ABOUT CROSSWORDS SERIES

Oz tout puzzles as a way to pump mental muscles and sharpen memory. My own love affair with the square, which includes years at the helms of companies that produce puzzle magazines, leads me back to Wynne’s key word: “FUN.” They may play acceptable for grownups. What is the secret ingredient that keeps readers turning to the puzzle page? Farrar thought that the crossword provided escape-a welcome distraction from worries. Blogs enable “acrossionados,” as I call them, to reach out to puzzle professionals. On the contrary, the puzzle has adapted to the Internet’s thriving games culture. Fortunately, the Los Angeles Times had no such mandatory retirement policy, and she spent many years happily editing crosswords for the paper, as well as for the S&S series.Īt 100, the crossword shows no signs of slowing down. Farrar remained editor until 1968, when Times policy forced her to retire at age 70. The popular daily feature followed in 1950. In 1942, the New York Times, after receiving requests from countless crossword fans (among them, Times publisher Arthur “Punch” Sulzberger), decided to begin including a puzzle in its Sunday magazine, and named Farrar editor.

ABOUT CROSSWORDS SERIES

An instant bestseller, here and abroad, it launched a series that continues to this day. Her work paid off handsomely in 1924, when the fledgling publishing house that would later become Simon & Schuster hired Farrar and two of her colleagues to compile a collection of crosswords. Farrar, a well-heeled Upper East Sider, used the academic skills she acquired at Smith College to improve on Wynne’s initial efforts. Over the next 10 years, Wynne’s able assistant, Margaret Farrar, transformed the World feature into an international superstar. Unfortunately, he failed to secure a copyright ( Sudoku’s Japanese popularizer, Maki Kaji, also missed the boat on copyrighting his invention). Wynne had struck gold by giving readers a mental workout disguised as a game. He was surprised by the bags of fan mail that the new “cross word” generated. The word “FUN” was spelled out in the top three boxes, and Wynne instructed readers to jot answers to the clues in the blank squares using capital letters. The first crossword was a diamond-shaped grid matched to synonym-style clues. Wynne’s brainchild made its debut in the Dec. and assumed the editorial reins of the Fun section of New York World (which was then owned by Joseph Pulitzer). Wynne was born in Liverpool in 1871, but he eventually moved to the U.S. The crossword was invented by a lone newspaperman named Arthur Wynne. He’s in good company: I’ve been told that Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart, Roy Blount Jr., and millions of moms around the world (people often say to me, “My mom loves puzzles”) all share a love affair with the square. Iacocca most likely read it on a smartphone or tablet. On December 21, the spry crossword turned 100, and on that day, Mr. I’ve been collecting this type of anecdote ever since I wrote my first book, What’s Gnu: History of the Crossword Puzzle (Vintage), eons ago and became an expert in the puzzle field. “Lee Iacocca says that he turns to the crossword the minute he gets his hands on the newspaper,” someone recently told me. I like to think that blogging and engaging in dialogue has helped me to become more introspective and see myself as fallible.Click image to do world's first crossword I take critiques of my critiques very seriously, especially from a community I truly respect. And most of the time, they are rational, well-thought out challenges.

On the bright side, Fiend welcomes a dialogue, and commenters are not shy about challenging bloggers’ opinions. If I was rushed, or in a bad mood, or tired, that might unintentionally affect how I assessed a puzzle, which is, of course, unfair. On more than a few occasions, my tone came across more negatively than I’d intended, or I’d focus solely on things that personally bothered me about a puzzle. It’s a very sensitive thing, to be writing about someone’s work, especially when a constructor has put heart and soul and an incredible amount of time into a puzzle that may only take a couple minutes for a competitive solver to complete. Jim: Blogging about crosswords is very humbling, at least for me.

About crosswords