What Is The World Coming To?

Couldn't believe this one when I read it, although as a long-time Jumble fan, I agree with Arnold:

Associated Press: 1-9-10

Tribune Media Services, publisher of the newspaper word game "Jumble", confirmed that creators Henri Arnold and Bob Lee were recently involved in a fistfight at their New York City studio. There was no report as to their specific injuries, but both Arnold (74) and Lee (82) were taken to the emergency room for treatment.

An anonymous source within Tribune indicated that the fight was the result of a long-simmering feud between the two over the direction of the Jumble franchise. Jumble is a popular word game found next to the Crossword Puzzle in over 1000 newspapers nationwide; Arnold and Lee have collaborated on the game since 1954. In the weekday version, Readers are challenged to unscramble four words, and then combine letters from each word to solve the puzzle at the end. The Sunday version features six words.

"Henri Arnold wanted to change the game, including words of up to seven letters", said the source. "He also advocated for the inclusion of Proper Names and Place Names, claiming that in the 55 years the game had been in print, they had 'used up' all the good five and six letter words. Lately, he has also advocated for less 'corny' Jumble puzzles, and insisted that they include socially responsible messages on issues such as preserving the environment".

The Source added that "Bob Lee was the self-avowed brains behind the franchise. He composed the Jumble words and the Puzzle, which has traditionally been a pun. He was deadset against any changes, and resented Arnold's attempts to 'refresh the format'. The fist fight occurred this past Monday when Arnold insisted on being allowed to pick words for the daily puzzle, and demanded that they stop using words with the letter 'q' in them".

This is not the first controversy for Arnold and Lee. Both were called before HUAC (the House Un-American Activities Committee) in 1955 for suspected ties to the Communist Party. Arnold was briefly blacklisted by the Hollywood Writers Guild after his appearance for refusing to answer questions regarding his alleged involvement in a Cartoonist and Animators strike against the Disney Studios in 1941, as well as his long-time friendship with Dalton Trumbo, one of the 'Hollywood Ten'. The duo responded with a Jumble strip which ridiculed Chairman Joseph McCarthy.

No further action was taken by the Committee.

The duo released a "Best Of Jumble" coffee table book in July of 2008. Sales of the book are reported by Tribune Media Services as 'modest'.