Birthday of the UK Newspaper Crossword - 2nd November 1924

The first crossword puzzle to appear in a British Newspaper appeared on this day 100 years ago in the Sunday Express.

This marked the beginning of a crossword craze in the UK, inspired by the earlier popularity of crosswords in the United States. However, British crosswords soon evolved into their own style, with a preference for "cryptic" clues, which require wordplay and lateral thinking.

This was nine years after the world’s first modern crossword puzzle was published in the FUN section of New York World in December 1913. British journalist Arthur Wynne (left) who created it, originally called the puzzle a “Word Cross,” featuring a diamond-shaped grid with simple clues. A topographical error later changed its name to a “Cross-Word.”