VintageMeld

Well that certainly caught on, didn’t it?  The first crossword puzzle appeared in the December 21, 1913 Sunday edition of the New York World as part of the Fun Supplement.  And what do you know, there’s one in each of my Sunday papers this morning too.

The first crossword was a new feature created by Arthur Wynne at the request of his New York World editor.  The Fun Section of the World was an 8-page supplement which included the comics, puzzles, even connect-the-dots drawings.  At first Wynne called his creation the Word-cross, but the puzzle, which caught on right away, was retitled the Cross-word within a few weeks.

Here’s what the grid looked like on that first puzzle:
Here’s a little puzzle for you, if you’re looking to complete the puzzle yourself, go find the clues!  (Trust me, it’s easy).

The Crossword Puzzle is a very good reason to be sure to page through entire issues of vintage magazine back issues or even classic old newspapers before purchase.  Along with coupon-clipping, the Crossword is one of the more common ways that old publications can be damaged on the inside.  A magazine reader of the period may have attempted or even completed the puzzle, or possibly snipped it off the page to work on later damaging the magazine itself and possibly ruining a story appearing on the reverse side of the page.

I can guarantee you that all magazine back issues and vintage newspapers sold by the VintageMeld have been paged through in their entirety to check for such misfortune.  If the puzzle has been played with you will know prior to purchase.  The item will be priced accordingly, marked down slightly for any pencil or ink found inside or marked down quite a bit more for any clipped pages.

Don’t forget to shop Crosswords in the VintageMeld