National Crossword Puzzle Day

First released in a ‘New York World’ newspaper edition on December 21, 1913, the crossword puzzle soon became the pastime of the more astute folk. The modern version of these ancestral puzzles is the invention of Arthur Wynne, a British-born violinist and journalist who emigrated to Pennsylvania when he was 19. A century down the line, everybody who is moderately confident in their grey cells’ output is scribbling carbon-made capital letters on a piece of crumpled newspaper every morning. Given the many benefits of stimulating the brain with games and mental challenges, one could be as bold as to say that ‘A crossword puzzle a day keeps Alzheimer’s away’ (all other factors, mainly biological, excluded).