Robert J. Klahn Jr. ’66

Peerless crossword constructor, 11 letters. It’s Robert Klahn.

One of the country’s premier crossword puzzle constructors, Bob died Sept. 27, 2023, at Wilmington (Del.) Hospital. 

A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Bob came to Princeton from Andover, where he won several academic prizes and ran cross-country. At Princeton, he majored in mathematics, belonged to Terrace Club, participated in IAA sports, and played trumpet in the marching and concert bands.

After graduation, Bob joined DuPont as a computer scientist and earned a master’s degree in statistics from Villanova. More recently, he worked for Computer Sciences Corp.

Bob’s love of crossword puzzles began early, He started creating puzzles at age 8 and never stopped. In 1991, he launched a secondary career in crossword construction. A number of his puzzles appeared in The New York Times, most of them devilishly difficult. He wrote several books, including Absolutely Nasty Crosswords Level 1 and The Wrath of Klahn Crosswords: Puzzles from the World’s Toughest Clue Writer.

In 2012, Orca, a national organization dedicated to crossword construction, presented Bob with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Orca, for sustained excellence in crossword construction.

Bob’s wife, Sharon, predeceased him. The class extends its condolences to his surviving family.