title: Crossword

text: Crossword grids such as those appearing in most North American newspapers and magazines feature solid areas of white squares. Every letter is checked (i.e. is part of both an "across" word and a "down" word) and usually each answer must contain at least three letters. In such puzzles shaded squares are typically limited to about one-sixth of the total. Crossword grids elsewhere, such as in Britain, South Africa, India and Australia, have a lattice-like structure, with a higher percentage of shaded squares (around 25%), leaving about half the letters in an answer unchecked. For example, if the top row has an answer running all the way across, there will often be no across answers in the second row.


title: Crossword

text: Another tradition in puzzle design (in North America, India, and Britain particularly) is that the grid should have 180-degree rotational (also known as "radial") symmetry, so that its pattern appears the same if the paper is turned upside down. Most puzzle designs also require that all white cells be orthogonally contiguous (that is, connected in one mass through shared sides, to form a single polyomino).


title: Crossword

text: The design of Japanese crossword grids often follows two additional rules: that shaded cells may not share a side (i.e. they may not be orthogonally contiguous) and that the corner squares must be white.


title: Crossword

text: The "Swedish-style" grid (picture crosswords) uses no clue numbers. Instead, clues are contained in the cells which do not contain answers, with arrows indicating where and in what direction to fill in answers. Arrows can be omitted from clue cells, in which case the convention is for the answer to go horizontally to the right of the clue cell, or – if the clue cell is split vertically and contains two clues – for the answer to go horizontally to the right for the top clue and vertically below for the bottom clue. This style of grid is also used in several countries other than Sweden, often in magazines, but also in daily newspapers. The grid often has one or more photos replacing a block of squares as a clue to one or several answers; for example, the name of a pop star, or some kind of rhyme or phrase that can be associated with the photo. These puzzles usually have no symmetry in the grid but instead often have a common theme (literature, music, nature, geography, events of a special year, etc.)


title: Crossword

text: Substantial variants from the usual forms exist. Two of the common ones are barred crosswords, which use bold lines between squares (instead of shaded squares) to separate answers, and circular designs, with answers entered either radially or in concentric circles. "Free form" crosswords ("criss-cross" puzzles), which have simple, asymmetric designs, are often seen on school worksheets, children's menus, and other entertainment for children. Grids forming shapes other than squares are also occasionally used.


title: Crossword

text: Puzzles are often one of several standard sizes. For example, many weekday newspaper puzzles (such as the American "New York Times" crossword puzzle) are 15×15 squares, while weekend puzzles may be 21×21, 23×23, or 25×25. The "New York Times" puzzles also set a common pattern for American crosswords by increasing in difficulty throughout the week: their Monday puzzles are the easiest and the puzzles get harder each day until Saturday. Their larger Sunday puzzle is about the same level of difficulty as a weekday-size Thursday puzzle. This has led U.S. solvers to use the day of the week as a shorthand when describing how hard a puzzle is: e.g. an easy puzzle may be referred to as a "Monday" or a "Tuesday", a medium-difficulty puzzle as a "Wednesday", and a truly difficult puzzle as a "Saturday". One of the smallest crosswords in general distribution is a 4×4 crossword compiled daily by John Wilmes, distributed online by "USA Today" as "QuickCross" and by Universal Uclick as "PlayFour".


title: Crossword

text: Typically clues appear outside the grid, divided into an across list and a down list; the first cell of each entry contains a number referenced by the clue lists. For example, the answer to a clue labeled "17 Down" is entered with the first letter in the cell numbered "17", proceeding down from there. Numbers are almost never repeated; numbered cells are numbered consecutively, usually from left to right across each row, starting with the top row and proceeding downward. Some Japanese crosswords are numbered from top to bottom down each column, starting with the leftmost column and proceeding right.


title: Crossword

text: Capitalization of answer letters is conventionally ignored; crossword puzzles are typically filled in, and their answer sheets published, in all caps. This ensures a proper name can have its initial capital letter checked with a non-capitalizable letter in the intersecting clue.


