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crossword puzzle
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What is a crossword puzzle?
A crossword puzzle is a word puzzle that typically comes in a rectangular diagram of blank and shaded squares. Numbered clues correspond to the blank squares where letters are inserted to form interlocking words. The modern crossword puzzle first appeared in the New York World in 1913 and quickly became a popular pastime in the United States and beyond. Crosswords are now found in many languages and countries, with variations in the diagram and clues.
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How is a crossword puzzle played?
A crossword puzzle is a word game consisting of a diagram, typically rectangular, of white and black squares. Players fill the white squares with letters to form interlocking words, guided by numbered definitions or clues. Two lists of clues correspond to horizontal and vertical words, with numbers matching those on the diagram. The goal is to correctly fill in the letters that correspond with the clues.
The modern crossword puzzle emerged in the U.S. and quickly became a popular adult pastime. Crosswords come in various forms across different countries and languages, with variations in diagram design, clue types, and themes.
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What do the words 'across' and 'down' mean in a crossword?
In crossword puzzles, "across" and "down" indicate the direction in which words are to be entered into the diagram. "Across" clues define words that are entered horizontally, from left to right. "Down" clues define words that are entered vertically, from top to bottom. The numbers on the diagram correspond to numbered clues in the lists for both directions.
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How are clues used in solving a crossword puzzle?
In a crossword puzzle, solvers use numbered definitions, or clues, to fill blank squares in a diagram with letters, forming interlocking words. These clues can range from straightforward definitions to puns, anagrams, or more obscure references. Some puzzles adopt a theme, such as music or literature, that connects a number of the answers. Other variations might omit clues, tasking the solver to identify words belonging to a specific category, or use words with a common prefix, suffix, or part.
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What strategies can help someone solve difficult crossword puzzles?
To solve difficult crossword puzzles, consider these strategies:
- Tackle the easy clues first Start with the clues you know right away to fill in some letters and gain a foothold in the grid.
- Look for common patterns Be alert for common crossword answers, prefixes, and suffixes.
- Use outside resources If you're stuck, don't hesitate to use online crossword solvers, dictionaries, or other references to assist you.
- Consider the theme Note that many puzzles have a unifying theme, such as music, sports, literature, or geography, that can provide hints.
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How have crossword puzzles changed since they were first invented?
The first modern crossword puzzle was published in 1913, in the New York World's Sunday supplement. Since then, crosswords have evolved in several ways:
- Diagrams Most puzzles use symmetrical patterns, but variations include asymmetrical arrangements, plain diagrams using thick lines to mark word ends, pictorial designs, and diagramless puzzles.
- Clues Some puzzles use obscure definitions, puns, and anagrams. Some may have a theme, such as music, sports, or literature. Others omit clues, directing solvers to a category like jewels or quotations. Some puzzles use common prefixes or suffixes.
- Internal-clue crosswords Advertising writer and puzzle constructor Harold T. Bers devised the internal-clue crossword, in which the theme emerges gradually as successive definitions are solved.
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crossword puzzle, popular form of word puzzle. A crossword puzzle consists of a diagram, usually rectangular, divided into blank (white) and cancelled (black, shaded, or crosshatched) squares. This diagram is accompanied by two lists of numbered definitions or clues, one for the horizontal and the other for the vertical words, the numbers corresponding to identical numbers on the diagram. Into each of the blank squares of the diagram a certain letter of the alphabet is to be inserted, forming the words fitting the numbered definitions or clues. The words cross each other, or interlock, which gives the puzzle its name.
The first crosswords appeared in England during the 19th century. They were of an elementary kind apparently derived from the word square, a group of words arranged so the letters read alike vertically and horizontally, and printed in children’s puzzle books and various periodicals. In the United States, however, the puzzle developed into a serious adult pastime. The first modern crossword puzzle was published on December 21, 1913, in the New York World’s Sunday supplement, Fun. It appeared as only one of a varied group of mental exercises, but it struck the fancy of the public. By 1923, crosswords were being published in most of the leading American newspapers, and the craze soon reached England. Soon almost all daily newspapers in the United States and Great Britain had a crossword feature of some kind. The Sunday Times of London ran perhaps the best-known puzzle.
Crosswords in various forms are found in almost every country and language. Scholars have even gone so far as to make them for Latin. Advocates claim the puzzles are both a pastime and an interesting means of improving the vocabulary. Though the majority of puzzles have the form of symmetrical patterns of shaded or blacked-out squares within a rectangle, there are many variations. These include: (1) an asymmetrical scattering of squares; (2) a plain diagram with no squares canceled and the ends of words marked simply by a thick line; (3) pictorial designs, either in outline containing the diagram or in line inside the diagram, or a combination of both; and (4) diagramless puzzles, with no squares cancelled and no word ends marked.
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The general type of crossword has also been subject to variation. Some puzzles employ abstruse definitions, puns, and anagrams. A number of words in one puzzle may bear upon some announced theme, such as music, sports, literature, or geography. Many of the puzzles in this category are quite difficult. Again, some clues will be omitted altogether but a direction given that the words thus neglected belong to a particular class: jewels, for example, or words in a quotation. Sometimes every word will have some given prefix, suffix, or part in common, and only the rest of the word will actually fill the spaces in the diagram: (rat)ion, (rat)chet, etc.; unc(tion), cap(tion), etc.; qu(it)e, cr(it)ic, etc. Lester Markel, Sunday editor of The New York Times, insisted that puzzles appearing in that paper contain words linked to the news. Harold T. Bers, an advertising writer and puzzle constructor, devised the internal-clue crossword, in which the theme of the puzzle emerges gradually as successive definitions are solved: filling in “pussyfoot,” “caterwaul,” “kittenish”—together with an overall title “catalog”—would reveal the feline theme.