Crosswordsbeganappearingeverywhere.Engagedcouplescom-
posedcrosswordstoputinthelocalnewspapertoannouncetheir
goodnews.A Pittsburghministeruseda crosswordpuzzleona
blackboardtopresenthissermontitle.Everyonehadtosolvethe
puzzlebeforehewouldbeginhissermon.
Soontournamentswereheld,andthecrazewasoffandrun-
ningaroundtheglobe.ByNovember1924,newspapersinEngland
beganpublishingtheirowncrosswords,translatingAmericanpuz-
zlesinto“British”Englishandspelling.
Puzzleconstructorswerehiredto
helpcreatemorepuzzles,andpuzzle
editorsmadesuretheyweredonecorrectly.
Rulesweresimple:1) Spellingmustbecor-
rect,2)Noinappropriateorobscurewords,
and3)Cluesmustbeclearandfair.
Noteveryonewasthrilled.Somesaw
thecrosswordasa threattosociety.It was
blamedforworkersnotdoingtheirjobs
andstudentsfailingcourses,allbecause
theyweretoocaughtupinpuzzlesolv-
ing.Optometristswereencouragedto
tellpeoplethatcrosswordscontributedto
eyestrain.Theheadmasterofa boardingschoolinEnglandcondemnedcross-
wordsas“thelaziestrecreation”andan“unsociablehabit.”Conversationcame
toa standstillbecausepeopleweretoobusypuzzling.
WhenWorldWarII brokeout,thecrosswordnearlybecame
anintelligenceincident.Codewordsusedbythewarplanners,
suchasUTAH,OMAHA,OVERLORD,andNEPTUNE—
codenamesfortop-secretD-Dayoperations—beganappearingas
solutionstocrosswordpuzzles.Fortunately,LeonardDawe,chief
crosswordcompilerfortheDailyTelegraph,wasabletoconvince
militaryofficersthatthiswasanabsolutecoincidence.
Didyouknowthatyoucanmakeyourowncrosswordpuzzle?
It maynothaveinternationalimplicationslikethosetop-secretcode
words,butit couldbea usefultoolforlearning... orjustfun.
Here’showtogetstarted:
H’M. WHAT’S A SEVEN-
LETTER WORD FOR
BRILLIANT?YOU’RE JOKING, RIGHT?
IT IS I, LADYBUG!