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    From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords
    From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords
    From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords
    Ebook231 pages2 hours

    From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords

    By Dean Olsher

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    From Square One is Dean Olsher's captivating and in-depth exploration of the cultural history, psychology, and even metaphysics of crosswords -- their promise of a world without chaos and uncertainty.

    It is often repeated that more than 50 million Americans do crossword puzzles on a regular basis. Skeptical of that claim, Dean Olsher does his own research and finds that the number is nearly dead-on. Filled with lively, original reporting, From Square One disputes the widely held belief that solving crosswords helps prevent Alzheimer's; in fact, the drive to fill in empty spaces is more likely a mental illness than a cure. While "puzzle addiction" is usually meant as a lighthearted metaphor, the term contains more than a nugget of truth.

    Olsher looks into the origins and traditions of this popular pastime, which made its debut in a New York newspaper in 1913. Or did it? Along the way, he takes readers inside the making of a crossword. He also revives the quest of musical-theater legend and puzzle constructor Stephen Sondheim to find an American audience for a British crossword style that demands a love of verbal playfulness over knowledge of arcane trivia.

    Informative, engaging, and often surprising, From Square One is a unique and enjoyable read for puzzlers and nonpuzzlers alike.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateJun 23, 2009
    ISBN9781439164525
    From Square One: A Meditation, with Digressions, on Crosswords
    Author

    Dean Olsher

    Dean Olsher has been a broadcaster for more than thirty years, most of which he has spent in public radio. He was an arts and culture correspondent for NPR News as well as the creator and host of The Next Big Thing, a popular national show. Olsher is currently a visiting professor at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute.

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    • 5/5
      Part history of the crossword and part autobiography, this book was thoroughly engaging. In addition to his own relationship to crosswords, Olsher interviews other puzzle fans as well as professional puzzle constructors. He concludes that in appropriate doses crosswords are a lively, playful mental exercise of the brain, but that puzzle addiction keeps one from living fully. A puzzle fan to the end, though, he weaves throughout the book tips on cryptic crosswords and reveals in the last paragraph that he hopes he has tempted the reader to try one - "Here, let me make it easy for you. (See next page, please.)"

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    From Square One - Dean Olsher

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