title: Crossword

text: Some crossword clues, called "straight" or "quick clues", are simple definitions of the answers. Some clues may feature anagrams, and these are usually explicitly described as such. Often, a straight clue is not in itself sufficient to distinguish between several possible answers, either because multiple synonymous answers may fit or because the clue itself is a homonym (e.g., "Lead" as in to be ahead in a contest or "Lead" as in the element), so the solver must make use of "checks" to establish the correct answer with certainty. For example, the answer to the clue "PC key" for a three-letter answer could be "ESC", "ALT", "TAB", "DEL", or "INS", so until a "check" is filled in, giving at least one of the letters, the correct answer cannot be determined.


title: Crossword

text: In most American-style crosswords, the majority of the clues in the puzzle are straight clues, with the remainder being one of the other types described below.


title: Crossword

text: Crossword clues are generally consistent with the solutions. For instance, clues and their solutions should always agree in tense, number, and degree. If a clue is in the past tense, so is the answer: thus "Traveled on horseback" would be a valid clue for the solution "RODE", but not for "RIDE". Similarly, "Family members" would be a valid clue for "AUNTS" but not "UNCLE", while "More joyful" could clue "HAPPIER" but not "HAPPIEST".


title: Crossword

text: The constraints of the American-style grid (in which every letter is checked) often require a fair number of answers not to be dictionary words. As a result, the following ways to clue abbreviations and other non-words, although they can be found in "straight" British crosswords, are much more common in American ones:


title: Crossword

text: Many American crossword puzzles feature a "theme" consisting of a number of long entries (generally three to five in a standard 15×15-square "weekday-size" puzzle) that share some relationship, type of pun, or other element in common. As an example, the "New York Times" crossword of April 26, 2005 by Sarah Keller, edited by Will Shortz, featured five themed entries ending in the different parts of a tree: "SQUAREROOT", "TABLELEAF", "WARDROBETRUNK", "BRAINSTEM", and "BANKBRANCH".


title: Crossword

text: The above is an example of a category theme, where the theme elements are all members of the same set. Other types of themes include:


title: Crossword

text: The Simon & Schuster Crossword Puzzle Series has published many unusual themed crosswords. "Rosetta Stone", by Sam Bellotto Jr., incorporates a Caesar cipher cryptogram as the theme; the key to breaking the cipher is the answer to 1 across. Another unusual theme requires the solver to use the answer to a clue as another clue. The answer to "that" clue is the real solution.


title: Crossword

text: Many puzzles feature clues involving wordplay which are to be taken metaphorically or in some sense other than their literal meaning, requiring some form of lateral thinking. Depending on the puzzle creator or the editor, this might be represented either with a question mark at the end of the clue or with a modifier such as "maybe" or "perhaps". In more difficult puzzles, the indicator may be omitted, increasing ambiguity between a literal meaning and a wordplay meaning. Examples:


title: Crossword

text: In cryptic crosswords, the clues are puzzles in themselves. A typical clue contains both a definition at the beginning or end of the clue and wordplay, which provides a way to manufacture the word indicated by the definition, and which may not parse logically. Cryptics usually give the length of their answers in parentheses after the clue, which is especially useful with multi-word answers. Certain signs indicate different forms of wordplay. Solving cryptics is harder to learn than standard crosswords, as learning to interpret the different types of cryptic clues can take some practice. In Great Britain and throughout much of the Commonwealth, cryptics of varying degrees of difficulty are featured in many newspapers.


title: Crossword

text: The first crosswords with strictly cryptic clues appeared in the 1920s, pioneered by Edward Powys Mathers. He established the principle of cryptic crossword clues. Cryptic crossword clues consist typically of a definition and some type of word play. Cryptic crossword clues need to be viewed two ways. One is a surface reading and one a hidden meaning. The surface reading is the basic reading of the clue to look for key words and how those words are constructed in the clue. The second way is the hidden meaning. This can be a double definition, an anagram, homophone, or words backwards. There are eight main types of clues in cryptic crosswords.


