[pynchon] against the day

[Ya Sam]

>From Brittanica


'The first crosswords appeared in England during the 19th century. They were 
of an elementary kind apparently derived from the word square, a group of 
words arranged so the letters read alike verticallyand horizontally, and 
printed in children's puzzle books and various periodicals. In the United 
States, however, the puzzle developed intoa serious adult pastime. The first 
modern crossword puzzle was published on Dec. 21, 1913, in the New York 
World's Sunday supplement, Fun. It appeared as only one of a varied group of 
mental exercises, but it struck the fancy of the public. By 1923, crosswords 
were being published in most of the leading American newspapers, and the 
craze soon reached England. Soon almost all daily newspapers in the United 
States and Great Britain had a crossword feature of some kind. The Sunday 
Times of London ran perhaps the best-known puzzle.'


>From On-line etymology dictionary:

Crossword puzzle is from Jan. 1914; the first one ran in "New York World" 
newspaper Dec. 21, 1913, but at first was called word-cross.

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=crossword&searchmode=none

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