In Britain, the standard puzzle morphed into cryptic crosswords: Each clue involving puns, anagrams and other diabolical wordplay requiring several steps to solve. Crosswords waste more working hours than strikes, sniffed the Times of London.īy 1930, the Times of London relented, publishing its first crossword.

In 1924, the New York Times snobbily pronounced crosswords, “a primitive sort of mental exercise” and dismissed them as a temporary form of madness. Critics called crosswords fatal to family conversation and warned of a new type of eye strain. I wrote in the book that crosswords were the first intellectual vehicle they adopted in their emulation of the upper classes.” Workers had more spending power and were on the lookout for fads. “This was the era of Coolidge prosperity. “I think crosswords took off because they were inexpensive and available,” says Helene Hovanec, author of The Puzzler’s Paradise. Already they are replacing even mah jong and bridge.” The paper encouraged readers to make crosswords scrapbooks.Ĭanadiana crosswords compete with U.S. “They are amusing, thrilling and educational. “It’s predicted that before winter comes Cross Word Puzzles will be the reigning indoor sport,” the Star wrote. 22, 1924, the Toronto Daily Star ran a practice puzzle then published its first crossword the next day. Newspapers jumped on the bandwagon, churning out crosswords. Songs were written, such as Crossword Mama, you puzzle me, but Papa’s gonna figure you out. The Broadway show, Puzzles of 1925, included a crosswords sanitarium scene: people seeking cures for puzzle mania. Enthusiasts wore black-and-white-squared patterned clothing. By the end of the year, 375,000 crossword books had been sold, Simon and Schuster publishers solidly established - and the crossword craze ignited.

To everyone’s utter shock, orders flooded in. They so doubted their project, they attached a pencil to each book to entice buyers. Reluctantly, the young men took on the project, hiring Petherbridge, and publishing 3,600 copies of The Cross Word Puzzle Book in April, 1924. Simon’s Aunt Wixie, a huge fan of the World’s crosswords, offered a radical suggestion: a book of her favourite puzzles. In the early 1920s, two young New Yorkers, Richard Simon and Max Schuster, set up a small publishing office and needed something to publish. “Because it is prettier,” she explained, according to newspaper accounts. She redesigned the grid into a symmetrical pattern of black-and-white squares. No two-letter answers permitted and good taste was de rigueur. The frustrated Sunday editor told his secretary, Margaret Petherbridge, a young Smith College grad, to proofread them.īy all accounts, the enterprising Petherbridge took over, making up rules. The typesetters hated the difficult-to-print puzzle and mistakes were rampant. The New York World’s crossword could have died quickly, strangled on typos. “I’d say we live in the golden age of crosswords.” “The audience has never been as broad as it is currently,” says the New York Times crossword editor Will Shortz. While the puzzle still flourishes in print, the online version has spread to the far reaches of cyberspace: Not only are newspaper crosswords available, but so are edgier and bawdy puzzle sites, blogs, supportive and snarky reviews, crowdsourcing projects and a chatty community of avowed addicts. With sophisticated software, constructors create more complex crosswords faster. The annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, focus of the 2006 documentary Wordplay, is a sort of X Games for word wonks.īut most importantly, computer technology has given the old puzzle new buzz. And elite solvers have turned it into competitive sport with rankings and trophies. Health-conscious boomers believe in the power of the puzzle - although neuroscientists cast doubt - to keep their minds sharp in old age. In recent years, the humble crossword has taken on fresh cachet. The name got transposed and the grid got squared, but 100 years later Wynne’s puzzle is still a winner, evolving through the decades to reflect the language and culture of the times. He designed a word game involving clues and answers - “What bargain hunters enjoy” (sales) - that fit into a diamond-shaped grid. He needed something fresh to fill space in the New York World’s games section for the Sunday before Christmas.

Newspaperman Arthur Wynne had a puzzling problem.

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