 Ted Leavitt, a sometime salesman, ship's purser, actor, World War II Marine veteran, and theatrical producer, became frustrated with some of the limitations he saw in Scrabble and devised Probe specifically to get around them.To bring his finished creation to the attention of Parker Brothers, he enlisted the services of his uncle, the notable French conductor Pierre Monteux.A vice president of Parker Brothers was an aficionado of classical music; Leavitt enticed him that summer to Maine, where his uncle was conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, by offering him a chance to meet Monteux.