21st December: Crossword Puzzle Day

The person to create the first crossword puzzle was Arthur Wynne. It was published in the New York World newspaper on the 21^st of December 1913. This puzzle looked very different from the one that we get to see now. It had no internal black squares and was shaped like a diamond. This day is celebrated to commemorate the birth of a crossword puzzle.

Arthur Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and later emigrated to the United States. He worked as a journalist and could also play the violin. While creating puzzles for the 'FUN' section of the Sunday edition of the 'New York World' newspaper, he introduced a new kind of puzzle, which he called "Word-Cross Puzzle".

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The first version of the puzzle that Arthur had made was diamond-shaped and had a hollow center. This was based on an earlier puzzle, but he made some changes, i.e., he used horizontal and vertical lines to create boxes for the solvers to enter the letters. Arthur later on created another version in which he used black squares in a symmetrical arrangement to separate words in rows and columns. As a result of a type-setting error, his 'Word-Cross' got changed to 'Cross-Word', and has been called so since then.

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The only difference that one can find between Wynne's Crosswords and the modern-day Crosswords is that the numbering scheme has been changed.

Recreated version of the first Cross-Word made by Arthur Wynne, published on 21st December 1913. Wikipedia

People instantly took a liking to this puzzle as it stimulated the brain and posed as a mental challenge. As the popularity of the crossword puzzle increased, all American newspapers started to publish them. Nearly ten years after its creation in America, the Crossword puzzle made its way to Europe. The first crossword puzzle to be published in Europe was in Britain in the 'Pearson's Magazine' in February 1922. The British later developed their own style of this puzzle.

Over the years, studies have proved that solving crosswords puzzles on a regular basis can be beneficial for your health. It prevents dementia, improves verbal skills, helps the brain identify patterns and improves your ability to do trivia. Solving crossword puzzles is also said to relieve one's mind from ongoing stress. There's also a saying which goes 'A crossword puzzle a day keeps Alzheimer's away.' Working on these puzzles help kids and adolescents to focus more.

'A crossword puzzle a day keeps Alzheimer's away.' Unsplash

Crosswords puzzle also help you to expand your knowledge. One will be looking up for words in dictionaries, unless they are a master crossword puzzle solver. Looking for answers on the web is also very normal. Although these might feel like one is cheating but it helps to gain for information.

A person who enjoys or is skilled at solving crosswords is known as a Cruciverbalist.

The longest word ever used in a crossword puzzle is Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. Roger Squires, a prolific crossword puzzle creator had used this in puzzle. This huge word is the name of a Welsh town. It was published in the July 1979 edition of the Telford Wrekin News.

The best way to celebrate this day would be to try and solve crosswords puzzles in the newspaper or online. One could also challenge a friend to a race to see who finishes the crossword puzzle first. A very interesting thing to try out would be to try and create a crossword puzzle, the whole framework and then forming the clues.

(Keywords : crosswords, Arthur Wynne, New York World, newspaper, America, Pearson's magazine, Britain, Europe, words, columns, rows, framework, solve, dictionary, health, brain, skill.)