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**opallady** · 11-02-2019, 04:23 PM

Karen Kartheiser is with Joseph Kartheiser and 7 others.

1 hr �

Joseph L. Kartheiser found peace September 24, 2019. Joseph was born November 17, 1961 to Leo F. and the late Patricia M. Kartheiser. Joseph graduated from Muskego High School and was a long time resident of Boca Raton, FL. He is survived by his brother Frank (Mary) Kartheiser of Waukesha, WI; sisters Mary (Stephen) Mette of Berea, OH; and Karen Kartheiser of Franklin, WI. Uncle of Benjamin Kartheiser; the late Julia Kartheiser; Arthur (Clara) Sobczak IV; and Kaitlin (Steven) Pisk.

A memorial gathering will be held Sunday, November 10 at the Hickory Skywalk at VMP, 8545 W Beloit Rd., West Allis, WI. from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm with a time for sharing at 3:00 pm.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness or the charity of your choice.

**munchlet** · 11-02-2019, 08:32 PM

Oh, no. Took a break from this site to deal with losing a good friend (and a family feud to boot); came back yesterday thinking I might enter the November competition. Before solving a single crypto, I saw this post re Bansaisequoia (Joseph K). With gryhnd51, I am heartbroken. Although I never played directly against him, he set the standard. When I started gaining speed, his records were my favorite challenge -- and he left so many! But I shall never hope to equal his true genius. Didn't Joseph play the piano? So do I (after an appallingly amateur fashion), but he had mastered it. His knowledge of classical and jazz was comprehensive. Never had a chance to chat with him about the music I love.

DiGirl28 mentioned national crossword contests in NYC. I found a Google books excerpt titled: Crossworld: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession.

Joseph Kartheiser, a technical writer from Boca Raton, FL, won second place in Division C of an America Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT. Will Shortz announced the winners on Sunday, hour and a half late. By that time, Joseph/Bansai had left (he had to work, you see, on Monday in Boca Raton). There's more in Google's book preview. With luck, you can read it by clicking the link. I was searching for "musician," found this instead. Serendipitous, perhaps. Now there's a good puzzle word.

RIP, dear friend. If there's an afterlife, it must be filled with good music and challenging puzzles.

Crossworld

https://books.google.com/books?id=cwXLlqedljAC&pg=PT115&lpg=PT115&dq=joseph+kartheiser+musician&source=bl&ots=s0aV-HVvxk&sig=ACfU3U33BYjzuQiZeQvO7t6XkaHaL1_0Ig&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjEjouxu7DlAhVDeKwKHXbCC7sQ6AEwBXoECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=joseph%20kartheiser%20musician&f=false

Sixty-four million people do it at least once a week. Nabokov wrote about it. Bill Clinton even did it in the White House. The crossword puzzle has arguably been our national obsession since its birth almost a century ago. Now, in Crossworld, writer, translator, and lifelong puzzler Marc Romano goes where no Number 2 pencil has gone before, as he delves into the minds of the world’s cleverest crossword creators and puzzlers, and sets out on his own quest to join their ranks.While covering the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the Boston Globe, Romano was amazed by the skill of the competitors and astonished by the cast of characters he came across—like Will Shortz, beloved editor of the New York Times puzzle and the only academically accredited “enigmatologist” (puzzle scholar); Stanley Newman, Newsday’s puzzle editor and the fastest solver in the world; and Brendan Emmett Quigley, the wickedly gifted puzzle constructer and the Virgil to Marc’s Dante in his travels through the crossword inferno.Chronicling his own journey into the world of puzzling—even providing tips on how to improve crosswording skills—Romano tells the story of crosswords and word puzzles themselves, and of the colorful people who make them, solve them, and occasionally become consumed by them. But saying this is a book about puzzles is to tell only half the story. It is also an explanation into what crosswords tell us about ourselves—about the world we live in, the cultures that nurture us, and the different ways we think and learn. If you’re a puzzler, Crossworld will enthrall you. If you have no idea why your spouse send so much time filling letters into little white squares, Crossworld will tell you – and with luck, save your marriage.CROSSWORLD | by Marc RomanoACROSS1. I am hopelessly addicted to the New York Times crossword puzzle.2. Like many addicts, I was reluctant to admit I have a problem.3. The hints I was heading for trouble came, at first, only occasionally.4. The moments of panic when I realized that I might not get my fix on a given day.5. The toll on relationships.6. The strained friendships.7. The lost hours I could have used to do something more productive.8. It gets worse, too.DOWN1. You’re not just playing a game.2. You’re constantly broadening your intellectual horizons.3. You spend a lot of time looking at and learning about the world around you.4. You have to if you want to develop the accumulated store of factual information you’ll need to get through a crossword puzzle.5. Puzzle people are nice because they have to be.6. The more you know about the world, the more you tend to give all things in it the benefit of the doubt before deciding if you like them or not.7. I’m not saying that all crossword lovers are honest folk dripping with goodness. 8. I would say, though, that if I had to toss my keys and wallet to someone before jumping off a pier to save a drowning girl, I’d look for the fellow in the crowd with the daily crossword in his hand.

