puzzles

A Brief History of Word Games

by Adrienne Raphel

When I began to research the history of crosswords for my recent book on the subject, I was sort of shocked to discover that they weren’t invented until 1913.

Here’s Looking at You, Grid: A History of Crosswords and Their Fans

by Peter Sagal

Like a good crossword, her book challenges us to back away from our assumptions, allows us to think differently and apply ourselves again.

How world's most difficult puzzle was solved

It was one of the most captivating mysteries of the modern age, requiring three detectives and 52 years to solve. Along the way, there was magnificent obsession, bitter disappointment, world-shaking triumph and swift, unexplained death.At the centre of the mystery lay a set of clay tablets from the ancient Aegean, inscribed more than 3,000 years ago and discovered at the dawn of the 20th century amid the ruins of a lavish Bronze Age palace.Written by royal scribes, the tablets teemed with writing like none ever seen: tiny pictograms in the shapes of swords, horses’ heads, pots and pans, plus a set of far more cryptic characters whose meaning is still debated today....