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gregbutera's review
3.0
An interesting look at the history of the crossword. I really wish I could do cryptic crosswords, but I can never get them.
bookishheather's review
4.0
"To tackle a crossword is to enjoy the experience of your brain pulling on many different areas simultaneously, working in a way that everyday life rarely calls for."
This book takes the reader through a history of the crossword puzzle, as well as present chapters that focus on particular topics, from particularly notable crosswords to what your preferred solving instrument says about you. Famous crossword fans are discussed (and not just the same old ones mentioned everywhere), and the crossword in popular culture gets a chapter. (Any book that talks about Harold Lloyd's The Freshman is good with me!)
My chief complaint about the book comes from the nationality of the author. He's British, and while he takes a chapter to explain how British crosswords work compared to their US counterparts, I never really got the hang of it. It seemed far too complex, as each clue is also a puzzle. So then, naturally much of the cluing he talks about is British, as is the puzzle on the book's endpapers. Blech. The British crossword content killed the fun for me wherever it popped up.
However, there were some great stories about New York Times crosswords (the gold standard of crosswords, in my opinion). One particular puzzle that appeared to predict the outcome of the presidential election, and another that appeared on The Simpsons the same day it was published. I suppose that these anecdotes were the highlight of the book for me, along with covering the social history of the game. The chapter structure and headings were amusing (again, the cluing seemed cryptic—at least the solution was right there).
In brief this was an enjoyable, fairly quick read—but I would have preferred less British content. (Sorry guys, I love everything else about your country!)
This book takes the reader through a history of the crossword puzzle, as well as present chapters that focus on particular topics, from particularly notable crosswords to what your preferred solving instrument says about you. Famous crossword fans are discussed (and not just the same old ones mentioned everywhere), and the crossword in popular culture gets a chapter. (Any book that talks about Harold Lloyd's The Freshman is good with me!)
My chief complaint about the book comes from the nationality of the author. He's British, and while he takes a chapter to explain how British crosswords work compared to their US counterparts, I never really got the hang of it. It seemed far too complex, as each clue is also a puzzle. So then, naturally much of the cluing he talks about is British, as is the puzzle on the book's endpapers. Blech. The British crossword content killed the fun for me wherever it popped up.
However, there were some great stories about New York Times crosswords (the gold standard of crosswords, in my opinion). One particular puzzle that appeared to predict the outcome of the presidential election, and another that appeared on The Simpsons the same day it was published. I suppose that these anecdotes were the highlight of the book for me, along with covering the social history of the game. The chapter structure and headings were amusing (again, the cluing seemed cryptic—at least the solution was right there).
In brief this was an enjoyable, fairly quick read—but I would have preferred less British content. (Sorry guys, I love everything else about your country!)
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