**opallady** · 11-10-2019, 06:06 PM

Frank Kartheiser is with Joseph Kartheiser and 3 others.

3 hrs �

Saying goodbye today to our brother Joseph Kartheiser. Joseph Lawrence Kartheiser, also known as: Heavy Joe, Josephus Kartheiserus, Joe Cool, and Franz Josef among other things.

In the group photo he is, of course, the one climbing across the rest of us.

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Irma Alvarez Mesura RIP Joseph
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Gina Hilbert Ziegelbauer Lots of love to all of you ❤️
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Sandra Kartheiser Hugs
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Laura Bohn Sending you all lots of love, hugs, and prayers for comfort. ❤️
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Louise Johnson Rest with God Joseph.
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Navelle Houk Gossman To his fellow cryptogrammers he was known as Joseph K. - ne'er-do-well extraordinaire, bansaisequoia, bonsaisequoia, impededredwood, and, my personal favorite, littlebigtree. He is much missed and his awesome speed records and witty comments live on. Condolences from all of us.
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**opallady** · 11-10-2019, 06:24 PM

Well, that didn't come through right. Sorry.

**puffybob** · 11-27-2019, 03:28 AM

Very sad news. A legend here.

**Synonymous** · 11-27-2019, 07:09 PM

Didn't know him personally but thoroughly admired his solving ability. RIP Bansaisequoia. You will be missed in Cryptoworld.

**maradnu** · 12-05-2019, 09:54 PM

Sadly, in looking at his FB page after his passing, there is a mention of him suffering from depression and asking for donations to a suicide prevention site. If the implication is correct, it is even sadder than I realized.

**Eureka** · 12-05-2019, 10:56 PM

That is sad, maradnu. In one of the forums (the tribute to pootie) Bansai described himself as a manic depressive schizoid who needed to take Zoloft and Xanax to cope with everything. I think he must have been suffering a lot. I hope he has found peace. And his memory lives on in his comments here, which we all continue to enjoy. I am tempted to start a forum just with quotes and his comments. Then someone could let his family see them. He really was so funny and intelligent, with a droll sense of humor. I hope his family understands how much he meant and continues to mean to us.

**LLapp** · 12-06-2019, 12:41 AM

Eureka, I think you should start that forum thread! Since learning of Joseph's death, I keep coming upon quote comments from him and about him that I want to share somewhere. A couple of times I mentioned the sadness and loss right there in the comment thread, but I don't want to keep doing that. Your idea would give us a place to collect those gems, and I like the idea of letting his family see them. Actually, the forum threads are public, so anyone who googles the right key terms would stumble on them. If someone in the family has the link to the forum, they could go there anytime.

**Eureka** · 12-06-2019, 01:35 AM

I said to myself, "If LLapp encourages me, I'll do it!" and here you are.

**montyb** · 01-09-2020, 10:10 PM

A Gathering of Ents: Treebeard, Bregalad, and Bansaisequoia.
Sorry we never got to share that ent-draught you offered, Joseph.
Farewell Barrel-rider and Ring-bearer.

Bansai Memorial.jpg

**LLapp** · 01-10-2020, 12:13 AM

Monty, that is a beautiful and touching tribute. Thank you for your great heart.

**Eureka** · 01-10-2020, 01:20 AM

Wow, montyb, that is amazing.

**damsel22** · 01-11-2020, 03:22 PM

RIP Bansai. I never interacted with you personally, but you served as sort of a mentor to me on this site. I always strove to beat your times and admired your skill. I am saddened to hear of your passing and hope that you have found peace.

**opallady** · 01-11-2020, 05:10 PM

Montyb, your tribute to Joseph is truly outstanding!

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