title: Crossword

text: There are several types of wordplay used in cryptics. One is straightforward definition substitution using parts of a word. For example, in one puzzle by Mel Taub, the answer "IMPORTANT" is given the clue "To bring worker into the country may prove significant". The explanation is that to "import" means "to bring into the country", the "worker" is a worker "ant", and "significant" means "important". Here, "significant" is the straight definition (appearing here at the end of the clue), "to bring worker into the country" is the wordplay definition, and "may prove" serves to link the two. Note that in a cryptic clue, there is almost always only one answer that fits both the definition and the wordplay, so that when one sees the answer, one knows that it is the right answer—although it can sometimes be a challenge to figure out "why" it is the right answer. A good cryptic clue should provide a fair and exact definition of the answer, while at the same time being deliberately misleading.


title: Crossword

text: Another type of wordplay used in cryptics is the use of homophones. For example, the clue "A few, we hear, add up (3)" is the clue for "SUM". The straight definition is "add up", meaning "totalize". The solver must guess that "we hear" indicates a homophone, and so a homophone of a synonym of "A few" ("some") is the answer. Other words relating to sound or hearing can be used to signal the presence of a homophone clue (e.g., "aloud", "audibly", "in conversation", etc.).


title: Crossword

text: The double meaning is commonly used as another form of wordplay. For example, "Cat's tongue (7)" is solved by "PERSIAN", since this is a type of cat, as well as a tongue, or language. This is the only type of cryptic clue without wordplay—both parts of the clue are a straight definition.


title: Crossword

text: Cryptics often include anagrams, as well. The clue "Ned T.'s seal cooked is rather bland (5,4)" is solved by "NEEDS SALT". The straight definition is "is rather bland", and the word "cooked" is a hint to the solver that this clue is an anagram (the letters have been "cooked", or jumbled up). Ignoring all punctuation, "Ned T.'s seal" is an anagram for "NEEDS SALT". Besides "cooked", other common hints that the clue contains an anagram are words such as "scrambled", "mixed up", "confused", "baked", or "twisted".


title: Crossword

text: Embedded words are another common trick in cryptics. The clue "Bigotry aside, I'd take him (9)" is solved by "APARTHEID". The straight definition is "bigotry", and the wordplay explains itself, indicated by the word "take" (since one word "takes" another): "aside" means APART and I'd is simply ID, so APART and ID "take" HE (which is, in cryptic crossword usage, a perfectly good synonym for "him"). The answer could be elucidated as APART(HE)ID.


title: Crossword

text: Another common clue type is the "hidden clue" or "container", where the answer is hidden in the text of the clue itself. For example, "Made a dug-out, buried, and passed away (4)" is solved by "DEAD". The answer is written in the clue: "maDE A Dug-out". "Buried" indicates that the answer is embedded within the clue.


title: Crossword

text: There are numerous other forms of wordplay found in cryptic clues. Backwards words can be indicated by words like "climbing", "retreating", or "ascending" (depending on whether it is an across clue or a down clue) or by directional indicators such as "going North" (meaning upwards) or "West" (right-to-left); letters can be replaced or removed with indicators such as "nothing rather than excellence" (meaning replace E in a word with O); the letter "I" can be indicated by "me" or "one;" the letter "O" can be indicated by "nought", "nothing", "zero", or "a ring" (since it visually resembles one); the letter "X" might be clued as "a cross", or "ten" (as in the Roman numeral), or "an illiterate's signature", or "sounds like your old flame" (homophone for "ex"). "Senselessness" is solved by "e", because "e" is what remains after removing (less) "ness" from "sense".


title: Crossword

text: With the different types of wordplay and definition possibilities, the composer of a cryptic puzzle is presented with many different possible ways to clue a given answer. Most desirable are clues that are clean but deceptive, with a smooth "surface reading" (that is, the resulting clue looks as natural a phrase as possible). The Usenet newsgroup "rec.puzzles.crosswords" has a number of clueing competitions where contestants all submit clues for the same word and a judge picks the best one.


title: Crossword

text: In principle, each cryptic clue is usually sufficient to define its answer uniquely, so it should be possible to answer each clue without use of the grid. In practice, the use of checks is an important aid to the solver.


