A retired school teacher says he has never missed a single gathering of the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in New York. Jay Kasofsky of Woodridge, N.Y., said since New York Times puzzle editor Will Shortz began the national crossword puzzle tournament in 1978, he has always been in attendance, the Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald-Record reported Saturday. The 68-year-old former history teacher admits his crossword skills are not on par with some of his fellow puzzle solvers, particularly when it comes to those puzzles published on Saturdays. Saturday can take me over an hour, depending on what they are doing, said Kasofsky, whose best tournament finish has been sixth place.

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT READY, SET, SOLVE! The Philadelphia Inquirer fills in the blanks in the U.S. puzzle scene with the first-ever national sudoku championship.

By Northridge, Mary E One rainy summer night, my youngest daughter, Jessica, her beloved cousin, Eric, and I met up at the Lincoln Plaza Theater near Columbus Circle in New York City to watch Wordplay.

By Arthur Spiegelman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Every Sunday morning, a nice, middle-aged man with a soothing voice drives listeners of a radio program heard across the United States to wonder if they are nuts or just stupid.

By Jeffrey Goldfarb FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Sudoku is adding up to big sales for book publishers, who are pushing out more new titles ahead of Christmas in case the number puzzle mania fizzles out.