100th Anniversary of the Crossword
By Patricia Lavelle
The Crossword puzzle recently celebrated its one hundredth anniversary. The first crossword puzzle was published in the New York World and was created by the “Father of Crossword,” Arthur Wynne. Wynne originated from Liverpool and moved to the United States to pursue a career in journalism. Wynne’s editor at the time approached him to create a new mental exercise for the World’s entertainment section. Wynne’s first puzzle was the brainchild of his interest in lexicons and included many obscure words.
Originally called Word-cross, the first crossword puzzle was a diamond shape and contained no internal dark squares. Nowadays, crosswords are typically arranged into square shapes. The inner section of the puzzle was completely hollow. The name originated from the bisecting lines created by the words. The name was eventually changed to Cross-word and later the hyphen was dropped after a misprint.
Wynne’s mental exercise has since become a Sunday morning staple and can be found across the globe in newspapers, magazines, as well as online. Crosswords have truly become a beloved pastime.#
