Crossword Puzzle Day is on December 21, honoring the anniversary of New York World publishing the first modern crossword puzzle, as devised by Liverpool-born journalist Arthur Wynne.
Though Wynne was not the first person to devise a crossword-like puzzle, 19th-century versions called "word squares" were popular in Europe, but were not published in magazines and did not exhibit the now-familiar format. He was nonetheless the first person to publish one in a periodical.
Wynne's crossword, which can be seen and worked here, was diamond-shaped and did not include the blackened boxes in between open letter boxes, as we know crosswords have today. Clues were arranged not by 1-Across, 1-Down, but by the numbers between which the word to be guessed began and ended.
Wynne's puzzle was quite popular; by the end of the 1920s, the crossword puzzle had become a fixture of American newspapers and had begun appearing in, and confounding, readers of publications worldwide.
Crosswords and other word puzzles are excellent fitness tests for your brain.
One must use several areas of the brain to complete a word puzzle, including the area responsible for storing linguistic information and vocabulary, the area responsible for fine motor skills like writing, the medial prefrontal cortex, responsible for memory, and the area that is responsible for spatial relations, which allows one to twist words this way and that and see how they interconnect when displayed graphically.
Besides the venerable crossword, other word puzzles and games can get your mind's juices flowing and help to keep you sharp. Here are just a few.
Cryptograms
For those who are code at ciphering, decoding, or word games, cryptograms are an excellent way to spend a few minutes. A well known word, phrase, or quote is generally encoded such that one letter stands for another letter.
A clue letter, like A = F, might be given to start the player off, but thereafter the player must guess which letter stands for which to decode the message.
A player must look for letter frequency, repeating patterns of code, which can stand for double letters, common blended consonants, or common consonant-vowel blends, and word sizes to discern which letters are which.
Word Searches
A favorite of kids and adults alike, the word search is a group of themed words are hidden among a grid of letters — forward, backward, horizontally, diagonally, and vertically — then listed again out to the side of the grid. A player must find and circle as many of them as possible.
To make it challenging, try setting a time limit on yourself (five minutes, say) and developing a search pattern, such as looking for only one word-starting letter at a time and following each appearance of that letter in every direction as you scan the grid.
Word Jumble
In a word jumble, a group of letters is given to the player, who must then make as many words as he or she can from the available letters. People skilled in anagrams, or who enjoy the games Boggle, Quiddler, and Scrabble, particularly love word jumbles. A free online variant, called Text Twist, is available here.
This Crossword Puzzle Day, take a seat and stretch your brain over a few word games.
They're an excellent, non-strenuous and fun way for seniors to keep alert and active. They can also be a great way to spend meaningful time and have fun with your grandchildren. You'll be doing an honor to old Arthur Wynne and his puzzle, giving your memory a good workout and helping to keep your brain fitness level at maximum.
