Before Wordle, There Was Cross-Word Mania

The word-cross—which eventually became cross-word, likely due to a type-setting accident, and later dropped the hyphen to become, simply, the crossword—wasn’t supposed to be a regular feature in the weekly supplement. Wynne found the prep work tedious, and typographers resented setting up the puzzle shape for print. But players were hooked; when the word game didn’t appear one Sunday, they demanded to know where it had gone, helping ensure that game stayed on as a regular feature for FUN.

The editors of FUN supplement of New York World, who were trying to fill the Christmas insert, drew inspiration from native England, where Victorian newspapers and magazines regularly published word squares, acrostic puzzles where the same words can be read both across and down

The editors also began setting the puzzles a full week ahead, proofing them for errors and establishing uniform standards like only using dictionary words for gameplay

• The president of the British Optical Association blamed the crossword for eye strain.
• A literary debate around puzzling also raged.
• Some believed it was not taken seriously.
• Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh "answered in the negative" when asked if they had any crossword books
• Some claimed that the working of crossword puzzles is a childish mentality.