Crossworld : one man's journey into America's crossword obsession.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Romano, Marc.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Crossword puzzles.

Physical Description:

xi, 238 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Broadway Books, [2005]

Summary:

Sixty-four million people do it at least once a week. Nabokov wrote about it. Bill Clinton even did it in the White House. The crossword puzzle has arguably been our national obsession since its birth almost a century ago. Now, in Crossworld, writer, translator, and lifelong puzzler Marc Romano goes where no Number 2 pencil has gone before as he delves into the minds of the world's cleverest crossword creators and puzzlers, and sets out on his quest to join their ranks.

While covering the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament for the Boston Globe, Romano was amazed by the skill of the competitors and astonished by the cast of characters he came across-like Will Shortz, beloved editor of the New York Times puzzle and the only academically accredited "enigmatologist" (puzzle scholar); Stanley Newman, Newsday's puzzle editor and the fastest solver in the world; and Brendan Emmett Quigley, the wickedly gifted puzzle constructor and the Virgil to Marc's Dante in his travels through the crossword inferno.

Chronicling his own journey into the world of puzzling-even providing tips on how to improve crosswording skills-Romano tells the story of crosswords and word puzzles themselves, and of the colorful people who make them, solve them, and occassionally become consumed by them.

But saying this is a book about puzzles is to tell only half the story. It is also an exploration of what crosswords tell us about ourselves-about the world we live in, the cultures that nurture us, and the different ways we think and learn. If you're a puzzler, Crossworld will enthrall you. If you have no idea why your spouse spends so much time filling letters into little white squares, Crossworld will tell you-and, with luck, save your marriage.

Contents:

1 My Puzzling Problem 1

2 Enter the Crossword 29

3 Puzzle Neophyte Seeks Puzzle Mentor 60

4 A Crossword Pilgrimage 84

5 How Not to Prepare for Competitive Solving 108

6 Attack of the High School Girls 131

7 The Last Puzzle 148

8 The Puzzlemaster in His Labyrinth 166

9 The Nice and the Nasty 188

10 How to Solve a Crossword 207

11 The Eschatology of Puzzles 223.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

076791757X

9780767917575

OCLC:

57186361