Time was when I had to abandon solving the crossword puzzle every morning and rush to office only to sadly discover in the evening that someone at home had happily completed it.
Now that I am retired and with more than one newspaper at my disposal, I have all the time in the world to solve crosswords. I have actually become a crossword addict.
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It is a game exploiting nothing but my grey cells and gives me as much pep as a hot cup of tea.
The moment I get hold of the newspaper, I turn to the crossword page ignoring the other pages with a nonchalant air. Not for me the latest on Covid vaccines or a report on man biting dog. The magic appeal of the crossword is too tempting to be ignored. Sharpening my wits and my pencil, I fold the paper neatly and begin playing the ‘black and white squares’ game.
From the moment I start solving the puzzle, it is just the crosswords and me until it is solved. Wrestling with the clues is an exciting, suspense-filled game.
And so, come hell or high water, I have a date with crosswords every day. On some days my ‘love affair’ takes a beating, leaving me quite jaded. Despite such setbacks, my longing for the word play hasn’t diminished.
My association with crosswords began in the early 70s when I was barely 12 or 13 years old. A friend presented me a small book of crossword puzzles on my birthday. Thus began my foray into the fascinating world of crosswords. At first I turned to them in my lonely moments. But before long it became a habit.
Initially, I found solving crosswords a trifle tedious. But after playing the ‘squares’ game for some time, I learned the ropes. I learned that crosswords have their own rules of grammar, syntax and symbolism.
It is said solving crosswords is not just a diversion but a necessary solace too. In fact, the crossword puzzle took birth in December 1913 just before World War I when Arthur Wynne, a journalist from England, published a “word-cross” puzzle in the New York World that embodied most of the features of the modern crossword puzzle.
After the war broke out and continued, with readers getting mostly bleak headlines, the paper published banner ads on the front pages directing readers straight to the crossword.
Likewise, as we remained indoors during the pandemic and the enforced lockdown, crosswords helped me tide over boredom and the dire headlines of Corona cases and deaths. A nice and interesting “time pass” as they say.
That said, hats off to the inventor of crossword puzzles. I am sure there are thousands of addicts like yours truly. No wonder nearly every newspaper has a crossword puzzle. I know an elderly lady in our neighbourhood who goes to the breakfast table only after solving the crossword. A friend of mine has collected over 1000 crossword puzzle books in the last five years since his retirement.
However, talking about addicts, there’s none to beat Alf Woolfe, an electrician. Sitting backstage during the first four and a half years of Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’, he solved nearly 2000 crossword puzzles and never saw a single performance during that time. Now, how’s that for addiction!
