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Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle

Across the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of the Crossword Puzzle

Review Quotes: "Last's range and intelligence help sell the importance of the crossword, then and now. [He] is a bright and witty guide through all of it." --Los Angeles Times...

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Pantheon Books

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Print Books

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Spiral Binding

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Review Quotes:
"Last's range and intelligence help sell the importance of the crossword, then and now. [He] is a bright and witty guide through all of it." --Los Angeles Times

"An edifying portrait of the boxy tyrant devouring your free time. Last . . . details the riddlers, dreamers and of course, Will Shortz, who have helped shape the game's trajectory from its birth in a newspaper supplement more than a century ago to the conversations and controversy that color its virtual ubiquity today." --NPR

"A love letter to the crossword puzzle that is sprawling in its scope, deeply nerdy in sensibility, and passionate at its core. . . . A great read, chock full of fun facts about that most prestigious of puzzles. . . . It should be at the top of every gift guide for word nerds and puzzle enthusiasts everywhere." -- Chicago Review of Books

"Short of decoding the Rosetta stone, is there anything more satisfying than filling in a crossword grid? Gird yourself for a punster's paradise as you meet the people behind the clues in this engrossing history. Warning: This book is highly contagious."­ --Mary Norris, author of Between You & Me

"Last is a really sharp writer and critic. . . . His writing is architectural -- carefully structured with dividing punctuation, and of course, wordplay -- it reads like he's, well, putting together a puzzle, and it'll keep you hooked like one. By the end, you'll be convinced that the crossword is an art form, if you aren't already." --Hyperallergic

"I've often said that my secret weapon on Jeopardy! was my lifelong crossword puzzle habit. Natan Last's exuberant, revealing journey through the vast grid of crossword history has helped me understand just why it is that I get so much pleasure, and so much benefit, from the seemingly trivial task of writing letters in squares. This book is a 15-letter quad-stack feat of cultural criticism!" --Amy Schneider, author of In the Form of a Question

"With sharp and clever storytelling, Natan Last explores the infectious world of crossword puzzles from its origins to today, examining major players and revealing how the format continues to evolve. A fascinating read." --Juliana Pache, founder and author of Black Crossword

"For puzzle solvers and language lovers, this sumptuous odyssey into the infamous grid crackles with intelligence and fizzes with humor on every page. It is the ultimate volume on the ultimate surface. I think I can feel myself getting smarter as I read it ."--Eli Burnstein, author of Dictionary of Fine Distinctions

"Part reportage, part memoir, part meditation, part whimsy, Across the Universe is a gridful of insight and pleasure. This deft and deep exploration of the crossword puzzle's obsessive grip on American life and the cultural forces that have shaped and changed it for over a century is more timely and relevant than ever." --Stefan Fatsis, bestselling author of Word Freak and Unabridged

"A multilayered portrait of contemporary society, every page of Across the Universe crackles with Last's characteristic laconic wit as he conducts high-wire feats of associative genius with deft grace. But what elevates this book is Last's capacity to move between flippant and serious; the heart of the book are Last's generous portraits of the people behind the puzzle. Sparkling with delight while revealing the crossword to be a mirror for today's society, Across the Universe is a gem." --Adrienne Raphel, author of Thinking Inside the Box

"Crossword constructors are a rare breed: scrupulous and silly, poetic and a bit perverse. Natan Last is one of my favorites, and Across the Universe is an extraordinary testament to these traits. It's a history of the crossword that will feel startlingly alive to those of us who have been touched by the puzzle's everyday magic." --Anna Shechtman, author of The Riddles of the Sphinx

"Last . . . brings an economy of language and keen eye for nuance to Across the Universe. He also infuses the work with a puzzler's love of patterns and puns. . . . A rich and magnificent artifact of crossword culture." --BookPage

"Last is uniquely qualified to present the story of the crossword. . . . [His] reverence for the [puzzle] radiates throughout, gamboling (a fitting crossword term) between the puzzle's history as a post-war leisure craze in the 1920s to the current community of enthusiasts who are reshaping the grid in both form and substance." --Booklist

"Thoroughly researched and delightfully nerdy . . . a linguistic treat for crossword devotees and anyone who loves a bit of witty wordplay. Last takes readers inside the world of tournaments, online competitions, and thoughtful debates about the form's future--never doubting that this puzzle, once dismissed as a momentary flash in the pan, is here to stay." --Shelf Awareness

"The book charms most when Last shows crosswords bringing people together."-- Publishers Weekly

