”A Familiar Form of Madness”

how I started doing crosswords again

…that’s how a 1924 editorial named the recent craze started by Arthur Wynne a decade before (on the brink of WWI): the Word-Cross, later mistakenly published as a Cross-Word.

The whole story in New York Times.

Or, as the Smithsonian Magazine puts it, America had now tasted the satisfaction of creating order out of chaos, the Zen of making something from nothing.

Well, making order from chaos seems to be the coping mechanism of today, so I’m not entirely surprised that another first-page result on Google highlights Time’s Crosswords Have Always Been a Solace in Times of Trouble. Here's How the 20th Century's Toughest Moments Shaped the Puzzle's History:

Time on New York Times & the crossword craze

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I first started doing crossword puzzles with my grandmother (this time it’s my mom’s side of the family) and this early, warm October reminds me of our time together. She was also the one who guided my impatient 5-6 years old self through the bulky letters and words of printed Greek mythology (Legendele Olimpului, anyone?).

The love of words and stories has been strong with both my grandparents and parents, so fast-forward almost 30 years later and here I am, easing my anxious mind with a seasonal edition for advanced players — excited to remember my “crosswords vocabulary”, cheating from time to time with online dictionaries (especially the synonyms one), discovering names of apples, pears, and other autumnal delights.

Didn’t know even half of the painters in here. Until now!

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To be fair, it all started with an Instagram post by @3mesepezi and a fun request to help them solve parts of a crossword puzzle.

I didn’t get to contribute to that one, but I decided it’s time to go to the first newspaper stand and get an old school magazine of my own.

Now, if you want to up your game or are just curious if you can have some nerdy fun with language, there’s always the New York Times special section (who kept their word at being the best).

For me, it’s important to be away from screens, though! Just pen and paper.

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Apparently, all online roads lead to the same book. Haven’t read it, but for the sake of closing this short journey, here are the benefits — of course, it has to do with memory.