Leading daily receives letter of thanks for missing out on printing crossword puzzle

Washington: For many coincidences are just events that happen to occur at some point of time, but for many they hold a higher significance as they leave a deeper impact in their lives. For many people crossword puzzles in newspapers are just another way of passing time, but who thought that a little error by a leading daily might turn it into a way to remember a special person for some.

Although missing out on printing the crossword puzzle for the day might be a glitch on part of a daily like The Washington Post, but for one reader it was a tribute to a key figure in life. Among many letters about the error, the design director Greg Manifold received a heart warming letter of gratitude, which he shared on Twitter.

The reader wrote how his great grandfather routinely filled the crossword puzzle in The Washington Post and happened to pass away on the same day when the daily missed out on publishing the puzzle.

Here’s the full text of the letter

“Yesterday around 3 AM, my great grandfather, Sidney Schulman, passed away at the age of 94. He was a World War II veteran, and a very loving grandfather. He was a key figure in my life for the past 24 years, and he meant a lot to me. I’m grateful that he was able to pass on his own terms, as an independent man rather than someone who was on life support attached to machines and tubes.

He was a man of routine, and one of those routines was to do the Washington Post Crossword nearly every day. I remember being a young boy and asking him about the crossword, and because of him I started doing them myself. I have been doing the Post’s crossword for over a decade now.

Yesterday, the day of his death, I could not find the crossword in the Style section like I always do.

I could not believe it when I read the top of the Style section this morning to find that it was a production issue. It brought tears to my eyes, to think how amazing of a coincidence that must have been. It was incredible, to say the least. Even though it was an unintentional misprint, I’d like to think that it was an homage to a man whose greatness inspires me to be the best person I can be.

So thank you, Washington Post. Even if it was accidental, and even if this goes unread, I really appreciate the coincidental vow of silence from the Style section.

Your Reader,
Justin Green”