Henry Hook (crossword compiler), Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Henry Hook (crossword compiler)

American crossword compiler

Date of Birth: 18-Sep-1955

Place of Birth: East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States

Date of Death: 27-Oct-2015

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Henry Hook (September 18, 1955 – October 27, 2015) was an American creator of crossword puzzles, widely credited with popularizing the cryptic crossword in North America.
With Henry Rathvon and Emily Cox, he wrote the crossword for the Boston Globe. Hook began constructing crosswords at age 14, when he sent a rebuttal crossword to Eugene T.
Maleska.
Maleska's crossword contained the hidden message: You Have Just Finished The World's Most Remarkable Crossword Hook's crossword contained the hidden message: What Makes You Think Your Puzzle Is More Remarkable Than Mine Maleska subsequently became Hook's mentor.In 1980, Hook joined the staff of Games. In the mid-1980s, he collaborated with novelists Patricia Moyes and Herbert Resnicow to create crosswords for crossword-themed mystery novels.In 1990, CROSSW RD ranked his Hooked on Puzzles #3 the best book of the year; Hook subsequently recused himself from future awards.Stanley Newman's official website has described one of Hook's puzzles as "one of the toughest crosswords (Newman) has ever published"; Matt Gaffney, the crossword constructor for Slate.com, described meeting Hook as being like "meeting Elvis", while Will Shortz called him "ingenious, (and) a truly brilliant puzzlemaker." He died on October 27, 2015, after a long illness.