THINKING INSIDE THE BOX

FOR READERS OF such beloved bestsellers as Lynne Truss's EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES, Benjamin Dreyer's DREYER'S ENGLISH, and Mary Norris's BETWEEN YOU & ME: CONFESSIONS OF A COMMA QUEEN, a lively, playful, and immersive exploration of puzzles.

Raphel explores the history, psychology, economics, and anthropology of the crossword puzzle, with its almost accidental invention in 1913, when a newspaper editor at the New York World was casting around for something to fill some empty column space for that year's Christmas edition. Almost overnight, it became a roaring commercial success, and ever since then has been an essential ingredient of newspapers around the globe. Now, its popularity has never been greater, even as the world of media and newspapers, its natural habitat, has undergone a perilous digital transformation. But why, exactly, are its satisfactions so
sweet that it has become a fixture of breakfast tables, nightstands, and commutes, and even given rise to competitive crossword tournaments?

Blending first-person reporting from the world of crosswords with a delightful telling of its rich literary history, Adrienne Raphel dives into the secrets of this beloved pastime. Equal parts ingenious and fun, THINKING INSIDE THE BOX is a love letter to the infinite joys and playful possibilities of language, and will be a treat for die-hard cruciverbalists and first-time solvers alike.

ADRIENNE RAPHEL is the author of the poetry collection WHAT WAS IT FOR (winner of the Rescue Press Black Box Poetry Prize) and the chapbook BUT WHAT WILL WE DO, and has written for The New Yorker, The Paris Review Daily, The Poetry Foundation, Slate, Public Books, and The Atlantic. Raphel earned an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a PhD in English from Harvard University.