Gemeralds

A strange little side quest

Put Gemeralds next to the history of puzzles and a few unexpected connections appear. Arthur Wynne published a diamond-shaped 'Word-Cross' in the New York World on December 21, 1913; the name later shifted to 'Cross-Word' and then 'crossword'. Another piece of context lands nicely beside it: Atari's Gran Trak 10 from 1974 is recognized as the first arcade racing video game. The screen is modern; the urge to test skill, pattern and timing definitely is not.