ARTHUR WYNNE
Nearly 111 years ago, on December 21, 1913, the world's first crossword puzzle appeared in the Sunday Fun section of the long defunct New York World. Fun editor, Arthur Wynne, needing something new for his Christmas issue, conceived of a diamond-shaped puzzle in which words interlocked across and down. He dubbed his invention a "word-cross." An immediate and enthusiastic response from readers led to a second word-cross the following week, and crosswords have been with us ever since.
The man who founded the multi-million dollar industry of crossword puzzling never sought or received any profit from his invention.
"I awakened recently to find myself acclaimed as the originator of the crossword puzzle, which everybody is doing now," he modestly wrote in 1925. "But all I did was to take an idea as old as language and modernize it by the introduction of black squares. I am glad to have had a hand in it, and on one is more surprised at its amazing popularity."
Until his death in Clearwater, Florida on January 14, 1945,Wynne continued to make crosswords and other original puzzle forms. But apparently, the fact that he had invented the world's most popular type of puzzle was, to Wynne, no big deal.
Below is one of Wynne's puzzles taken from the archives of the New York World.
Where Did He Go?
This week, Fun's puzzle editor visited a place where he was greatly entertained by what he saw. Several times he was so excited that he stood up in his seat and cheered. He wrote down the names of five of the things he saw, then re-arranged the letters of each one to spell a new word or phrase. For instance HER CABLES, when the letters have been put back in the right order, spells - - - well, what does it spell? And where has the editor been?
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