Behind the Crossword

Millions of people pick up and read newspapers each day, and a smaller yet significant number of that group hold onto the paper long after the last article has been read. These people are focused on the one or two pages of newsprint dedicated to puzzles. Nowadays, there is a choice of games from the latest, KenKen, to the popular, Sudoku.

However, one type of puzzle has outlasted any other, and that is none other than the ubiquitous crossword.

Existing in its present form for almost a hundred years, crossword puzzles are said to be the most popular word game in the world. The first modern crossword has been credited to a journalist by the name of Arthur Wynne and was published on December 21, 1913 in the New York World. Over the next couple of decades interest in this form of puzzle spread across America and Europe, appearing in newspapers and games magazines.

The popularity of crosswords can be derived from being easily available in the daily newspaper and are seen as a way to pass the time. To many however, they are more than just a diversion, but a way to increase their understanding of language.

“It helps to increase vocabulary, to learn new things,” said Ruth Abere, a tutor at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York. “Sometimes you come across a new word and learn its meaning. It’s a challenge and good for the mental brain.”

Word puzzles by their definition prove themselves challenging by giving the solver a bunch of words that they potentially might not have heard of, with the only bit of help being a decidedly vague clue and the number of letters in the word. Solving the puzzle can give that person a new word to add to their lexicon.

Due to a perception of increasing one’s knowledge, crosswords have a legitimacy that is lacking from a lot of other types of puzzles. But does that mean that it is in fact more popular than its contemporaries?

“Overall, easier puzzles are more popular than harder puzzles, or at least they sell better,” said Wayne Schmittberger, editor-in-chief of Games Magazine. “Word-Find magazines are more popular than crosswords, and easy crosswords are more popular than hard crosswords.”

Being as commonplace as they are, crosswords attract a wide variety of people who think they have what it takes to crack the puzzle. The knowledge required to do so depend on the puzzle itself, but some people are just more capable than others.

“In a sense, solving a puzzle can also be seen as cracking a code, which might explain why a healthy chunk of people with mathematical minds are good at solving crosswords,” said Patrick Merrell, co-editor of the New York Times Wordplay blog. “Being aware of letter patterns and being able to recognize words with letters missing helps. Beyond knowing things and possessing certain skills, practice is the biggest factor in solving puzzles better.”

Interestingly enough, perhaps obviously, there is an overlap in the knowledge needed to both solve puzzles and to create them. Both, according to Schmittberger, require a base of general knowledge as well as a large vocabulary. But this does not mean that being good in one area makes you adept in the other.

Merrell said, “Some crossword constructors are great solvers, some aren’t. I think what this says is that there’s a set of skills needed for constructing and one for solving. There’s certainly some overlap, but to differing degrees with different people.”

Creating and finishing crosswords do require different skill sets; however, what exactly is the process that creates the puzzles? Are they handmade or are they put together by computer, or some other modern method?

“Crosswords used to be entirely created by hand, and many still are, but now computers are used to assist creating them or even to create them entirely,” said Schmittberger. “Software like Crossword Compiler can make it easier for a person to compose and edit a puzzle and put it into a form from which it can easily be typeset.”

Crossword Compiler is a downloadable program available from WordWeb Software that allows it’s users to create crossword puzzles, word searches, and Sudoku. According to its website “Most puzzles for the New York Times and other publications are made with help from the program.”

Schmittberger continues, “Still, if a crossword is to have a theme, as many do, a human will need to come up with the idea for the theme as well as the theme answers and will also have to decide what size puzzle grid is to be used. After that, a computer can be used to help fill in the white squares with interlocking words from an approved database of grid entries. However, even if a computer is used this way, puzzles will still benefit from a human touch to come up with as many clever and original clues as possible.”

The concept of themes is important as it allows crossword constructors a framework around which to focus their energies on. According to Merrell, “Most puzzles have a theme.” The theme also helps the solver by allowing them to narrow down the possible solutions to the various puzzles.

Crosswords thus are started by first finding a theme and are finished by writing down the clues. However, despite the modern methods available, constructing crosswords can still be a time-consuming affair.

“A crossword can theoretically be put together in several hours or, more realistically, over several days,” said Merrell. “Sometimes it might take weeks or even a year.”

Though often viewed as a solitary experience, crosswords are capable of becoming a more communal event by bringing people together in order to solve the puzzle together.

“I used to do the Sunday Times, it was a family thing,” said Abere. She would work on it with her husband and sons, passing it back and forth from one another. “We had to use the encyclopedia. Some would consider that cheating, but it would help us understand the words.”

At the end of the day, crosswords like other types of puzzles are simple distractions, sources of entertainment to focus the mind in an age of constant interruption. They sharpen the mind and in their own way enrich it. Behind them are people much like those that enjoy them, curious individuals with an affinity for words.

“The main purpose for creating a puzzle is to make something that people will enjoy,” said Merrell. “As to who that person will be, it could be anyone. Solvers and constructors both come from every walk of life imaginable.”