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Crosswords Quizzes, Trivia and Puzzles
Crosswords Quizzes, Trivia

Crosswords Trivia

Crosswords Trivia Quizzes

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Each crossword puzzle is a piece of art and also a whole trivia quiz packed into a single rectangle made of black and white boxes. If you've ever tried to design a real crossword puzzle, you'll quickly gain a new appreciation for this classic pastime!

(If doing the quizzes here has awakened your urge to do a crossword, check out FunTrivia's own section of original, member-contributed puzzles!)
2 Crosswords quizzes and 20 Crosswords trivia questions.
1.
  Cross Words With The Best    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Crossword puzzles have been around for a long time in many different forms. How much do you know about them?
Difficult, 10 Qns, catamount, May 11 06
Difficult
catamount
1785 plays
2.
  The First Ever Crossword    
Multiple Choice
 10 Qns
Just a little quiz about how the crossword was created!
Tough, 10 Qns, TriviaMelee, Jul 28 17
Tough
TriviaMelee
1669 plays

Crosswords Trivia Questions
1. Who came up with the idea of a word puzzle involving clues and combining letters (aka the crossword)?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: Arthur Wynne

It appeared in the Christmas edition of the New York World in 1913.

2. In what ancient city was a "word square" found?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: Pompeii

A "word square" is a puzzle where usually the same words appear across and down. They are difficult to compose.

3. What was the shape of the first crossword?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: Diamond

After toying with all different kinds of shapes, Arthur Wynne finally decided on the rectangle.

4. Which was the last "holdout" US newspaper to include a regular crossword puzzle?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: New York Times

The NYT first published a Sunday crossword in 1942, and a daily crossword in 1950.

5. What was the crossword called at first?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: Word-cross

The name was switched to Cross-word and then the hyphen was dropped.

6. Who published the first crossword puzzle book?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: Simon and Schuster

Dick Simon and Lincoln Schuster published the first collection of crossword puzzles from the New York World in 1924.

7. What newspaper did the first crossword appear in?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: New York World

It was in the eight-page section known as "Fun" - Christmas 1913 edition.

8. Who holds the Guinness World Record as the most prolific crossword puzzle creator (as of January 2002)?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: Roger F. Squires

Roger F. Squires of Shropshire, England, still creates an average of 28 puzzles per week. Starting in 1963, he has compiled and published over 58,000 puzzles. Thomas Billon was "Royal Anagrammatist" to Louis XIII, Alfred Mosher Butts invented "Scrabble", and Douglas Hoylamn is a six-time winner of the "American Crossword Puzzle Tournament".

9. Who authored many of the crosswords in the newspaper?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: Readers

They kept having so many sent in that by February of 1914 they just started using them.

10. Who published the first crossword book?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: Dick Simon and Lincoln Schuster

It was a compilation of all the crosswords submitted to the New York World up to that time.

11. Anagrams play a big role in Cryptic Crosswords. Who is generally being credited with being their originator?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: Lycophron

Lycophron was a Greek poet who lived in the 3rd Century B.C. He wrote a poem on the siege of Troy where he included anagrams on the names of King Ptolemy and his queen. Other famous Greeks who were interested in anagrams were Plato, Pythagoras and Alexander the Great.

12. When was the first crossword book compiled?

From Quiz The First Ever Crossword

Answer: 1924

Eleven years after the first one appeared.

13. What is another term for "crossword puzzle fan"?

From Quiz Cross Words With The Best

Answer: cruciverbalist

The origin of this word is unclear but it seems to have first appeared in the 1970s.

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