The crossword is built on a pattern of black and white squares, with different words interlocking across and down. There are numbered definitions given as clues to the words. So the crossword puzzle added some new things.
The first crossword puzzle was put together by a man called Arthur Winn. It first appeared in a Sunday supplement of the New York World on December 21, 1913. It remained as a feature of this newspaper for some time, and various improvements were made in its form.
In 1924 the first book of crossword puzzles appeared. Up until that time, the crossword puzzle had not been very popular. But after this, the crossword puzzle became a nationwide and then a worldwide craze.
Other newspapers began to print crossword puzzles. In 1924, the World started printing one every day. Then the New York Herald-Tribune did the same. Pretty soon most papers began to publish crossword puzzles regularly.
The British took up crossword puzzles in 1925. At first, they imported American books, but they soon developed a type of crossword puzzle that was a little different.
When was the crossword puzzle invented?
