A strange little side quest
There is a neat bit of history hiding behind the kind of play you find in 3D Animal Sliding. The first crossword puzzle book appeared in 1924 in a cautious initial printing of 3,600 copies, complete with a free pencil. There is another connection worth keeping in the same mental pocket: The Oregon Trail began in 1971 when three student teachers created a computer simulation to help Minnesota schoolchildren learn American history. The details change, but the appeal of learning a system and trying again is remarkably persistent.
