Cross culture
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 15, 2000 9:00 p.m.
 CHRIS BACKLEY Third-year applied math student
Marian Cheng works on a crossword puzzle on the
Kerckhoff patio between classes.
By Janet Chang
Daily Bruin Contributor
Alongside toast, orange juice and cereal, crossword puzzles
regularly garnish the breakfast tables of some UCLA students.
Second-year international development studies student, Kristen
Beck incorporates crossword puzzles into her daily life.
“I have my cup of coffee. I have my crossword, and
I’m set for 10 to 15 minutes of enjoyment,” she
said. “It’s fun and it’s
challenging. It’s a relaxing way to have a few minutes
to myself each day.”
With a wide variety of questions that ask about everything from
movie stars to common expressions to history, crossword puzzles
have developed into a popular way for adults and children to pass
time.
Invented by journalist Arthur Wynne, the first crossword puzzle
appeared in the Dec. 21, 1913 edition of the Sunday newspaper, the
New York World, according to the American Crossword Puzzle
Tournament Web site.
Since then, crossword puzzles have grown into a worldwide
phenomenon. Many of today’s major newspapers and magazines
dedicate a small section of their papers for the puzzles.
Currently, crossword puzzles take form in every major
alphabet-based language around the world, according to the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Invention Dimension
Web site.
In the United States, puzzle masters gather annually to compete
in the American Crossword Tournament.
Though most students tackle crossword puzzles for diversion,
relaxation or to relieve boredom, some linguistics experts say the
puzzles have educational values as well.
Linguistics professor Ed Stabler specializes in computational
linguistics and is currently building computational models of how
people understand and speak languages. He related his work on
computational linguistics to crossword puzzles.
“The best computer programs that do crossword puzzles use
programs similar to how people understand and speak
language,” Stabler said.
“When you’re listening to someone, you’re good
at guessing what someone is likely to say,” he continued.
“When there is a noise in between a conversation, you can
usually guess what you missed.”
Crossword puzzles are similar in that they require people to
fill in the gaps, he said.
“The guesses are not arbitrary. There’s something
you know about the language that allows you to understand,”
Stabler continued.
Other linguists, like Russell G. Schuh of the linguistics
department, disagree with this point of view, saying the puzzles
deal more with pop-culture than word structure.
“In linguistics, we’re interested in language
structure,” he said. “Crossword puzzles are based on
spelling.
“The clues that they give about crossword puzzles have to
do with movies and celebrities,” Schuh added. “It
doesn’t have much to do with linguistics.”
Stabler agreed with Schuh to a certain extent, but explained how
popular culture can relate to linguistics.
“It is true that you need to know about movies, books, and
common expressions,” he said.
“That might make you think that it’s not
linguistics, but it really is,” Stabler added. “When
you ask who your favorite movie star is, what often pops up are
names and not faces ““ and that’s
linguistics.”
Despite the disagreements, some students attribute the appeal of
crossword puzzles to their use of popular culture and contemporary
information as part of their trivia.
“That’s why they’re fun. There is stuff from
books and movies. They ask about contemporary stuff, and the
vocabulary words are words that we use today,” said Alex
Palmer, a second-year sociology student.
Many students think crossword puzzles can be a learning tool as
well.
“I have to think of words and roots of words, sometimes
Latin roots,” Beck said. “I think it’s good for
other classes. It builds your vocabulary.”
Palmer agreed, adding that varying levels of difficulty make a
difference in filling out the puzzles.
“If you challenge yourself with the difficult crossword
puzzles, such as the ones in the New York Times, you can learn new
things, new words, and more,” Palmer said.
Generally, however, UCLA students work on crossword puzzles to
pass the time in between classes or when they need a break from
studying.
“Crossword puzzles are something to do other than
studying,” said Emiko Bare, a third-year biochemistry
student. “It’s not as if I’m under time
pressure. It’s a way to sort of think, but it’s not
stressful like studying.”
Others work on their crossword puzzles during their lecture as
well, hoping the activity will help them stay alert.
“Sometimes the professor is boring. I just don’t
feel like listening, but I feel bad if I don’t go to the
lecture,” said Michael Kubota, a fifth-year biology
student.
Palmer said the puzzles help him stay awake in class.
“They exercise your mind, but it’s fun at the same
time,” he said. “You feel smart when you do
them.”
But in spite of the many reasons students work on them,
crossword puzzles can give students a sense of accomplishment as
well as personal enjoyment.
“People like doing puzzles in general,” Bare
said. “It’s just something that when you finish,
you feel a sense of accomplishment, even if it is
trivial.”
