GOOD Magazine wants to know if crossword puzzles are doomed to die an inevitable print media death. According to the piece, the heyday of crossword puzzles was the 1920s, and at the time the black-and-white geometric confections were considered just as sinful as booze and other Jazz Age vices. OK, maybe not “just as,” but the New York Times expressly used the word “sinful” and refused to print one until 1942.

A GOOD commenter argues that crosswords have actually gotten more popular due to the web, but if you ask us, having Google at your fingertips takes a lot of the fun out of the puzzles. For the record, we’ve never finished one on our own (one that wasn’t printed in People magazine, that is), and we kind of like it that way. Read More »

UPDATE 6/16:
Congratulations to Libby, the winner of our Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut contest! Libby teaches art at an elementary school in Memphis, Tennessee, where the book will live come September. Thanks again to everyone who entered.

Didn’t win? Still want a copy? Black Dog Publishing is kindly offering 40% off the retail price of the book to our readers. Please email them directly to take advantage of this special offer.

With businesses large and small going paperless and the concept of a “paper trail” nearing obsolescence, pressed wood pulp is slowly becoming an anomaly in an increasingly digitized world. However, paper’s 2,000-year history is far from over, thanks to its irreplaceable qualities as an artistic medium. London’s Black Dog Publishing celebrates the humble page with a new book, Paper: Tear, Fold, Rip, Crease, Cut, which traces paper’s origins and development, champions current innovations in production and recycling, and spotlights the work of more than 50 artists and designers. We chat with the book’s editor, Paul Sloman, to find out more about paper’s rightful place in the 21st century.

Want to win a copy of Paper? Hop down to the comments and let us know: What has paper done for you lately? Be sure to enter your email address, so we can contact the winner!

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To some extent all the doom about the printed word is a class thing. Wealthier kids who can afford their own phones and computers are probably spending more time online and in some cases, less time with books, but the kids we work with are honestly pretty enamored of books and newspapers. It means a lot to them to have their work between two covers, an actual book that they can see on a shelf next to other books. There’s a mystique about the printed word. And the students who come into 826 every day really read… They really have a thing for print. And I do too. I fear sometimes we’re actually giving up too soon. We adults have to have faith.

- Thank goodness for Dave Eggers! This fellow, so humble and true, is a one-man bailout plan for post-Katrina New Orleans, the Sudan, print media, the youth of America, and who knows what else. He reveals all this and more in a long, juicy interview with The Rumpus: he doesn’t print galleys of his own books, he shuns profit, and he seems to have a plan for solving all the world’s problems. Phew, we’re glad someone does.