National Crossword Puzzle Day Date in the current year: December 21, 2024

A crossword puzzle is a type of world puzzle that usually looks like a square or a rectangular grid consisting of white and black squares. The goal of the puzzle is to fill the white squares with words, one letter per square, by solving clues; the black squares separate the words from one another. Crossword grids come in several styles: American, British/Australian, Japanese, Swedish, and barred grid crosswords.

The first use of the phrase “cross word puzzle” dates back to the 1860s; it was mentioned in an issue of the monthly children’s magazine Our Young Folks: an Illustrated Magazine for Boys and Girls. Crosswords were printed in various magazines throughout the second half of the 19th century but they were different from modern crossword puzzles.

The first modern crossword was designed by Arthur Wynne, a British immigrant to the United States, while he was working for the New York World newspaper. He was tasked with creating puzzles for the “Fun” section of the newspaper’s Sunday issue. A diamond-shaped word puzzle with a hollow center and the letters F-U-N already filled in was published in the December 21, 1913 issue of the New York World.

Wynne named his creation a “word-cross” puzzle. However, the name was later reversed to “cross-word”. Soon crossword puzzles became a regular feature in newspapers. In 1924, Simon & Schuster published the first crossword book. Although the publisher was initially skeptical of its success, the book became an instant hit.

Since their inception, crossword puzzles have spread to many countries and languages. They are enjoyed by people all over the world because crosswords are a fun way to pass time, learn something new, and train your brain. Studies have shown that solving crossword puzzles regularly helps improve verbal and problem-solving skills, improves the brain’s ability to identify patterns, and even prevents dementia.

It is unclear who came up with the idea of observing National Crossword Puzzle Day, but thousands of crossword puzzle enthusiasts across the nation celebrate it every year. You can join the celebration too if you love crosswords, word puzzles, and puzzle-solving in general.

How can you celebrate National Crossword Puzzle Day? Solving crossword puzzles is the first thing that comes to mind. You can buy a newspaper that prints crosswords or a crossword book, find a crossword online, or install a crossword app on your phone or tablet – anything that works for you!

If you want to make things more interesting, you can solve a crossword in a foreign language, challenge a friend to a crossword race, or even try your hand at creating your own crossword puzzle and than ask someone to solve it. And don’t forget to spread the word about the amazing holiday on social media using the hashtags #NationalCrosswordPuzzleDay and #CrosswordPuzzleDay.