Puzzlin' star

The former Tucsonan (he worked at the Star from 1973 to 1976) appears in the quirky film along with Will Shortz, crossword editor of The New York Times.

Reagle designs a puzzle for the camera, taking the audience through his process of crafting a puzzle he sells to The Times. Reagle says he did the puzzle strictly for the sake of the film, which is getting nearly universal praise.

Reagle was a 16-year-old student at Catalina High School in the mid-1960s when he sold his first puzzle to The Times. His puzzles appeared in the Daily Wildcat when he attended the University of Arizona. He left Tucson in 1976 and pursued his career as a puzzle-maker. Now 56, Reagle lives in Tampa, and his puzzles are published in 20 papers nationwide, including Sunday puzzles for the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle.

These days he shies away from the Gray Lady because The New York Times doesn't allow the puzzles it buys to be reprinted in other papers. "It's sort of enough work each week just to make the Sunday puzzle," Reagle said.

Right now he's also squeezing in interviews in support of the film, but it's tough to get him on the phone — even if you're with a television talk show.

"I was just on the phone with the Jay Leno people," Reagle said, sounding a bit flattered. "They're trying to get me on the show, but I don't know if I want to do it. I'm sure they'll want me to do the anagram trick I used to do."

Reagle is referring to his uncanny ability to unjumble six six-letter words within 20 seconds. "They'll probably want me to do 10 words in 15 seconds," Reagle groaned, speaking with the wistfully intelligent lilt of Paul Giamatti.

This is not Reagle's first brush with show business. In the late 1980s he wrote for the television game show "Crosswits."

Reagle usually works at home, but he's on the road a lot these days, promoting the movie.

"There's something in the way Patrick Creadon does this movie that's just amazing. It makes what would seem like watching paint dry become a really interesting movie. It's such a perfectly done ensemble piece. I hate to say we're all parts of the puzzle, but we are. It's sort of like we're all different acts in a variety show."

Other performers in the "variety show" include Jon Stewart, who provides comic relief, and former President Bill Clinton, who recalls doing crossword puzzles on lunch breaks at the White House. New York Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina talks about the mental intensity it takes to solve a crossword puzzle.

Reagle is partial to using baseball analogies to describe what it takes to make them.

"I know readers want a challenge. They don't want a lot of softballs, but they do want a couple of them," Reagle said. "I toss in a couple of soft ones, some curves, some sliders and some hard ones. The thing I want to do is pitch it just right, find the sweet spot. Not so hard they can't solve it, but just hard enough."

Reagle recently shared a few memories via e-mail.

Where did you live?

Actually, I lived in about 25 different locations in Tucson — my mom moved around a lot. The longest time was at the last place I lived . . . about a block from the Showcase Cinema (I think it became the Loft after I moved away). We used to shop at El Rancho on Speedway before it became a Wild Oats.

What was your favorite place to go?

I was in a band called Greylock Mansion, so my nights were usually taken up with playing gigs in and out of town. We would usually get back into town about 2:30 or 3 in the morning and go straight to a Sambo's restaurant and have eggs, sausage and pancakes. But normally I was a morning person and my idea of a good time was going out to breakfast with friends or just going by myself and writing or making puzzles. My favorite haunts were Blue Willow on Campbell and the Good Earth at Broadway and Wilmot.

I hung out at any restaurant that would let me sit for hours on end (no pun intended) and write or make puzzles.

Do you still keep in touch with friends you made in Tucson?

Sure! Bill Ball, the drummer in Greylock, is still one of my best friends and he still plays gigs around town (in a different band, though). In his non-band life he's a VIP in the Tucson Unified School District bus system. My mom still lives in Tucson. Scott Carter, who was the feature editor of the Daily Wildcat when I was the copy editor of it, is still a really good friend of mine. Scott and I were in the Invisible Theatre for about four years, and I still have lots of friends in Tucson who were in the Invisible Theatre, which I wrote the music for in the 1970s.

Who was your favorite teacher at Catalina High School?

My favorite teacher at CHS was Mr. (John) Carlton, who taught journalism and advanced English. He's pretty much a legendary figure now — he got me into journalism and saw that I had great potential as a copy editor. As a result, I worked as a copy editor on the Star for about three years, 1973-'76. I also had Richard Gorby at Doolen Junior High for two years. He's just as legendary as Mr. Carlton! So I had two of the most amazing teachers in the entire U.S. while living in Tucson.

When was the last time you were in Tucson?

About two years ago. I go about every two years. I love it there. . . . I might move back there some day. I really miss the place. I wish the speed limit on Speedway were a little higher, but I love the left-turn system.

What's the moment you hope no one remembers?

Geez, I have about 10 of these, and all are band-related. Here's one: We played a gig in Willcox at an American Legion Hall and one of our roadies stole an American flag. (He said he'd always wanted to roll up in one and sleep in it.) It just didn't occur to us what he'd done until a few days later when our booker called and said there was a warrant out for the band's arrest for grand theft. And the guy had just moved to LA and had taken the flag with him. He sent it back, though, and all was forgiven.