Brief Description:
"An entertaining and eye-opening look at the history of the crossword, who constructs it, and why it matters as both a reflection of and influence on our culture. From WORDLE to SPELLING BEE, we live in a time of word game mania. Crosswords, in particular, gained renewed popularity during the Covid-19 lockdown, when games became another kind of refuge. Today, 36 million Americans solve crosswords once a week or more, and nearly 23 million solve them daily. Yet, as longtime New Yorker crossword contributor Natan Last will tell you, the seemingly apolitical puzzle has never been more controversial. In recent years, popular puzzle makers like The New York Times-the original and still the gold standard for word games-have been challenged for the way they prioritize certain cultures and perspectives as either the norm (read: white and male) or obscure (everyone else). At the same time, the crossword has never been more democratic. A larger, younger, more tech-savvy, and solidaristic group of people have fallen in love with puzzle solving, ushering in a more inclusive rise to the kinds of people constructing them, challenging the very idea of them and, in fact, what "normal" actually is. With a critical eye toward its history, Natan Last explores the debates about the future of the crossword and investigates those who want the puzzle to transform into a tool of progressivism; ultimately, asking if the crossword can help us reshape the world. Across the Universe interrogates all the ways words-and the games we make using those words-change our culture while bringing us into the worlds of those pushing for the crosswords' much-needed evolution"--

Biographical Note:
NATAN LAST is a writer and immigration policy advocate. He writes bimonthly crosswords for The New Yorker. His essays, poetry, and academic research appear in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Drift, Los Angeles Review of Books, Hyperallergic, Narrative, and elsewhere. He has worked for the UN, the Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project, the International Rescue Committee, and as an advisor to the federal government on refugee resettlement. He lives in his native Brooklyn.

Table of Contents:
Author's Note xi
Introduction: It Turns into a Different Story xiii

Part 1 The Crossword Should Be Data
Chapter 1 Hello, World 3
Chapter 2 Crosswords for Fun and Profit 33
Chapter 3 The Science of Letters 63

Part 2 The Crossword Should Be a Soapbox
Chapter 4 A Familiar Form of Madness 91
Chapter 5 Except for the Marabar Caves 118
Chapter 6 The Melting Pot of the Crossword 137

Part 3 The Crossword Should Be Art
Chapter 7 Old Possum's Book of Schrödinger's Cats 155
Chapter 8 Time Frames 185
Chapter 9 Are You the Frivolity Theatre? 219
Conclusion: Zooming Out 243

Acknowledgments 253
Notes 257
Bibliography 279
Index 293

Publisher Marketing:
An entertaining and eye-opening look at the history of crossword puzzles, who constructs them, and why crosswords matter as both a reflection of and influence on our culture

"Should be at the top of every gift guide for word nerds and puzzle enthusiasts everywhere." --Chicago Review of Books

"A gridful of insight and pleasure."--Stefan Fatsis, bestselling author of Word Freak and Unabridged

From Wordle to Spelling Bee, we live in a time of word game mania. Crosswords in particular gained renewed popularity during the COVID-19 lockdown, when games became another kind of refuge. Today, 36 million Americans solve crosswords once a week or more, and nearly 23 million solve them daily. Yet, as longtime New Yorker crossword contributor Natan Last will tell you, the seemingly apolitical puzzle has never been more controversial--or more interesting.

A surprisingly ubiquitous influence in the worlds of art, literature, and technology, as Last demonstrates, the puzzle and its most popular purveyors--including publications such as The New York Times, still the gold standard for word games--have in recent years been challenged for the way they prioritize certain cultures and perspectives as the norm, demoting others to obscurity. At the same time, the crossword has never been more democratic. A larger, younger, more tech-savvy, and solidaristic group of people have fallen in love with puzzle solving, ushering in a more inclusive community of constructors and challenging the very idea of what is "normal."

With a critical eye toward the puzzle's history, Natan Last explores the debates about the future of the crossword and investigates those who are determining its next phase, ultimately asking if the crossword can help us reshape the world. Across the Universe interrogates all the ways words--and the games we make using those words--change our culture, while bringing us into the world of those pushing for the crossword's much-needed evolution.

Review Citations:

  • Publishers Weekly 09/08/2025 (EAN 9780553387704, Hardcover)
  • Shelf Awareness 11/28/2025 (EAN 9780553387704, Hardcover)
  • Booklist 11/01/2025 (EAN 9780553387704, Hardcover)
  • Booklist 11/01/2025 (EAN 9780553387711, Other)

Author: Last, Natan
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: 2025-11-25
BISAC: Social Science / Media Studies|Language Arts & Disciplines / Grammar & Punctuation|Games & Activities / Crosswords / Dictionaries|History / Social History
Subjects: Crossword puzzles|History|Political aspects|Social aspects
Weight: 1.13 lbs
ISBN: 9780553387704
ASIN: -
SKU: SP-9780553387704

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