. While I wish the Puzzlemeister every good wish, I wonder if he is aware of this ongoing frustration.

Would The Nation consider publishing a new series of Mr. Lewis' puzzles from the 70's, 80's and 90's, for example, similar to the series of 8 publications that are now out of print? I believe that Mr. Lewis' fans around the world would snatch them up and call for more.