CROSSWORDS: Future

Quotes | Summary | References: General | Augmented Reality

Quotes

• "You're concerned about the future of your newspaper, yet... you leave out the crossword?
  Now you've eliminated the main reason I get the paper.
  I read other articles because they come in a package that has the crossword." a letter to a newspaper editor
• "It's from the newspapers... that people I know -- relatives and co-workers --
  have got the idea that crosswords are a prophylactic against Alzheimer's.
  Newspapers are of course also the place where crosswords (and now sudokus)
  are most readily available, so the association is presumably good for circulation." ~Alan Connor
• "The future ain't... what it used to be." ~Yogi Berra
• "I don't try to describe the future... I try to prevent it." ~Ray Bradbury
• "The best thing about the future is... that it comes only one day at a time." ~Abraham Lincoln
• "Prediction is very difficult,... especially about the future." ~Niels Bohr
• "The future will be... better tomorrow." ~Dan Quayle

Summary

• New puzzle styles?
• Digital vs. paper?
• Social: online collaboration and competition
• New user interfaces / augmented reality, e.g., "Shattered Crosswords"
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to solve or construct puzzles.

References

• sections: Augmented Reality; Puzzle Sources: Web Sites; Applications; AI (Artificial Intelligence): Solving, Construction
• OLLI Course: e-Books Steve's older OLLI course on e-Books and publishing
• Puzzle games are everywhere. Heres 'why. many avail inside other apps; 8/30/2024
• Games Are Proving Their Pull on News and Tech Sites NYT; 6/11/2024
• How The New York Times is building experimental handwriting recognition for its crosswords app 1/17/2024
• "Puzzles pair well with reading the news": Why news outlets are getting into games (again) Nieman; 8/10/2022
• Crossword Story
  Crossword Story is the fiction and crossword section of your favourite magazine combined.
  It's a beautiful experience for people who like to read and people who like to play word games.
  The basic premise for all the word games is simple -- read the text, build context,
  find the missing word/term. Android-only; 11/15/2021
• CoinSwitch Kuber’s interactive ‘Crossword ad’ aims to raise crypto awareness
  scannable and playable ad combined the functionality of a QR code with the interactivity of a Crossword; 11/10/2021
• Facing slowdown, New York Times eyes $100 billion games market 3/20/2021
• The New Yorker leans into crossword puzzles online and, now, in print 3/12/2021
• Solve crosswords as you read a comic in Letters to Margaret
  a new kind of comics storytelling using crosswords; 3/10/2021
• Are Crossword Puzzles the Key to Saving Print Media? 2/25/2021
• Down but Not Out: The Uncertain Future of the Crossword Puzzle
  the future of puzzling is as fluid as the English language itself; Atl; 7/11/2014
• Staying on the grid -- the past and future of crosswords in India 2/26/2014
• Will Shortz on the Future of Crossword Puzzles video: 1:35;
  on 100 Years of Crosswords video: 1:31;
  on the Evolution of Crossword Puzzles video: 3:09; 12/16/2013
• Crosswords at a Crossroad: The Puzzle Turns 100. What Is the Clue to Its Survival? thesis; Lynn J. Feigenbaum; Spring 2013
• The Experimental Crossword, And The Future wraparound; double initial pangram; cruciverbacomic; 8/27/2011
• Puzzling Future .pdf; pp. 21-22; 10/20/2010
• Science fiction crosswords and fact sites are for the young at heart 4/21/2010
• The Future Is Now ... and they got it wrong; crossword; 3/5/2010
• Crosswords at a Crossroad: The Puzzle Turns 100. What Is the Clue to Its Survival? Lynn Feigenbaum thesis; 8/2009
• The Ultimate Crossword Smackdown who writes better puzzles, humans or computers? Slate; 7/12/2006
• The Decades That Invented the Future: Part 12: The Present and Beyond Discovery of Earth's Twin planet;
  Autonomous Cars; Wearable Technology; Growing the Visual Funnel (optics); Wide-Area Surveillance;
  AR (augmented reality), 3D printing; device convergence; Internet Memes; Kim Dotcom; Prosthetic Athletics;
  "Pluto Switch" (specialized hardware); Healthcare; Wired; 2/8/2013

Augmented Reality; Shattered Crosswords

• NYT crossword in 3-D provided by phone's camera and an Instagram Augmented
  Reality (AR) "effect" -- only one-time Mini for 12/22/2020?
• A small crossword sits on whatever surface you’ve picked, while a cloud of letter shards hovers above it.
• As you move your camera around, the change in perspective will reveal the words that solve the puzzle
• Now You Too Can Look Like a Fool While Trying to Solve the AR New York Times Crossword Puzzle Giz; 12/23/2020
• The New York Times' crossword can now haunt your living room in augmented reality Verge; 12/22/2020
• more info & images from game's designer; video
• To try it (disclaimer: I am not an Instagram expert):
• Install, open Instagram app (iOS, Android)*
• Log into (or create) account; visit NYTimes profile page
• Grant permission (if necessary) for Instagram to access your Camera
• Access 'Shattered Crosswords' effect
• Simplest: direct link for mobile devices
• Usual (sometimes confusing) process:
• Tap the Your Story or Camera icon on the Instagram home screen.
  You can also swipe left from the home screen.
• At the bottom of the screen you’ll see a carousel of effects known as the effect tray.
  
• Scroll right to the end of the effect tray. Tap Browse Effects.
  Where Effects Appear on Instagram;
  How to Use Instagram Effects on iPhone and Android
• Select, or search: Shattered crosswords
• *If message appears: "Unable to use this effect on your device",
  try again later -- or perhaps your older device or OS may be incompatible.
• You'll need a relatively flat surface (or at least something your phone perceives as flat) and patience.
• Zoom, rotate, and pan to find words in a sea of yellow pieces.
• Just slowly move the fragments and the phone until you spot something
  that looks like a letter. Line them up to form a word, then reap the rewards.