About

From the Greek glôssa (meaning "tongue," "language," or "obscure word"), the English verb “gloss” refers to the act of annotating a piece of text with the aim of providing additional context or information.

Glossword: an annotated crossword

For most people, I imagine that solving a crossword puzzle is a fairly self-contained pursuit. 

Step 1: Read the clues. 

Step 2: Fill in the squares with the appropriate letters (or multiple letters in the case of those pesky rebuses).

Step 3: Pat yourself on the back for a job well done.

Step 4: Continue on with your day.

And while this is a perfectly reasonable approach, for me the simple act of writing (now typing) in the correct answers is only the tip of the iceberg. If you're willing to dig a little deeper, you'll discover that a crossword is a treasure trove of trivia, fun facts, and rabbit holes just waiting to be explored, each symmetrical black-and-white grid a crash course on the arts, history, geography, science, etymology, gastronomy, sports, pop culture, and so much more.

That’s why I created The Sunday Glossword – as a way to share the thrill of going beyond the fill.

I hope you enjoy!

The Sunday Glossword publishes every week on the Saturday directly following the date of the puzzle being annotated.

Correspondence can be directed to thesundayglossword (at) gmail (dot) com