I was actually going to save this puzzle for later, but when I heard that the excellent Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in the original Star Trek series and many films, sadly died on July 30, I thought it was time to do this.

The puzzle was fun and relatively easy. Many of the characters were very familiar to me, although some I can not recall at all, and others I know, but I don’t remember in which series they belong 🙂 I probably know The Next Generation best of the series, although I have seen them all, except for the last one.

Star Trek really was ahead of its time in many ways. Before the original series started in the 60s, they did a pilot, where the second in command was a woman, but test audiences reacted badly to a woman issuing orders (“who does she think she is?”). Majel Barrett, who played the character, later appeared as various characters, including Nurse Chapel in TOS, and Lwaxana Troi in TNG, both present in the puzzle. She also married series creator Gene Roddenberry.

In the 60s, Uhura was a rare example of a black woman appearing as a competent professional in an American TV series. Later, NASA employed Nichelle Nichols to attract women and African Americans to join the service.

Fun puzzle with some great ladies!

I’m in Dortmund again, and will remain here for the next six weeks. Puzzling will be intermittent, I’m planning a trip to the south next week.