A strange little side quest
The fun part of looking behind Back to Santaland: Winter Holidays is seeing how many older ideas are still alive in modern play. The first crossword puzzle book appeared in 1924 in a cautious initial printing of 3,600 copies, complete with a free pencil. A second detail makes the picture even better: Women competed in Olympic archery as early as 1904, making it one of the early Olympic sports to include women. That long chain of experiments is part of why puzzles still feels fresh when a game finds the right twist.
