OCTOBER 9, 2008
Thinking inside the box
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 CARTOON |
His friends and associates may sound like the bad guys in a Batman movie — they’re called the Puzzler, the Penciler, and the Grid Man — but Garson Hampfield, Crossword Inker, is no Dark Knight.
Created by Saskatchewan artist Michael A. Charles, the animated video that Hampfield narrates is an exquisite example of dry-as-dust Canadian humor. The fictional Hampfield meticulously explains how his unheralded crossword-design team — the Box Team — labors to produce a single, daily puzzle. In this make-believe universe, it takes a village of nerds to draw up the grid alone: a person who fills in the black squares, or Square Setter, a Numberist, and the aforementioned Puzzler, Penciler, and Grid Man. You’ll also learn some fun (but fake) facts and find out about the biggest threat that Hampfield’s team is up against. Hint: You’re sitting in front of it right now!
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“Garson Hampfield, Crossword Inker”
