A strange little side quest
Put Jingoku next to the history of puzzles and a few unexpected connections appear. The first crossword puzzle book appeared in 1924 in a cautious initial printing of 3,600 copies, complete with a free pencil. The same trail leads to another fact: Pac-Man went on sale in 1980, and its creator Toru Iwatani famously linked the character's shape to a pizza with a slice missing. It is a good reminder that simple game mechanics can carry a surprising amount of history.
