Crossword Puzzles at 100: From Paper to Digital

In his book, The Curious History of the Crossword - 100 Puzzles From Then and Now, published in November 2013, author Ben Tausig describes the history of the crossword, from journalist Arthur Wynne's first puzzle published in the New York World newspaper on 21 December, 1913 to today’s puzzles, increasingly being found on digital devices such as desktop computers, mobile computers, tablets and smartphones. According to Tausig, "Crosswords are still very popular around the world in printed form, but more and more, puzzle fans are turning to digital puzzles to tackle." (Source: eWeek.com)

Talk with Cluetopia's David Astle

Cluetopia's David Astle

To celebrate the centenary of Arthur Wynne's crossword, why not join literary editors Jason Steger in Melbourne on Wednesday 22 January or Susan Wyndham in Sydney on Tuesday 28 January, 2014 in conversation with The Age’s and The Sydney Morning Herald’s cryptic crossword setter (DA) and bestselling author David Astle. You may also recall his face from the popular SBS show called Letters and Numbers in which David, armed with the Macquarie Fifth Edition dictionary, played the role of resident word expert. For some fun see the video clip below showing some of the show's bloopers. Here is a summary of the dates and times for the conversations with David Astle:

Cluetopia - the 100-Year Story of the Crossword by David Astle

David Astle is the author of the author of Puzzled (2010), and Puzzles & Words (2012), and now Puzzles & Words 2 (2013). In his new book Cluetopia, David tells the story of 100 years of the crossword, how it started back in 1913, and how it evolved to it's current form today. David Astle’s books will be available for purchase on the night and David will sign them following the talk.

Melbourne:

Date: Wednesday 22 January, 2014
Time: 6:15 PM
Venue: Deakin Edge Federation Square, Melbourne
Cost: Tickets just $10 for Dymocks Booklovers/ Age Subscribers and their guests

Bookings/ Enquiries: Bookings online at theage.com.au/mybenefits

Sydney:

Date: Tuesday 28 January, 2014
Time: 6:15 PM
Venue: The Wharf 2 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company Pier 4/5, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay, Sydney
Cost: $10 For Herald Subscribers

(Be one of the first 100 subscribers to book and you'll receive a copy of Cluetopia (RRP $29.99)

Bookings/ Enquiries: www.smh.com.au/mybenefits Enquiries Judy Benson 02 94494366

Google's Doodle Crossword

On the 100th anniversary of the crossword, Saturday, 21 December (see Crosswords 100 Years Old)), Google replaced its usual homepage logo with an interactive crossword puzzle to celebrate Arthur Wynne's invention, 100 years earlier. Arthur Wynne is generally credited with inventing the crossword puzzle, a feature that is in nearly every newspaper across the globe. Google's crossword puzzle was created by Merl Reagle, a master crossword creator who sold his first crossword to the New York Times, at age 16. You can read more about Google's homage here Goodle's Doodle Crossword and try to solve it at Google: 100 Years of Crosswords.

Google's Doodle Crossword

Starting Cryptic Crosswords with Puns and Anagram

In her post titled "Variety: Puns and Anagrams" posted on Wordplay, the crossword blog of The New York Times, Deb Amlen explains how if you’re not used to doing cryptic crossword puzzles then a great way to get started is by solving Puns and Anagrams. However, unlike cryptic crosswords which are solved using a set of fairly standard or strict "rules", anything is fair game in Puns and Anagrams. While this is true, this explanation by Mel Taub on solving Puns and Anagrams and some of the devices used in them may be helpful.

Crosswords 100 Years Old

100 Years Old, but where did the Crossword Puzzle come from?

Tomorrow Saturday 21 December, 2013 the Crossword Puzzle, no doubt the most popular and widespread word game in the world will be 100 years old!!! But where did the Crossword Puzzle come from? Well as so nicely explained in the following Stuff of Genius video, the Crossword Puzzle was invented by English born Arthur Wynne. At the time Wynne was working for the New York World, a newspaper published in New York City, and was asked to come up with a "mental exercise" for the paper's Sunday Fun section. He came up with what he called a word cross puzzle and based it on a game from his childhood called "Magic Squares". As you can see from the video and sketch below, Wynne's word puzzle idea was diamond-shaped and without blackened-out squares. It was first published in the Christmas edition of the New York World on Sunday, 21 December, 1913.

The first crossword puzzle, created by Arthur Wynne,
published in the New York World on December 21, 1913
(Source: Wikimedia Commons).

Arthur Wynne's Crossword Puzzle Was A Big Success

Wynne's word game was very popular and immediately became a regular weekly feature in the World however the name was changed from Word-cross to Cross-word and was also changed from diamond-shaped to rectangular. In 1924 Dick Simon and Lincoln Schuster published a book on Wynne's crosswords which became a bestseller. Based on its popularity, other newspapers quickly took up Wynne's crossword idea and in the 1920s, crosswords were being published in most of the leading American newspapers, and also spread to other countries including England.

Guardian Crossword by rightee

The Cryptic Crossword

While Arthur Wynne's first Crossword Puzzle had relatively easy clues, in time, the they became much more difficult and from the mid-1920s they started becoming more cryptic including content like anagrams and wordplay. The English translator and poet, Edward Powys Mathers, who under the pseudonym "Torquemada" set crosswords for The Saturday Westminster and The Observer from the mid-1920s until his death, was the first setter to use cryptic clues exclusively and is often credited as being the inventor of the cryptic crossword.

Cryptic Crossword Puzzle (Source: Maggi Abrams)

Guidelines for Solving The Nation's Cryptic Crosswords

If you're new to solving cryptic puzzles then check out the guidelines by Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto for Solving The Nation's Cryptic Crosswords. It describe the common types of wordplay (e.g. Anagrams, Charades and Homophonesas) as well as hints on how to spot them.