Robert J. Klahn, Jr. (1944 - 2023)

 

The class has received word that Bob Klahn died on September 27, 2023 in Wilmington, DE. Here is Bob's online obituary.

 

Bob came to Princeton from Phillips Andover, majored in math, and was a member of Terrace Club. He played the trumpet in the band. Following Princeton, Bob settled in Wilmington, DE and worked at DuPont and Computer Sciences Corporation as a computer scientist. Bob was predeceased by his wife, Sharon.

 

Beyond his vocation and family, Bob found his greatest joy and fame for his achievements in his avocation as a crossword puzzle "constructor" of genius. His puzzles, 57 (according to one source) of which appeared in the New York Times, were known for their overall difficulty and the originality of the clues. This 2013 PAW story, War of Words, by Stella Daily Zawistowski ’00, is a report from the 26th annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament – "the Olympics of puzzledom". Stella talked to Bob, reporting "Klahn is proud of his reputation; when I tell him he’s my personal nemesis, he grins and says, 'Those are words of love.'” Unfortunately, Stella missed making the Division C finals because of a Klahn puzzle and good naturedly says "Curse you, Bob Klahn! As usual, it is his puzzle that has cost me my shot at glory."

 

Bob wrote several books on puzzles, one that's frequently cited is The Wrath of Klahn Crosswords: Puzzles from the World's Toughest Clue Writer. Other Klahn books are in the Plohn Hall Library (see the January 16, 2019 entry).

 

Bob also won the 2012 Orca Lifetime Achievement Award as reported in The Diary of a Crossword Fiend. Note for the slow of mind: An orca is black and white, and when deconstructed into squares, looks a bit like a crossword grid. Here are two quotes from the diary (be sure to click on the interview in the second quote and see Bob's comments on his famous Ground Hog Day puzzle in the February 2nd, 1995 NYT):

  • "Bob’s hundreds of crosswords are renowned for the originality of their clues; The Wrath of Klahn Crosswords: Puzzles from the World’s Toughest Clue Writer features six dozen of them. While such crosswords led one disgruntled solver to issue a fatwa against him, on the gruntled side, solvers have said they can almost see and taste and feel his puzzles. Bob’s favorite solver comment? ‘But he seems so normal!''”
  • "What makes a Bob Klahn puzzle so unique, of course, is his attention to clues. In a 2009 interview with the L.A. Times Crossword Corner, Bob explained how he consistently dazzles us with his fresh and knotty clues: 'What’s ‘my secret?’ Simply refusing to accept the old clues, almost always feeling I can come up with something new, hating to use ‘repeaters,’ and always trying to be as entertaining as possible. Those are my standards. As a result, I’m sure I spend a lot more time writing clues than most constructors do. I’ve often spent over a half hour on a single clue; I’m willing to do that any time I feel I’m close to coming up with something that I’ll really like.'”

Nassau Herald

Memories and Tributes

John Hart:

I remember Bob well; we met freshman year when we were both living in Pyne Hall and taking a couple of tough math and physics courses together. Bob was very capable in both fields and pushed me, with some success, to try harder and do better. To our relief, he discovered that numerous physics exercises were taken from a textbook by a Russian author; we both bought the book and had an easier path as the text provided helpful hints. With those hints, we could go our separate ways and solve the problems. We continued in many of the same courses sophomore year, but I saw less of Bob after that and never met again after senior year.

 

During this time, there was never a hint of Bob's love of words and puzzles. That aspect of his personality never came out in my presence. Nonetheless, he did awe my group of Pyne friends with his frisbee skills. Some of us had never seen a frisbee, or, if we had, could only make lame, wobbly throws. Bob had backhand, overhead,  and forehand throws with remarkable distance and never a wobble; Pyne Courtyard could not contain them. The throws would spin, hang, drop, curve, or catch a breeze seemingly on command. It's a shame there was no Ultimate Frisbee team at the time. Nor did we have dogs to catch his frisbee throws. We did try to learn Bob's techniques, but none of us could match him.

 

Rest in peace Bob. You were one of a kind in a class of unique and talented individuals.

 

Stella Daily Zawistowski '00:

I'm sorry to hear of Bob's passing. I knew him from the crossword community, both because I solve competitively (I considered him a personal nemesis, in a good way) and because we worked together for a time making puzzles for the CrosSynergy syndicate, which supplied puzzles to a number of newspapers around the country. He was an absolute wizard at coming up with difficult clues that are deeply satisfying to solve. The crossword world has in large part shifted toward an era of greater accessibility to newbies, which is wonderful as a way of growing the audience for puzzles but it really makes me miss devilishly clever puzzlemakers like Bob. He will be missed by the crossworld!

 

Chuck Kulczycki:

I’m sorry to hear about Bob Klahn. Junior year I roomed with 3 friends from the Princeton Marching Band (Bob, Dave Bonnett, Vic Reusch) plus Jeff Weiss (who I knew from Elm Club) and Anozie Ozumba (who taught me about Nigeria and who fascinated my young sister-- Lanie). We six occupied two 3-person suites in Patton’s 2nd floor (including the suite just about 90 Patton).
 

I remember Bob as a cheerful, likeable and mild-mannered classmate with a quick smile and a nice sense of humor. He was an excellent trumpet/cornet player and one of the few brass players who memorized and played all the notes to the Princeton band songs. Except for band events I didn’t socialize a lot with my junior year roommates (at least 3 were in Terrace Club) and I was pre-occupied with Organic Chemistry and Jr. paper. If you look up Dave Bonnett’s entry in our 50th Reunion Book you’ll see the junior year roommates listed.

 

Dave Bonnett:

I knew him at Andover for two years. We were in the same dorm.  We both did track as a sport in 11th grade.  After Bob got a pair of running shoes with spikes, I couldn't keep up with him in my tennis shoes. Bob won a math prize senior year.
 
Bob and I were in Terrace Club. We reconnected junior year to live in a suite in the Patton tower.  Bob and Victor Reusch were in one room, and Chuck Kulczycki, Anozie Ozumba, Jeff Weiss, and I all had our own rooms.  There was a common room initially, but it wasn't used much. After a while we all had our own rooms.
 
Bob and I played billiards at Terrace.  There is a diamond system for aiming a shot that Bob learned to his advantage.
 
Bob played trumpet in a little dance band at some of the Terrace parties.
 
At one point he was interested in hand writing analysis to determine personality traits.
 

Ano Ozumba:

Bob and I roomed in Patton Hall 2nd entry. I recall being in 214 Patton. Jeffrey Weiss, Dave Bonnett and Anthony Kulczycki were also in that entry. I recall Bob was a maths major. He was in the band and seemed to have really enjoyed it. May his soul rest in peace.

Additional Memories or Photos

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