The Amazing Puzzle Epidemic

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 181, 2 May 1925, Page 13

The Amazing Puzzle Epidemic

Cross-words and the Human Factor

CROSS-WORD PUZZLES are great fun, and solving them is a harmless amusement whose popularity is easily explained, but they are hardly "educators,” we are told by Dr. H. E- Jones and Prescott Lecky, Columbia University psychologsts, writing in “lhe Popular Science Monthly” (New York). They do extend one’s vocabulary and explain the meaning of an obscure word or two. They are most easily solved bj/the intelligent—so much so that they are good intelligence tests in themselves—but a course of them is hardly “mental exercise,” and he who takes it will learn French or algebra no more readily than he would without it. So, at any rate, Dr. Jones and Mr. Lecky tell us. Meanwhile, the craze spreads. Millions of people seek no further happiness than that supplied by a cross-word puzzle and a dictionary. The University of Kentucky puts cross-word puzzles in the college curriculum. A professor at Princeton offers a prize 'for a puzzle having two different correct solutions. A Pittsburgh minister crowds his church.by electing a cross-word blackboard and inviting the congregation to puzzle out the text before he starts to preach. Dictionaries are in such demand that' library officials prohibit their use by cross-word enthusiasts; children who rebel at spelling-lessons suddenly have become interested in their letters. We read on : “So the cross-w'ord puzzle craze has swept across the United States like a devastating fire, consuming all in its path. What are the reasons that justify its continued existence? Do the puzzles, as a noted editor insisted a few weeks ago, constitute a remarkable educational force ? Are they, as some hold, a sort of short-cut' to the acquisition of general information of a useful sort ? “A moron would be as helpless with a cross-word puzzle as with a game of chess. He possesses only to a limited degree the resourcefulness, readiness to try new ‘leads,’ quickness in perceiving and criticising his own errors', shrewdness in making guesses when subtle clues are given, that stand the confirmed puzzle victim in such good stead. Are we, then, to say that genera intelligence is'a primary factor in the ability to trace the elusive cross-words to their lair? - . “The writers recently tested this theory expermentally at Columbia university, New York. Separate copies of’ the same puzzle were given to a group of students. The students were instructed to fill in the. words as fast as they could until the signal to stop was given. After thirty minutes the papers were gathered and the number of correct words tallied for each student. In this way a ‘cross-word score’ was obtained. -Then the class was given an intelligence test of the type familiar in school and college work.

the result? Well, it was found Ijjiat the students who scored highest in the puzzles tended to score highest in the intelligence tests also. In fact, the-relationship between the two was so high that we may regard the cross-word puzzles as fairly good intelligence tests in themselves. “But entirely aside from the question of their actual human value, just whtft is the secret of the amazing, almost hypnotic lure of these black and white squares'? The Chinese game knew no such vogue; . neither did the ■every-day-in-every-way’ formula of Coue. Other fads-diabolo, burnt-wood engraving, ping-pong and crokinole, for example—were swept along on the crest of a concerted wave of enthusiasm for a year or so, only to collapse

