In what newspaper did the first crossword puzzle appear in 1913?

The first modern crossword puzzle appeared in the New York World in 1913.

Arthur Wynne, a journalist and puzzle editor, created the puzzle for the “Fun” section of the newspaper’s Sunday edition. It was published on 21 December 1913 and was originally called a “word-cross” puzzle. The diamond-shaped grid had a hollow center and did not yet use the familiar black squares of most modern crosswords.

Wynne’s creation drew on older word squares and other word-arrangement games, so he did not invent every underlying idea from nothing. What made his puzzle distinctive was the combination of horizontal and vertical entries with clues and a grid designed for readers to fill in. A later typesetting error reversed “word-cross” into “cross-word,” helping establish the familiar name.

The New York World ran crosswords as a regular feature, and other newspapers soon adopted them. The New York Times did not begin publishing its crossword until 1942, which is why it is a common but incorrect answer to this question.