Arts & Entertainment
Evanston Man Proposes With Word Puzzle In Newspaper
His 6-month quest for the ultimate proposal for his puzzle-loving girlfriend came to fruition in Sunday's "Jumble."
EVANSTON, IL — An Evanston man's six-month effort to plan his marriage proposal paid off with the publication of a word puzzle last weekend. Aly Jiwani became engaged to fiancée Paula Acuña through a personalized "Jumble" that ran in 600 papers on Sunday. The Chicago Tribune reported that anagram creator David L. Hoyt and cartoonist Jeff Knurek produced a special "Jumble" for Jiwani's proposal.
The cartoon features the couple and their dog aboard a boat on Lake Michigan. Jiwani takes a knee and asks, "Paula, will you be my first mate, for life?"
"I like the sound of that!" she responds.
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The caption says, "She loved the working of his marriage proposal and thought it—"
The answer, "had a nice ring to it," it formed from the solutions to six anagrams beside the cartoon.
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Acuña told the paper she was so focused on solving the puzzle she didn't even look until it was done.
“I looked at the puzzle and saw my name and that it was a proposal. I was trembling as I was writing in the answer.”
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