European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By sue Anne Pressley Washington Post Oug Hoylman knows his four letter words. He knows a four letter word for Lush Winoa four letter word for sign filler Neona four letter word for a male Raccoon boar. Hoylman of Chevy Chase md., is America s National Champion of crossword puzzles. His achievement comes at an historic time. The crossword Puzzle an enduring but Ever evolving pastime recently celebrated its 75th anniversary and Hoylman a shy insurance actuary with Greico is its reigning Star. I was the typical nerd growing up said Hoylman 45, who has a master s degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of technology. I read a lot. I was not interested in sports. I was not interested in social activities. I guess i m still the typical nerd. I m a solitary kind of person and crosswords Are definitely something you do  Holyman s apartment across the Street from his Greico office reflects his interest in the game. His seven crossword trophies cover the top of the 41-Inch television set. His favorite to show he said is jeopardy the unabridged dictionary he won after one contest lies open on a to tray. On the table near the Brown reclining chair is a stack of Puzzle books including fifty More stimulating stumpers guaranteed to Challenge and tantalize any crossword connoisseur. The Only Way to practice is to do a lot of them but i m not a fanatic said Hoylman who figures he completes 20 to 30 puzzles a week. I m not going to sit All evening and do  Hoylman s recent Victory Over 150 other contestants at the american crossword Puzzle tournament in Stamford Conn. Coincides with a period of revival for the puzzles. Games Magazine the largest circulation Puzzle Magazine in the United states touts crosswords As the most popular indoor game in America and a recent Gallup poll on Leisure activities said 27 percent of the american population work the a a a  . By. .1?- Rix "5i.T7 Sfa is?1 5x? pm of �4 i air ".t?, Jav tvs. A u xxv. Talk crossword puzzles Are enjoying a revival in popularity. Is Gus Schuettler puzzles regularly. The first crossword Puzzle appeared in the old new York world on dec. 21,1913, according to will Shortz senior editor of games Magazine. Initially called a word Cross it was created by Arthur Wynne the editor of the sunday fun supplement who remembered seeing something similar in England As a child. The Puzzle was an immediate hit As a weekly feature but by its third appearance the Story goes a typesetter s mistake had changed word Cross to  while a few newspapers picked up on the new feature it was t until 1924 and 25 that crossword puzzles became a fad. Suddenly there were crossword dresses crossword jewelry a Broadway smash called puzzles of 1925, and several hit songs including Cross word mama you Puzzle me but papa s Gonna figure you out. During that period Shortz said the to Railroad went so far As to install unabridged dictionaries in its trains to assist stymied crossword players. And the Simon & schuster publishing House was launched in 1924 with its first Book a collection of crossword puzzles. As a related publishing gimmick the company staged the first crossword tournament in a new York hotel. By the end of 1924, six out of 10 books on the Best seller lists were crossword Puzzle books. Those Early puzzles were primitive constructions with simple dictionary entries Shortz said. In the 1960s, crosswords started having themes and longer Clever wordplay and by 1978, crossword tournaments were revived As annual events after a lapse of several decades. But the stage was also set for the current controversy Between Puzzle Dom s old school heavy on latin references and obscure african Rivers and the new wave with its Reliance on puns and contemporary language. So heated is the dispute that the Board of directors of the newly formed crossword Hall of Fame has representatives of both Camps. The new National Champion is a dedicated new  his Strong categories Are movies and history he is weak on popular music and sports. The Only clue he missed in the qualifying rounds for the National championship had to do with a rolling stones album title get your Yaya s out when he incorrectly wrote Yama for  i guess i must have been thinking of that song the Yama Yama Man from one of the Fred Astaire musicals he said growing up in Kalispell mont., a town of 10,000, Hoylman remembers often seeing his Mother with a Pencil and crossword Puzzle in hand. He was perhaps 10, he said when he worked his first crossword. Two years ago he began tournament Competition by filling out the qualifying Puzzle in a game Magazine and mailing it in at the contest held in new York he placed eighth. Now with nine tournaments behind him he is hooked on competing he said. In fact he said he combined his two hobbies travelling and puzzles by going on a crossword cruise from new York to Bermuda last summer. He easily won the tournament aboard ship. Hoylman said he likes working crosswords for the usual reasons the mental Challenge the fun. But he also is Able to philosophize about the deeper implications of the sport. I like problems that have neat answers he said. In our daily lives you Deal with problems that have no definite answers. You might think you have a Good answer to a problem but you re never sure. In crosswords there is always a right  by Trudy Tynan associated press the term computer virus spread into use like Well like a virus last year in the unite states but the outbreak came too late tomake the latest edition of Merriam Webster dictionaries. It got a tremendous amount of use. It was the word of the year said James g. Lowe senior editor at Springfield  . Merriam inc., which publishes America s largest Selling desk dictionary. The company got its Start about 150 years ago by trimming Noah Webster s two volume dictionary Down to a More marketable single volume. But adding new words is the lexicographer s bread and butter. Computer virus is an almost sure bet for inclusion in the next addendum to the company s unabridged dictionary Lowe said thanks to a graduate student who last fall unleashed a virus that clogged University and military computers and exposed the Page 16 the stars and stripes vulnerability of computer Banks to infection. But computer virus a program designed to infiltrate and reproduce itself in Host computer systems was hardly the Only new term to capture the attention of lexicographers in a year when the normally Fertile Hunting ground of presidential Campaign politics proved something of a disappointment. Televangelist colonization As used to describe the tinting of old Black and White films and Zap when used to describe what happens to a television commercial when a viewer switches to another Channel by Remote control Are also Likely candidates for the unabridged he said. And that video Stalwart the Couch potato made the 1989 printing of the company s collegiate dictionary. Also getting attention Are veejay a television version of the disc jockey and sound bite along with the phonation and ple Gathon popularized by Public television he said. Glasnost russian for openness is still debatable despite its frequent appearance in the press for soviet president Mikhail s. Gorbachev s reforms. It is still most often found in either italics or quotes and to us that Means it has not been completely. Americanized Lowe said. When reporters and writers Start using it without explaining what it Means it will be ready for consideration for the  saturday january 28,1989 a word gets into the dictionary simply by being used Over a period of years in the popular press said Lowe. His lexicographers spend their Days Reading everything from the Wall Street journal of cat fanciers Magazine and Playboy. They make notes on Index cards each time they see a new word or new usage. The citations Are stored in Banks of cabinets on the second floor housing All the words that have stirred America since 1790, and Many More that did t survive Long enough to make the dictionary. As of Early january the count stood at 13,739,441 cards said the head of the dictionary company s typing Pool. In addition to Couch potato which has built up a fat file of citations since appearing in the Wall Street journal and to guide in 1979, the 1989 version of Webster s collegiate dictionary includes these new entries deep pocket to describe litigation against a wealthy defendant wish list Loose Cannon Poison Pill and microwavable which dictionary editors contend can also be spelled microwaveable. Some new words of 1988 were repeats such As Doo Wop born out of the revival of 1950s Rock n Roll Lowe said. Yuppies a product of the 1980 presidential Campaign Are still with us. Only now they May be married and dinks or double income families with no kids he said. And their drink this year was Blush wine which is a paler Pink than Rose