'Beautifully researched account, full of humour and personal
insight' David Crystal, author of Making Sense: The Glamorous Story
of English Grammar 'A witty, wise, and wonderfully weird journey
that will change the way you think . . . This book is a delight'
Bianca Bosker, author of Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among
the Obsessive Sommeliers, Big Bottle Hunters, and Rogue Scientists
Who Taught Me to Live for Taste 'Delightfully engrossing,
charmingly and enthusiastically well-written history of the
crossword puzzle' Benjamin Dreyer, author of Dreyer's English: An
Utterly Correct Guide to Clarity and Style 'Full of treasures,
surprises and fun . . . richly bringing to life the quirky,
obsessive, fascinating characters in the crossword world' Mary
Pilon, author of The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal
Behind the World's Favorite Board Game 'A gold mine of revelations.
If there is a pantheon of cruciverbalist scholars, Adrienne Raphel
has established herself squarely within it' Mary Norris, author of
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen Equal parts
ingenious and fun, Thinking Inside the Box is a love letter to the
infinite joys and playful possibilities of language, a treat for
die-hard cruciverbalists and first-time crossword solvers alike.
The crossword is a feature of the modern world, inspiring daily
devotion and obsession from millions. It was invented in 1913,
almost by accident, when an editor at the New York World was
casting around for something to fill some empty column space for
that year's Christmas edition. Almost overnight, crosswords became
a phenomenal commercial success, and have been an essential
ingredient of any newspaper worth its salt since then. Indeed,
paradoxically, the popularity of crosswords has never been greater,
even as the world of media and newspapers, the crossword's natural
habitat, has undergone a dramatic digital transformation. But why,
exactly, are the satisfactions of a crossword so sweet that over
the decades they have become a fixture of breakfast tables, bedside
tables and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword
tournaments? Blending first-person reporting from the world of
crosswords with a delightful telling of the crossword's rich
literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this
classic pastime. At the annual American Crossword Puzzle
Tournament, she rubs shoulders with elite solvers from all over the
world, doing her level best to hold her own; aboard a
crossword-themed cruise she picks the brains of the enthusiasts
whose idea of a good time is a week on the high seas with nothing
to do but crosswords; and, visiting the home and office of Will
Shortz, New York Times crossword puzzle editor and US National
Public Radio's official Puzzlemaster, she goes behind the scenes to
see for herself how the world's gold standard of puzzles is made.
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