"Holy crap! You're in the crossword!" - an Ira Basen documentary

Originally published on Dec. 11, 2016.

There's fame, and then there's fame. 

There's the fame that comes with being a big sports star or entertainer where you can only venture outside in disguise if you don't want to be mobbed. 

Then there's the fame of being on the radio, where people might know your name or recognize your voice when they hear you in on the bus or in a restaurant. 

And then there's the fame of being a clue in a crossword puzzle. 

This is perhaps the most transcendent fame of all. The writer of that puzzle has concluded that you must be so well known that readers will know who you are based solely on a three or four word clue. Not many people achieve that level of fame, but it happened, most unexpectedly, perhaps undeservedly, to Sunday Edition contributor Ira Basen. 

Here's his story: "42 Across."