The Sphinx

March 15, 2024 11:46 PM

Solving for the feminist roots of crossword puzzles in a fun article by Sophia Stewart and what looks like a great book by Anna Shechtman on how crossword puzzles, those traditional cultural touchstones in Western English media that are becoming more diverse and contemporary.
posted by dorothyisunderwood (12 comments total)

I go through waves of obsession with crosswords because they are glorified vocabulary tests and I get annoyed just as in Scrabble by the words like 'ere' and 'Alamo', but I adore themed ones, especially the newer ones.

And of course, I had to make a Metafilter-themed one.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 12:26 AM on March 16 [2 favorites]

Thanks for that, interesting article, book looks intriguing. The link didn't work for me so I went to a different archive one.
posted by paduasoy at 1:46 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Here's an ungated version
posted by chavenet at 4:43 AM on March 16 [2 favorites]

One clue that it's still mired in the past is the idea that "common knowledge" requires a basic knowledge of French. That said, I'm glad to see some progress overall.
posted by pangolin party at 5:53 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]

In the Times crosswords (the London Times, not the NYT) it's still common to find SHREW clued as 'nagging woman', MINX as 'seductive woman' and GHETTO as 'slum area'.
posted by verstegan at 6:35 AM on March 16

Also, if you don't know your Cockney rhyming slang, you're fucked. 'Bringer of bad luck ultimately avoided carrying a new piano' (6) was a recent clue in the Times Quick Cryptic.
posted by verstegan at 6:58 AM on March 16

I couldn't help wondering if Anna Shechtman's book would cover the history of women writing predecessors to crosswords (Anne Ritson, Marianne Curties, Susan Winter and Elizabeth Vince, A Lady, etc.), solving predecessors to crosswords in an interesting context (Phillis Wheatley Peters), seeing them published in venues aimed at women (The Lady's Magazine), or being published by women (Mary Mapes Dodge). Histories by Will Shortz and Adrienne Raphel are available online that touch on their earlier forms just a little but also mostly don't--skipping over all the details and also the fact that these puzzles were often worked out in collaborative educational and/or parlor game contexts where women had a balanced if not majority role (previously). Looking at the previews of Shechtman's book, it waves a hand at pre-20th C. history that, sure, goes back farther too, and then focuses pretty much entirely on much more recent history, which is also worthwhile.
posted by Wobbuffet at 8:08 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]

Oh, I guess one reason those older puzzles may not seem so relevant to crosswords at first is they don't make the 'cross' part really evident until you see a solutions page that makes it clear you're working out a series of clues to also solve an acrostic that helps to solve remaining clues.
posted by Wobbuffet at 8:29 AM on March 16

The older Atlantic piece from 2020 linked from the main link, "The Hidden Bigotry of Crosswords," (archive) has some good examples of the NYT's not-so-great track record with women contributors. The episode with Sally Hoelscher's First Ladies-themed puzzle, which she submitted with no men as clues or answers but the NYT editors changed a single clue to refer to a man so her puzzle would not feature solely women, remains to me a particularly gross example of the insensitivity of Will Shortz and others who function as gatekeepers:

Levy’s response was a perfect, full-throated call to arms for inclusivity in the crossworld:

Because women are underrepresented in puzzle content and creation. Clues and answers that are stereotypically masculine are “general interest;” clues and answers that are stereotypically feminine are “niche” or “obscure” … We’re so far from [parity] that a few puzzles with exclusively women’s names wouldn’t get us there … [and feminism here means] “we acknowledge the systemic forces that threaten women, we speak up when we see those forces represented in crosswords, and we call on our community to do better.”

Hoelscher appeared, replied to Levy, and said she’d submitted the puzzle with no men, but wasn’t surprised when the Times editors changed that.

Wobbuffett: these puzzles were often worked out in collaborative educational and/or parlor game contexts

That Shortz's norm for years was that he could make changes to puzzles with zero discussion with the submitters, presuming he knew best and they didn't need to have any input, also leaves a bad taste for me. It's such a classic gatekeeper move, and way out of touch.
posted by mediareport at 10:31 AM on March 16 [3 favorites]

The Smithsonian article about the 1920s crossword craze linked from the Atlantic is wonderful, with great links to fun stuff like the 1925 song "Cross-word mamma, you puzzle me (But papa's gonna figure you out)" - listen to the lyrics for fun 1920s wordplay - and "Puzzles of 1925," a Broadway play with fabulous sets and costumes. You can flip through three dozen images from the production here; it looks more like a revue with various skits rather than a play, since I'm having a hard time imagining how they could possibly make dramatic links between this, this and this, but who knows. It looks generally bonkers enough to pull that off.
posted by mediareport at 7:19 PM on March 16 [2 favorites]

That's wild--and amazingly similar to the trivia craze of 1927, novelty song included!
posted by Wobbuffet at 7:41 PM on March 16 [1 favorite]

These Puzzles Fund Abortion 4
posted by box at 1:49 PM on March 17 [1 favorite]