cruciverbalism

It was during his tenure as puzzle editor that I became engulfed in cruciverbalism and have remained an addict ever since.

The creating of crosswords is called cruciverbalism among its practitioners, who are referred to as cruciverbalists, from the Latin for cross and word.

Cruciverbalism A Crossword Fanatic's Guide to Life in the Grid.

Shrunk into one of Ms. Adcock's haiku, Mr. Newman's crossword history, how-to and memoir, "Cruciverbalism," could be neatly encapsulated in three lines: "Obsessive wordsmith/Enraged by stuffy old clues/Thinks outside the grid."

In "Cruciverbalism," he envisions a handheld device that would bring daily grids to the digital generation, a kind of crossword iPod, and demonstrates that crosswords aren't just for the denizens of "a retirement home for university dons."