As it grows throughout the rest of the country cross-word puzzling wanes in New York. At least it wanes in the small group that helped make it fashionable when it was revived a year or two ago. Not that Simon & Shuster, whose green, yellow, red, mauve, ochre and blue puzzle books flood the country, are worrying. This week they are publishing a new volume of the series. According to the advertisements “celebrities” contributed all the puzzles contained in it, and (business of blushing furiously) they tell me (oh, how my cheeks are burning) mine is one of the best in it. At least I think it is. When speaking of cross-word puzzles I intended to tell you about the gradual identification of the Simon & Shuster firm. When their first puzzle book came out the two young men were timid. “Suppose,” said Simon, “it’s a flop. They’ll never stop laughing at us.” His partner agreed with him. So they called themselves the Plaza Publishing Company and netted themselves something like $60,000 on the first venture. Have you noticed the subsequent volumes? By the way, there are several good new games, new at least to me, being played at parties this winter. Have you played “Who Am I?” yet? Some one begins describing various personalia of a well known man or woman without mentioning the subject’s name, until a bright listener (usually the one in the party you would be inclined to regard as the stupidest present) asks a question of the leader, the innuendo of which shows the leader, that the subject has been identified. For instance: “I have a brother,” says the leader. “I am an Editor.” “My brother is an Editor.” “My brother has a beard.” “I have a beard.” “I have a reddish beard.” “My brother has a black beard.” “Are you,” asks the Bright One, “one of the Smith Brothers?” And so on, ad lib.