Editing -gry puzzle (section)

==History==
There are anecdotal reports of various forms of the puzzle dating to the 1950s or earlier; the ultimate origin is presumably an [[oral tradition]] or a lost book of puzzles.<ref>{{cite web | title=World Wide Words: I Spy Gry! | website=World Wide Words | date=October 26, 1996 | url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/gry.htm}}</ref> However, the first documented evidence is from early 1975 in the [[New York metropolitan area]], and the puzzle rapidly gained popularity in this year. The most likely source is the talk show of [[Bob Grant (radio host)|Bob Grant]], from some program in early or mid March 1975.

[[Merriam-Webster]], publishers of the leading American dictionaries, first heard of this puzzle in a letter dated March 17, 1975, from Patricia Lasker of [[Brooklyn, New York]]. Lasker says her plant manager heard the question on an unnamed [[quiz show]]. Since that time Merriam-Webster has received about four letters each year<ref name="cole"/> asking the question.

The puzzle first appears in print in Anita Richterman's "Problem Line" column in ''[[Newsday]]'' on April 29, 1975. One "M.Z." from [[Wantagh, New York]] states that the problem was asked on a TV quiz program. Richterman states that she asked a learned professor of English for help when she first received the inquiry, and he did not respond for over a month. This agrees with the Merriam-Webster report, suggesting a quiz show in early or mid March 1975.

In Anita Richterman's column on May 9, 1975, several correspondents reported that they had heard the puzzle on the [[Bob Grant (radio host)|Bob Grant]] radio talk show on [[WMCA (AM)|WMCA]] in New York City. This suggests either that the earlier claims of a (TV) quiz show confused a talk show with a quiz show, or that there was another unspecified quiz show that was then repeated by Grant.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Origin of the -Gry Problem |author=Chris Cole |url=http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4538&context=wordways |journal=Word Ways |volume=34 |issue=1 |year=2012 }}</ref> The majority of readers gave the answer "[[wikt:gry|gry]]", an obsolete unit of measure invented by [[John Locke]]. It is unclear whether this was the answer given on the Grant show, or what the precise wording had been.

By fall 1975 the puzzle had reached the Delaware Valley, again apparently by radio, by which time the puzzle seems to have mutated to a form in which the missing word is an adjective that describes the state of the world.{{sfn|Beaman|1976|loc="A Philadelphia Story", pp. 43–44}}

The puzzle has had occasional bouts of popularity: after its initial popularity in 1975, it was popular in 1978, then again in 1995–1996.<ref>''[[Stumpers-L]]'', Good Gry-f!  How many words end in -gry?, by Glenn Kersten, December 1999: "Fortunately, the popularity of the -gry puzzle has lessened since the boom era of 1995-1996, but SLS Reference Service still receives the question from time to time. Since the same question was a fad in 1978 (see our articles in the November and December 1978 issues of Points of Reference), it looks as though reference librarians should prepare for a 17-year cycle. Hmmm, remind you of anything? The next plague should hit reference desks in the year 2012."</ref>

===Reports of earlier versions===
The most credible report of an early version was given on [[Stumpers-L]],<ref name="stumpersl1999">''[[Stumpers-L]]'', Good Gry-f!  How many words end in -gry?, by Glenn Kersten, December 1999</ref> which reported a trick question formulation from an eight-page pamphlet entitled ''Things to Think About'', probably dating to the 1940s:

{{blockquote|One enterprising reference librarian found an eight-page pamphlet (no copyright date, but from the appearance probably printed in the 1940s) entitled Things to Think About. The booklet was filled with riddles, including the following:

There are three words in the English language that end with -gry. Two of these are angry and hungry. The third word is a very common word, and you use it often. If you have read what I have told you, you will see that I have given you the third word. What is the third word? Think very carefully.

Three! The question has nothing to do with angry, hungry, or any of the many other obscure words that end in -gry, it is a simple question asking you what the third word in the sentence is. As you take tests, remember this.}}