Today is a fun anniversary for anyone of the etymological persuasion – on December 21st, 1913, the first modern crossword puzzle was created by Alfred Wynne for the New York World.
Crosswords are ubiquitous. Whole books are published full of them. The New York Times prints one every day. And over the break, you might just curl up with one. Of course, the more education, experience, and cultural awareness you have, the better you are at solving crossword puzzles. But no one knows every answer.
Libraries have always had lots of great resources to help any puzzle solver. Standbys include an encyclopedia set like the Encyclopedia Britannica, and an exhaustive dictionary like the Oxford English Dictionary. Having newspapers for current event or celebrity-oriented clues is also useful, and we have several great newspaper collections to choose from. We even have whole books dedicated to the task, like the Random House Webster’s Crossword Puzzle Dictionary.
Nowadays, of course, the internet is a boundless source of help, whether just using Google and Wikipedia to scout for answers, or employing free dedicated crossword clue databases like Crossword Solver or the Crossword Dictionary. But whether you solve your crosswords between classes or in the comfort of your own home, the library has the tools to help.
See? The library can help with more than just that scary research paper. We make fun things better, too.