The Press: Barometer

Said one Rudolph E. Vogel of Milwaukee, antagonist: “This crossword craze will positively end by June!”

Said one Alfred Coster Schermerhorn of Manhattan, protagonist: “The crossword puzzle is here to stay!”

Examining the Nation’s press, last week, readers found among the news- papers publishing crossword puzzles: The Washington Post, The Atlanta Constitution, The Kansas City Star, The Detroit Free Press, The Omaha Bee, The Chicago Tribune, The Buffalo Evening News, The Cleveland Press, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The New Orleans Times-Picayune, The Philadelphia Ledger, The Minneapolis Tribune, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Transcript and nine Manhattan dailies.

The confident ford:asts of Prophets Vogel and Schermerhorn conflict. One is at a loss to rest his credence. Will the above list be intact by June? Will puzzle-publishing gradually sicken, fall off, in June be quite extinct?

A promise: TIME will watch, will report directly if the above barometer shows sign of slightest change.