at last and to disappear. But the wave that carries the cross-word puzzle craze mounts higher and higher every day, and—from the point of view of the present writers, at least—its collapse seems ever farther in the future. Why? “To explain scientifically why the cross-word puzzle has become the fad of to-day is not difficult. We must do little more than repeat the early history of every new vagary of the past. The important reasons behind the birth of each of them have been the same—first, prestige; and second, publicity. “Thb Chinese game, you remember, first became popular on Firth Avenue; bobbed hair came from Irene Castle and the movies; golf was the game of millionaires; police dogs were the pets of society folk. And so it is not surprising to find that cross-word puzzles received their first impetus from a group of well-known writers of New York. Though the puzzles had appeared more or less regularly in Sunday newspapers and magazines for,a decade. or so, it was not until these writing folk found them n worth-while diversion that others saw reason to try' them too. . “And publicity did the rest. The cross-word puzzle soon found its way into the news and editorial columns, into comic Strips, vaudeville acts, and the radio. From eye to eye and ear to ear the story of cross-words travelled. Not to know of them, not to have w’orked them, scon stamped one as being behind the times. “That, briefly, is the story of the growth of the fad.” Now, how shall we explain the extraordinarily violent, even unprecedented hold that the puzzle has taken on the popular fancy. Why, ask the writers, have the people who escaped Chinese games, radio, bridge, golf, and even the movies succumbed at last to a popular fad? Why is it that the solving of puzzles, which has been practised to a greater or less extent since the dawn of history, should have waited until the years 1924-1925 before becoming a universal pastime? They reply: _ “The second question possibly is the more easily answered. Cross-word puzzles never could have flourished ill the past, for the reason that the level of general education, even a score of years ago, was much lower than at present. ' , , •‘Another reason for their success is that cross-word puzzles are almost the first fad of history the practise of which costs virtually nothing find requires the development of no special physical dexterity, the acquisition o no' unusual equipment, the learning of no rules. With a lead pencil, and nossiblv a pocket dictionary to aid in getting over the hard spots, anyone who can write and. who possesses the working vocabulary of the average newspaper reader is fully equipped to tackle any but the most difficult cross-word-puzzles —and to solve them. \ “To the'psychologist, however, readily occurs an even more potent rea.on for the amazing popularity of this newest fad. Successfully working out crossword puzzles, more than any similar amusement that the writers can recall, satisfies a long list of'the fundamental desires of human kind. Social distinction, sex, imitation, group loyalty, co-operation, competition, pleasure play, amusement, humour, curiosity, activity, and constructiveness --a lof these ingrained, instinctive wants of man are satisfied merely by printing letters in the proper squares. .« „„ j '“Social distinction certainly is the reward of one who most skilfully and most quicklv solves a difficult puzzle on which other puzzle addicts are working. The puzzles appeal to the sex instinct in that they supply a new reason for social gatherings, of young people particularly. The puzzles never wou have attained their present popularity were it not for the imitative appeal that caused one person to start doing puzzles because his neighbour was doing them Group lovaltv and co-operation are manifested strikingly in the bonds that join puzzle fans, no matter how widely their other interests may differ “Anyone who has ever worked a puzzle will admit that it satisfies the desire for competition, play, pleasure, and amusement Humour finds its way into the game in many ways—sometimes in the far-fetched definitions tha are given for the missing words. Curiosity, activity, and constructiveness unquestionably are displayed by everyone who tries a puzzle. _ “But does performance of the puzzles, as we hear it frequently maintained, actually ‘improve the mind’ ? Cross-word puzzles ar& confidently supposed to increase our power of concentration;* to help our memory and our reasoning ability,, and, by'demanding decisive judgments, are even regarded as an aid tO * “It Vould require a whole course in psychology to present an. adequate criticism of these views. Suffice it to say that we no ’onger believe in vague, general ‘faculties of the mind.’ A person may strengthen the biceps in his arm bv pulling chest weights and find this increased strength useful m playing baseball or hoeing potatoes; but it does not by any means follow that the brain behaves' in the same way. “As a matter of fact, it does not. Muscles are organs of contraction, whereas nerves are conducting organs. Like a telephone system, they convey messages The effect of exercise, of education, is to plug in certain connec tions more firmly so that they become relatively permanent. Then it becomes easier and easier td send a new message if we use the old connections. But it also becomes harder to send a message that requires that the old connections be broken up and new ones formed. - “Thus exercise, which increases the efficiency of the muscles, actua _ y may impair our ability to perform certain mental operations. This phe rr.enon is known as interference. x , , -Fortunately there is no interference effect, so far as is known, in connection with cross-word puzzles. Language practice is generally valuable because we use language a great deal.. But neither is there any marked degree of ‘carry-over’ into other activities. Doing cross-word puzzles m y improve vour mental habits somewhat in that it causes you to concentrate more narrowly than may be your wont, but it is altogether unlikely * “ffistudying French, or in tinkering With radio outfits, or in playing bridge, or in selling life insurance, the bes thing to do is to practise thoughtfully and intensively in the field you wish to improve Cross word puzzles will increase your vocabulary yes. Perhaps thev will play a useful role in keeping you out of mischief. But as for promoting any general improvement of-the mind, neither cross-word puzzles no- an v other single discipline can be expected to have much effect. ~c do cross-word puzzles if you will, but be honest with yourself admit that you do them for the same reason that you go to the theatre or , i for the fun of it. Innocent amusement is sufficient excuse in [Xtf, n and I SS -tord puzzles are, innocent■ amusement-nothing more nor less.”—From the “Literary Digest.”