The 100 Year Old Crossword Puzzle Is Having a Renaissance: Why Wordle Started Something Unexpected

[Olivia78]

The crossword puzzle turned 100 in 2023 and despite that centenary going largely unmarked in cultural coverage, the puzzle form is having one of its best periods in decades. The Wordle effect, which began with Josh Wardle's simple word game going viral in late 2021 and was subsequently acquired by the New York Times, triggered a wave of puzzle interest that has translated into measurable growth for traditional crossword subscriptions, an explosion of independent puzzle constructor careers and a broader cultural rehabilitation of the crossword as a sophisticated intellectual activity rather than a grandparent's pastime.

The New York Times puzzle now has over 1.5 million paid subscribers and the company attributes a significant proportion of its digital subscription growth to the Games product that houses it. Independent constructors publishing through platforms like Crosshare and Puzzmo have built genuine audiences, with some puzzle constructors accumulating followings in the hundreds of thousands. The rise of the themeless crossword, which prioritises clever wordplay and cultural currency in its fill over a central theme, has brought younger constructors and younger solvers into a form that had felt increasingly stale through the 2000s and 2010s.

The podcast and streaming documentary coverage of competitive crossword solving, including the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, has introduced a competitive dimension that casual solvers find surprisingly compelling viewing. The communities around solvers like Amy Reynaldo, Tyler Abell and others who review and critique NYT puzzles daily have made crossword solving a social rather than solitary activity in ways the form has never previously sustained at scale.

Crosswords | Online and free | The Guardianwww.theguardian.com