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Cross Words With The Best Trivia Quiz

Crossword puzzles have been around for a long time in many different forms. How much do you know about them?

A multiple-choice quiz by catamount. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
catamount

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
176,667

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
1781

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. Although crosswords or similar wordgames have been around for a long time, there is one that is considered to be the first "real" crossword puzzle ever published. When and where did this occur? Hint

1911, London

1914, Baltimore

1913, New York

1912, Louisiana

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Question 2 of 10

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

Atlantis

Troy

Pompeii

Carthage

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Question 3 of 10

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

Saturday Evening Post

New York Times

Los Angeles Times

The New Yorker

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Question 4 of 10

4. Who published the first crossword puzzle book? Hint

Barnes and Noble

Simon and Schuster

Amazon

Waterhouse Publications

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Question 5 of 10

5. Which of the following is not a kind of crossword puzzle? Hint

Wordsearch

Cryptic crossword

Logic Puzzle

Anacrostic

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Question 6 of 10

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

Thomas Billon

Douglas Hoylman

Alfred Mosher Butts

Roger F. Squires

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Question 7 of 10

7. Some mystery authors have written books around crossword puzzles. Who is NOT one of them? Hint

Nero Blanc

Arthur Conan Doyle

Parnell Hall

Ruth Rendell

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Question 8 of 10

8. A crossword puzzle creator was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2003.

True

False

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Question 9 of 10

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

Aristotle

Euripides

Lycophron

Sophocles

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Question 10 of 10

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

Answer: (14 letters)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: 1913, New York

Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool is usually credited as the inventor of the popular word game. His puzzle entitled "FUN" was published on December 21, 1913 in the New York World.

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

Answer: Pompeii

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

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

Answer: New York Times

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

4. Who published the first crossword puzzle book?

Answer: Simon and Schuster

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

5. Which of the following is not a kind of crossword puzzle?

Answer: Logic Puzzle

Logic puzzles may use a grid but the clues are derived at by carefully reading a number of statements and the grid is simply for checking off the clues.

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

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".

7. Some mystery authors have written books around crossword puzzles. Who is NOT one of them?

Answer: Arthur Conan Doyle

Ruth Rendell: "One across, two down"; Parnell Hall: the Puzzle Lady stories; Nero Blanc: actually a husband and wife team who have written a number of crossword related mysteries; Arthur Conan Doyle certainly wrote about clues and puzzles, but not the crossword kind.

8. A crossword puzzle creator was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2003.

Answer: True

Prince Charles bestowed this honour on Eric Chalkley, whose puzzle creator career spanned more than thirty years, for his services to the newspaper industry.

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

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.

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

Answer: cruciverbalist

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

Source: Author catamount

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ozzz2002 before going online.
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