National Crossword Puzzle Day
National Crossword Puzzle Day
Celebrated on December 21st every year. The day is observed to celebrate the birth of the Crossword puzzle, the most popular and widespread word game in the world.
Year | Date | Day | Where |
2019 | December 21st | Saturday | United States |
2020 | December 21st | Monday | United States |
2021 | December 21st | Tuesday | United States |
Twitter Hashtags:
#NationalCrosswordPuzzleDay
#CrosswordPuzzleDay
Related: Other National Days Celebrated on December 21st:
National French Fried Shrimp Day
National Homeless Persons Remembrance Day
Why National Crossword Puzzle Day?
National Crossword Puzzle Day is observed to celebrate the birth of the Crossword puzzle, the most popular and widespread word game in the world. The objective of the game is to fill the white space with the words for the given clues. All levels of crossword puzzles are available, beginning from simple puzzles for kids to challenging puzzles for the adults. A wonderful way to begin a day would be to have a coffee in one hand and a newspaper with a crossword puzzle to solve!
How to celebrate National Crossword Puzzle Day?
- Post on social media about ‘Crossword Puzzle’ and its history using hashtag#NationalCrosswordPuzzleDay.
- Buy a book filled with crossword puzzles and start solving it.
- Browse through the internet to find a challenging crossword according to your preference and solve it on this National Crossword Puzzle Day.
- Meet a friend who also loves crosswords and try to solve a more challenging Crossword puzzle together. It would be a lot more fun to solve a crossword with a partner rather alone.
- Play Crossword puzzle games like scrabble, taboo, balderdash with family on this National Crossword Puzzle Day.
- If more interested in vocabulary and riddles, challenge yourself with creating a crossword puzzle of your own and upload it online.
- Try to conduct a small Crossword puzzle contest in the neighborhood in all age groups and distribute prizes for the winners.
- Schools can also conduct a crossword puzzle contest on this National crossword Puzzle Day and encourage students to solve more of this word game which is beneficial for them.
Interesting facts on National Crossword Puzzle Day:
- The first crossword puzzle was a simple one derived from a word square and it was published in various children’s books and periodicals in England in the 19th century.
- The first crossword puzzle was created by a journalist Arthur Wynne from Liverpool and is known as the creator of this game. This crossword appeared in the Sunday newspaper, The New York World on December 21, 1913.
- Ten years after its rebirth in America the crossword puzzle, it entered Europe.
- The crossword puzzle was published in Pearson’s Magazine in February 1922 in Britain. Then the British developed their style of Crossword puzzles which were more challenging and difficult than the American ones.
- Slowly the crossword puzzles gained popularity all over the world. And the governing rule for the puzzle was laid down by A.F.Ritchie and D.S.Macnutt.
- According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest crossword is 7ftX7ft in size and has 28,000 clues.
- Crossword Puzzle contests are conducted all over the world on a serious note. The New York Times conducts the nation’s oldest and largest crossword competition each year. Competitors need to solve eight crossword puzzles designed especially for this event. The winner is awarded $5,000 grand prize.
- Crossword puzzles are not only fun but have some benefits like:
- It can delay the effect of dementia and Alzheimer’s by sharpening the brain’s problem-solving ability
- It can increase vocabulary
- It helps kids and adolescents to focus more.
- It can help in relieving the mind from daily stress.
- It’s the best companion for a few old people who live alone.
- It improves social bonds when solved in groups.
History of National Crossword Puzzle Day:
Though exact year of celebration of National Crossword Puzzle Day is unknown, it was on this day in 1913 the first crossword was published in the U.S. newspaper.