Alma Talley author page

Alma Talley, a film critic and writer, constructed the sixth-ever crossword in the Times, which appeared on March 22, 1942.

Ms. Talley may have known Margaret Farrar personally. In 1928, the two were listed among a group of writers and editors attending a lavish party for artists. Ms. Farrar may have also known Ms. Talley's husband, a longtime journalist at the Times who pioneered photo spreads in the 1920s and 30s and later became the Sunday picture editor.

Alma Ruth Mabrey was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1897. Her father was a U.S. Customs employee and once served as Speaker in the Missouri House of Representatives. Her mother was a homemaker.

Alma began writing at an early age, as she explained in a profile:

Sent out stories when I was eleven. Of course they came back, usually with a footnote written on the rejection slip, "We do not consider manuscripts unless typewritten." For years I felt all that stood between me and fame was the lack of a typewriter.

She graduated from Lindenwod College in Missouri in 1917. "I received a scholarship and it was near enough to go home to parties on weekends," she said.

In 1920, she married Victor Talley, a journalist from Missouri who was working in New York. They lived in Manhattan, where Alma's career as as a film critic and writer took off. She wrote for publications including the Morning Telegraph, Movie Weekly, and Motion Picture Magazine. Picture Play Magazine, another outlet she wrote for, featured her in a promo:

She's reviewed pictures, interviewed almost every star with anything at all to say, written feature articles, poems, and short stories, and altogether has had things published in twenty magazines.

In the 1960s, she constructed crosswords for magazines and syndicates, according to her Times obituary. She passed away in 1970 at the age of 72.