In between loads of laundry, I happened upon this trivia which directly relates to the pursuit of happiness.
The crossword puzzle was invented to give people a spark of joy in the newspaper, following the bleak and dire stories of WWI which dominated headlines. The NYTimes finally caved in and added the puzzle during the blackouts of WWII, to give people something to occupy their minds other than war. They were first called, “Word-Cross,” but that changed when a typographical error termed them, “Crossword puzzles.”
It was nice to have an explanation of the origin of one of my favorite mind-centering activities. Try this first puzzle ever published. I’d give you the answers, but you aren’t going to work this anyway. Happy Christmas Monday.
