Crossword Puzzle

Crossword Puzzle, puzzle in which words, guessed from their definitions, are fitted into a diagram of white and black squares, the letters occupying the white squares to form an interlocking horizontal and vertical pattern. The crossword has two sets of definitions, one for words to be written horizontally (across clues) and the other for words to be written vertically (down clues). The pattern of black squares usually serves to separate each word from adjacent words. In a properly constructed crossword, as many white squares as possible should be part of both an across and a down word. For this reason, some squares have associated across and down clues.

An early version of the crossword appeared in England in the 19th century. It was designed for children and based on the word square of ancient times, in which a series of words is so arranged that their letters read alike horizontally and vertically. The modern crossword, however, was developed in the United States. The first puzzle appeared in the Sunday supplement to the New York World in December 1913. During the next ten years the puzzle was established as a regular feature of the World. The first book of crosswords was compiled by the World puzzle editors and published in 1924. This started what was to become a worldwide craze. Throughout the United States and Europe other Sunday editions and, later, many daily editions of newspapers began to publish the puzzles. They appeared even in Asia, wherever the language lent itself to the interlocking process.

In early crossword puzzles only simple words and primary definitions were used. Standards rose, however, and skilled constructors perfected the art of weaving more interesting combinations into diagrams having the fewest possible black squares. The use of clues and the introduction of phrases, full names, titles, and the like into the patterns opened up new possibilities for more challenging crossword puzzles. Special dictionaries have been compiled of unusual words that find their way into the puzzles.

The principal variation of crossword puzzles are thematic constructions based on current events or various other subjects; inner-clue combinations (such as the combination “catacombs,” “Kitty Hawk,” “pussy-foot,” “Kit Carson” that suggest the word cat); and diagramless puzzles, in which only definitions are given, the pattern to be worked out by means of clues given in the numbering system. Special constructions for use in schools serve as excellent vocabulary builders. Canadians enjoy bilingual puzzles in which French definitions require horizontal words in English, and English definitions require vertical words in French. The British added many black squares to avoid repetition of familiar short words, and devised ingenious clues, anagrams, and homophones. One of the more challenging forms of crossword puzzle is the cryptic crossword, which utilizes clever and sometimes ambiguous word-play clues, rather than definitions, for word solutions.

Many popular word games, such as Scrabble, are derived from crossword puzzles. Another notable form of word puzzle is the Double-Crostic, invented by Elizabeth S. Kingsley, which first appeared in 1934 in the Saturday Review. The player must guess words defined in the puzzle and then write them into numbered squares in a diagram, which will form a quotation when the correct letters are supplied. An added clue is provided by the acrostic formed by the first letters of the words to be guessed, which will spell out the name of the author and the title of the work from which the quotation is taken.