Welcome, Crossword Fans

After the decision was already made to begin including a crossword puzzle in each issue of The Times (the first one appears this week on page 10), I did a little research and discovered that we’ve just begun the centennial anniversary year of the crossword puzzle. The first word puzzle in the form we know today as a crossword appeared in the New York World newspaper on December 21, 1913.

So it’s about time we got on board.

Believe it or not, crossword puzzles have endured their share of controversy over the years. Thanks to the modern marvel of Wiki- pedia, I found some juicy quotes about crosswords.

Here’s one from the New York Public Library in 1921: “The latest craze to strike libraries is the crossword puzzle.”

But here’s a less enthusiastic quote from the New York Times in 1924: Crossword puzzles are a “sinful waste in the utterly futile finding of words and letters…” (That’s right; this was in the New York Times.)

The following year, the New York Times declared: “The craze is evidently dying out fast and in a few months it will be forgotten.” Yet another quote from the NYT in 1929: “The craze – the fad – stage has passed…”

The Times (New York’s version) held out for nearly three decades, but they finally caved. The first crossword puzzle appeared in that paper in 1942.

Now, as we all know, the New York Times is the center of the crossword puzzle universe. Its crossword editor, Will Shortz, who has held that position since 1978, is a rock star in that universe.

Crossword puzzles appear in almost every newspaper in the world. And there are probably even more crossword puzzle web sites than there newspapers in the world.

In honor of The Times’ (local version) entry into the world of crosswords, I decided to try my hand at designing my own puzzle. I’m sure you will find it much harder and more sophisticated than the one on page 10. But just remember the feeling of satisfaction you’ll get when you solve it!