For one CMU alumnae, there's no thrill like solving puzzles.
Marge Deibel, class of 1950, enjoys puzzles so much that she authored two of her own books of riddles. Today, the retired Mount Pleasant High School chemistry teacher has two books to her credit, thanks in part to some help from her brother.
"I've always been interested in puzzles, games and contests," she said.
Deibel said the pages of her book are filled with Crostic Puzzles, or Quotation Puzzles, which use puzzle-grids that read as well-published quotations when completed. The solver must answer clues and use the letters of those answers to fill in the quotation grid.
The Crostic nature of the puzzle shows up in the initial letters of the answer column, as it will spell out the author's name and the source of the quote.
But if not for Deibel's brother, Rick Dacey of Cheboygan, the idea for the books may have never been sparked.
"My brother is an avid puzzle solver, and he said it was difficult to buy this type of puzzle book. There were not enough on the market to satisfy his appetite," Deibel said. "So I zeroed in on it and specialized in these kinds of puzzles."
Deibel said the first volume of her puzzle book was published in the winter of 1998 and has sold about 300 copies thus far. The first volume and her second edition, entitled Crostics PDQ, are available at the CMU Bookstore and at The Book Mark, 2200 S. Mission St. The books cost $9 each.
For her books, the puzzle lover and author spent great chunks of time researching noteworthy, well-published quotations.
"I spent a lot of time in the library going through all kinds of books. I try to use quotations that are humorous, entertaining and educational."
Deibel uses a computer program to construct the puzzles, and the solver may well find that answers require many resources such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, atlas and trivia books.
Each of her books contain 52 puzzles and are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, from easy to challenging, so the novice solver can become more proficient with each successive puzzle.
In addition to local bookstores, Deibel sells her books through the Web site, www.amazon.com, and at various craft shows.
"I've got some fan mail from people who have bought the book from Amazon and they said they were delighted to see this type of book on the market," she said.
Deibel earned bachelors' degrees in math and chemistry in 1950 from CMU and began teaching chemistry at Mount Pleasant High School in 1960. She also earned a master's in chemistry in 1963 from CMU, and retired from her teaching position in 1985.
Now, Deibel said she and her husband, Charles, look forward to her 50th reunion with CMU classmates July 14-16 at CMU. The Deibels serve on the reunion committee, but Marge Deibel said she doesn't know if any of her former classmates know of her two books.
But her own passion and knowledge of puzzles is readily apparent.
"If you're a fan of these types of puzzles you just can't get enough of them," she said.