What WORD FREAK was to Scrabble, Marc Romano’s CROSSWORLD is to crossword puzzles. Subtitled ONE MAN’S JOURNEY INTO AMERICA’S CROSSWORD OBSESSION, it’s really about Romano’s obsession, rather than an entire country’s.
Like Scrabble and chess, I’m fascinated by crosswords even if I have no real desire to actually take part (outside of the occasional TV GUIDE puzzle), so I enjoyed living vicariously through Romano as he humorously flexes his grid-filling mettle at his first-ever national crossworld tournament, interacts with the friendly yet socially awkward attendees and passes out after he forgets to eat.
A favorite chapter has him visiting the home (or should we say crossword museum?) of NEW YORK TIMES puzzle editor Will Shortz, who’s so devoted to his passion that his house overflows with crossword memorabilia, including a crossword pinball machine in the basement and racks of crossword-themed mystery novels of yesteryear. Romano’s prose is witty, yet never condescending toward these hardcore puzzlers whose social ineptness makes for entertaining anecdotes.
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