By midnight the headline had become an enigma. (enigma: puzzle, mystery) The words "Roof garden" were meant to run in large type, but the type drawer held no capital R. The frugal printer refused to buy an entire alphabet. (frugal: thrifty, sparing) His assistant suggested they interleave the proofs and sheets of tracing paper to see which issue had last used it. (interleave: insert between layers, alternate with)
A serene woman with ink on her cuffs appeared through the back door. (serene: calm, untroubled) She set the paper's crossword and knew its oldest idiosyncrasy. (idiosyncrasy: peculiarity, distinctive habit) In the early days every missing letter had become a picture. A bee for B. A teacup for T. Her solution was an archaic xylograph: an eye beneath a pirate's hat, saying Arrr. (archaic: old-fashioned, outmoded; xylograph: woodcut, woodblock print)
The printer liked her candor about the drawing. (candor: frankness, openness) It was ludicrous. (ludicrous: ridiculous, absurd) His assistant had a quibble about the sound, since no reader of their acquaintance spoke fluent pirate. (quibble: minor objection, small point of dispute) He wanted to taper the foot of a spare letter P and attach a stroke of copper. (taper: narrow gradually, slim down) It would yield a little but should last a morning. (yield: give way, bend under pressure)
They had reached the juncture where someone usually sent out for coffee. (juncture: stage, turning point) Instead the crossword setter held up an old editorial praising the paper's venerable founder. (venerable: long-respected, honored) The portrait had a halo because the photographer had let a lamp show. (halo: ring, circle of light) Underneath it sat an ornate signature. (ornate: elaborately decorated, embellished) Its final R looked oddly detached from the rest. (detached: separate, disconnected)
The printer leaned in. At first the picture was a riddle. (riddle: puzzle, mystery) Then he saw the gilded edge of a second frame. (gilded: gold-covered, overlaid with gold) The founder had signed beside the name of the printer, Rosa. Every time the portrait ran, Rosa took her initial from the drawer and set it beside his picture. When he died, they put the whole block in a frame. The keystone of the founder's public image had been a woman whose name readers saw only by accident. (keystone: essential support, central element) Nothing could negate the mark of her work in every line. (negate: cancel out, undo)
With meticulous care, the assistant eased the R out of the frame. (meticulous: painstaking, exacting) A brazen act before midnight now seemed like the ordinary thing to do. (brazen: unabashed, boldly defiant) They decided to waive their rule against pictures in the crossword and print the pirate there. (waive: forgo, set aside) The setter's undertone of satisfaction was palpable when the first sheet came off the press. (undertone: underlying note, implied feeling; palpable: plainly perceptible, unmistakable) The delay had cost them an hour. (delay: postponement, wait) They used the empty zone beneath the portrait for a correction. (zone: area, designated space) Printed by Rosa. She had a name again, and the roof had its R.