One of the oldest running diversions on the planet, the New York Times crossword puzzle, turns 75 today.
It’s been through a lot! Having “begun as a way to give readers a distraction from war news” in 1942 (after calling them “a primitive sort of mental exercise” in 1924), it’s endured people beingcaught stealing its designs, and even once had the extreme misfortune of having one of its puzzles be created by a Kotaku reader, who went all out turning that day’s edition into a Tetris-themed nightmare
https://lastchance.cc/next-week-the-new-york-times-has-a-tetris-surprise-5952747%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
The Times has an excellent retrospective on their crosswords up today, which includes some history, examples of themed puzzles and even some samples to try out.
