Thomas Meekin author page

Thomas Meekin, an accomplished mason and writer, was one of the most prolific crossword constructors in Times history. He constructed over 200 known Times crosswords from the 1940s to 60s. His 1943 debut came two months shy of his 65th birthday. All of his remaining Times crosswords appeared when he was 65 or older, making him the all-time leader in that age category. He also ranks first in total Times crosswords by constructors born outside the U.S.

Born in 1878, Mr. Meekin is among the earliest-born Times constructors, a group that includes J.C. Doesburg (1869), Harriot Cook (1871), Mabel Daggett (1873), Louis Shields (1881) and Charles Erlenkotter (1881). This generation was already in their 30s and 40s when crosswords were invented in 1913 (Mr. Meekin was 34). They were in their 60s and 70s when the Times launched its crossword in 1942, though most had been published in other outlets long before their Times debuts. Mr. Meekin's crosswords were in the New York Herald Tribune as early as 1930.

Margaret Farrar appears to have created various pseudonyms for Mr. Meekin. As Will Shortz has explained, Ms. Farrar sometimes gave a frequently-published constructor a pseudonym to avoid having the same byline appear too often. One of her conventions for creating a pseudonym was to base it on the constructor's city or street name, information readily available from constructor submissions. For example, Jack Luzzatto, while living on Mapes Avenue in the Bronx, once appeared as "John L. Mapes." For Mr. Meekin, who lived on Jackson Avenue in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Ms. Farrar appears to have fashioned the pseudonyms "Elizabeth Jackson," "Thomas Jackson," and "Jackson Cross." Crosswords with these constructor names all appeared shortly after a standard Thomas Meekin byline, usually two puzzles later.

Thomas J. Meekin was born in 1878 in Wolverhampton, England, near Birmingham. His father, Charles, was a mason and his mother, Clara (Broom) Meekin, was a homemaker. In the early 1880s, the family emigrated to the U.S., settling in Brooklyn. There the family grew, with Thomas being the oldest of 12 children.

In 1902, Thomas married Caroline Wiley. They had two daughters, Muriel and Clara.

Like his father, Thomas was a mason. In the 1890s, he began work in the trade. He rose over time from a journeyman, to a foreman, and then a superintendent of masonry projects. One of his projects was the Goerke-Kirche department store in New Jersey in the early 1920s. The 400,000 brick building is still standing today.

He also served as the secretary of an 8,000-member union of New Jersey masons and plasterers. In that role, he drafted public statements for the union, including a scathing critique of local inspectors for lacking knowledge of the masonry work they inspected.

He had a lifelong interest in writing. In 1928, his adventure novel "The House on Little Finger" was published. The story was a twist on the legend of the lost treasure of Captain Kidd. "Slightly verbose…the author nevertheless writes in pleasing style," The Brooklyn Daily Times said in a review. Previously, in 1914, Mr. Meekin was among the winners of a nationally-syndicated contest in which readers were given the start of a story set in ancient Egypt and asked to describe how it should unfold. The judges singled out Mr. Meekin for writing his submission in verse, which they printed in full. For his efforts, he won $10 (over $300 today).

After retiring as a mason, Mr. Meekin became a member of the New Jersey Board of Education. He passed away in 1970 at the age of 91.