Crossword: A 9-letter Word for Fun

75 years ago, Yale beat Harvard in an intercollegiate crossword showdown. But this weekend, Harvard returned to the world of competitive puzzle solving at the First Annual Harvard Crossword Tournament. Though Yale would host a similar event on Wednesday, the Harvard tournament’s MC—Robert P. Ciofani ’09—told the assembled cruciverbalists that “We are going to show you why our tournament is better than Yale’s by bringing on Will Shortz.”

Shortz is the editor of the New York Times’s daily crossword, and Kyle A. Mahowald ’09—the Harvard College Crossword Society’s founder and president—interned with him last summer. “Kyle raised the idea of doing a crossword contest at Harvard, and I thought it was a great idea,” said Shortz. Shortz founded the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (ACPT), after which this tournament was modeled.

At the age of 17, Mahowald was the youngest person to ever have a Sunday crossword published in The New York Times. He recently placed 7th in the junior division of the 2007 ACPT.

Back in Science Center C, students, faculty, and other Harvard affiliates attempted to solve this week’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday Times puzzles in the time allotted and with some degree of accuracy. As the official snack of crosswords, Oreos abounded. (“Oreo” is the eighth most common four-letter word in Times crosswords. And they’re black and white!)

“I am a crossword junkie,” said undergraduate division winner Nathaniel S. Rakich ’10, who is also a Crimson editor. Adams House affiliate Ingrid K. Schorr was the overall tournament winner, with a perfect score.

While there’s no doubt Schorr’s a pro, neither Mahowald nor Shortz, who says he is rarely stumped, competed in the tournament.