[4][6] Eugene T. Maleska Will Weng Margaret Farrar Gordon was born January 11, 1914, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1935.
[7] In addition to writing puzzles, Gordon was an abstract painter and a needlepoint artist, finding inspiration in the places she traveled to, from her European honeymoon to Spain, Russia, Singapore, China, India, South America, and her favorite country, Egypt.
[26] Times puzzle editor Will Shortz attended Gordon's 100th birthday party in Philadelphia.
Margaret Farrar initially rejected the puzzle with ten ampersands in it, calling it "trickery", but six months later decided to print it.
The puzzle response was overwhelming, both evoking praise for originality, and anger from those who felt tricked.
[7] Gordon once created an X-rated puzzle for the Happy Hooker, aka Xaviera Hollander, a writer and former call girl with a bestselling memoir in the 1970s.
[7] Norman S. Wizer of Malvern, Pennsylvania (deceased August 12, 2013[28]), also a veteran crossword puzzle writer,[14][23] was one of Gordon's closest friends.
[7] David Steinberg, who at 14 was the second youngest puzzle constructor to be printed in The New York Times, paired up with Gordon, then the oldest living Times constructor,[4] on June 26, 2013, to create an age difference-themed puzzle.