CROSSWORDS: Challenge; Creativity; Problem Solving
"As human beings, we have a natural compulsion to fill empty spaces." ~Will Shortz
"Making synaptic connections that have lain dormant for years causes something deep in the pleasure center to squeeze out a juicy shot of chemical goodness." ~Jim Horne
"Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That's why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs." ~Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
"Children are the most desirable opponents at scrabble as they are both easy to beat and fun to cheat." ~Fran Lebowitz
Puzzling The World(video): Few puzzles have swept the world and created such passionate devotees as Sudoku and crosswords. While crosswords require specific linguistic capability, Sudoku players only need to understand basic numbers, a feature that makes Sudoku particularly transnational and global. Maki Kaji, godfather of Sudoku and President of Nikoli Company and Will Shortz, Crossword Puzzle Editor, The New York Times, discuss the similarities and differences of crossword puzzles and Sudoku as well as trends and themes driving the popularity of puzzles around the world today.; excerpts[video; 4:36]; Will Shortz on editing, on solving puzzles: empowerment, mental aerobics; 10/23/2008
"Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That's why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs." ~Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
In Crosswords, It’s Man Over Machine, for Now 3/18/2012
NYT: Across and Down, the Wizard (Dan Feyer) Who Is Fastest of All (ACPT 2010); 12/7/2010
BarelyBad: Why to play, and why not