by Denise Warren

Created on: January 27, 2007   Last Updated: September 05, 2010

Word games usually reflect the society and the times of their existence, as Augarde (1986) points out in the Oxford Guide to Word Games. They also can inform us about ourselves and our way of thinking.

The oldest and most common word game is the "riddle". An example of this in contemporary times is "What has legs but cannot walk?" The answer is a "table" or a "chair". Archer Taylor is an American expert who claims that the oldest documented riddles are Babylonian school texts which are crudely written. He cites the example "Who becomes pregnant without conceiving, who becomes fat without eating?" The answer is supposedly a "rain cloud".

The literary device "personification" is often used in creating riddles. According to Aristotle, Augarde cites, this practice revealed man's penchant for creating metaphors.

While modern riddles are often framed as questions, often beginning with question forms such as "What is..", the riddles of ancient times were often framed as statements. It appears that Solomon used riddles and had a talent for creating them, as seen in the Book of Kings.

Although in former times, the riddle was present among in many cultures in the form of contests and exchanges at weddings and funerals, the reign of the riddles came to a close by the end of the nineteenth century and soon were primarily associated with children.

The "crossword" shares a similar status as the "riddle" in terms of its popularity and widespread existence. However, it is not as old as the riddle.

The game is played on a rectangular chequered diagram and requires the player to use given clues to solve questions or complete statements. It is believed that the man who invented the crossword puzzle in 1913 was a British journalist called Arthur Wynne.

The game grew more popular throughout the years, propelled by the publication of Simon and Schuster's book of 50 crosswords in 1924. The crossword puzzles in Britain were, however, more difficult than the Americans' which offered more straightforward clues and had bigger diagrams.

Solvers of crossword puzzles have benefited by having their vocabulary widened and their minds stimulated.

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