References: General | Music | Books
General
- Wikipedia: general Crossword history; NYT
- History of crosswords and puzzles (from original: Storia delle parole crociate e del cruciverba)
- First NYT Crosswords
- Acrostics: Mystical to Mind-Boggling
- crosswordacademy.com; crosswordtournament.com; DBWebDesign; Edinformatics;
Electricka; Encyc. Britannica; gizmodo.com; History by Day; hobbylark.com;
infoplease.com; inventorspot.com; Hamel: news articles; pencils.com; PennyPress [.pdf];
Telegraph; thinks.com; thoughtco.com; TV Tropes media references; WordPlays - Unofficial: "National Puzzle Day" (Jan 29?); "Crossword Puzzle Day" (US: Jul 21?) or (US: Dec 21)
- WWII Code: HSW; Wikipedia; funfacts.com; Telegraph
- Can you solve the world's oldest crossword puzzle from 1913? 6/4/2022
- 10 of the Greatest Puzzles in History
2. The Puzzle that (Helped) Save the Free World (1942): cryptic to recruit codebreakers
7. The First Crossword (1913)
MF; 4/25/2022 - Curious Questions: Who compiled the first crossword? 10/9/2021
- Crosswords Have Always Been a Solace in Times of Trouble.
Here's How the 20th Century's Toughest Moments Shaped the Puzzle's History WWI, WWII; Time; 3/27/2020 - A History of Newspaper Puzzles word squares, crossword, jumble, sudoku; 2/5/2020
- How the Crossword Became an American Pastime Smithsonian; 12/2019
- The Crossword Mentality in Modern Literature and Culture by Adrienne Raphel;
.pdf; Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; 2018;
e.g., Chapter 1. Crosswords: A History, pp. 16- - Crossword blog: a graphic novel about crosswords
Paolo Bacilieri has written a graphic novel that’s in part a mystery story and in part a history of crosswords
across different countries and cultures; Guard; 11/27/2017 - This thrilling graphic novel about crossword puzzles and spies is a little too clever at times Bacilieri; 5/7/2017
- PuzzleNation: TimeLine 12/17/2013
- The crossword has it's way with words 12/1/2013
- Ephemera Offers a Clue to Crossword Origins by Will Shortz 2/13/2013
- History of the NYT Sunday Crossword 12/29/2011
- What If Facebook Re-Envisioned the New York Times Crossword? Wired; 9/21/2011
- Great Moments in Onscreen Crossword Puzzle Solving video: 1:28; 8/18/2011
- For a Bereft Street Corner in Queens, a Red-Letter Day (Scrabble sign: 35T1H4 A1V4E1N1U1E1); NYT; 7/16/2011
- Alan's Mysterious World 10/21/2009
- "The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader" 3/31/2008
- Puzzles In History Dell/Penny Press, .pdf; 2008
- A Scholarly Sort of Fun 5/7/1999
- Crossword In History Amer. Heritage, Vol. 27, Issue 6; 10/1976
Music
Books
- Author's ode to crosswords is right on the mark
The Crossword Century: 100 Years of Witty Wordplay, Ingenious Puzzles, and Linguistic Mischief by Alan Connor; WaPo; 8/25/2014 - Crossworld: One Man's Journey into America's Crossword Obsession by Marc Romano New Yorker book review; 6/27/2005
- On Crosswords: Thoughts, Studies, Facts and Snark About a 100-Year-Old Pastime by T. Campbell
- The Crossword Obsession: The History and Lore of the World's Most Popular Pastime by Coral Amende
- Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players by Stefan Fatsis