The Somnolent Cruciverbalist.

 

I sometimes drowse while working on a crossword puzzle.

Sometimes, as I trail off, the pen trails off too.

The tompostpile loves crossword puzzles, and has worked them for over 50 years, as occasional constructor and as frequent filler-outer. Or should that be filler-inner?

My father is partly responsible for my love of these puzzles. He was good at crosswords, probably better than I am or ever will be, even to his very last days of life. I was once stumped by the clue for a six-letter word. He was getting awfully frail at the time, and I’d hesitated about bothering him with such a silly thing. But ignorance spurred me, and I asked…

The puzzles hint was “Blue or white”.

Seconds after hearing the prompt, my father said, “Marlin.”

He was right.