title: Crossword

text: Some crossword designers have started including a metapuzzle, or "meta" for short: a second puzzle within the completed puzzle. After the player has correctly solved the crossword puzzle in the usual fashion, the solution forms the basis of a second puzzle. The designer usually includes a hint to the metapuzzle. For instance, the puzzle "Eight Isn't Enough" by Matt Gaffney gives the clue "This week's contest answer is a three-word phrase whose second word is 'or'." The crossword solution includes the entries "BROUGHT TO NAUGHT", "MIGHT MAKES RIGHT", "CAUGHT A STRAIGHT", and "HEIGHT AND WEIGHT", which are all three-word phrases with two words ending in -ght. The solution to the meta is a similar phrase in which the middle word is "or": "FIGHT OR FLIGHT".


title: Crossword

text: Some puzzle grids contain more than one correct answer for the same set of clues. These are called Schrödinger or quantum puzzles, alluding to the Schrödinger's Cat thought experiment in quantum physics. Schrödinger puzzles have frequently been published in venues including "Fireball Crosswords" and "The American Values Club Crosswords", and at least ten have appeared in "The New York Times" since the late 1980s. The daily "New York Times" puzzle for November 5, 1996, by Jeremiah Farrell, had a clue for 39 across that read "Lead story in tomorrow's newspaper, with 43 Across (!)." The answer for 43 across was ELECTED; depending on the outcome of that day's Presidential Election, the answer for 39 across would have been correct with either CLINTON or BOBDOLE, as would each of the corresponding down answers. On September 1, 2016, the daily "New York Times" puzzle by Ben Tausig had four squares which led to correct answers reading both across and down if solvers entered either "M" or "F". The puzzle's theme, GENDERFLUID, was revealed at 37 across in the center of the puzzle: "Having a variable identity, as suggested by four squares in this puzzle."


title: Crossword

text: In the 'Quick' crossword in "The Daily Telegraph" newspaper (Sunday and Daily, UK), it has become a convention also to make the first few words (usually two or three, but can be more) into a phrase. For example, "Dimmer, Allies" would make "DEMORALISE" or "You, ill, never, walk, alone" would become "YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE". This generally aids solvers in that if they have one of the words then they can attempt to guess the phrase. This has also become popular among other British newspapers.


title: Crossword

text: Sometimes newspapers publish one grid that can be filled by solving either of two lists of clues—usually a straight and a cryptic. The solutions given by the two lists may be different, in which case the solver must decide at the outset which list they are going to follow, or the solutions may be identical, in which case the straight clues offer additional help for a solver having difficulty with the cryptic clues. For example, the solution "APARTHEID" might be clued as "Bigotry aside, I'd take him (9)" in the cryptic list, and "Racial separation (9)" in the straight list. Usually the straight clue matches the straight part of the cryptic clue, but this is not necessarily the case.


title: Crossword

text: Every issue of "Games" magazine contains a large crossword with a double clue list, under the title "The World's Most Ornery Crossword"; both lists are straight and arrive at the same solution, but one list is significantly more challenging than the other. The solver is prompted to fold a page in half, showing the grid and the hard clues; the easy clues are tucked inside the fold, to be referenced if the solver gets stuck.


title: Crossword

text: A variant of the double-clue list is commonly called "Siamese Twins": two matching grids are provided, and the two clue lists are merged such that the two clues for each entry are displayed together in random order. Determining which clue is to be applied to which grid is part of the puzzle.


title: Crossword

text: Any type of puzzle may contain "cross-references", where the answer to one clue forms part of another clue, in which it is referred to by number and direction. E.g., a puzzle might have 1-across clued as "Central character in The Lord of the Rings" = "FRODO", with 17-down clued as "Precious object for 1-Across" = "RING".


title: Crossword

text: When an answer is composed of multiple or hyphenated words, some crosswords (especially in Britain) indicate the structure of the answer. For example, "(3,5)" after a clue indicates that the answer is composed of a three-letter word followed by a five-letter word. Most American-style crosswords do not provide this information.


title: Crossword

text: These are common crossword variants that vary more from a regular crossword than just an unusual grid shape or unusual clues; these crossword variants may be based on different solving principles and require a different solving skill set.


title: Crossword

text: Cipher crosswords were invented in Germany in the 19th century. Published under various trade names (including Code Breakers, Code Crackers, and Kaidoku), and not to be confused with cryptic crosswords (ciphertext puzzles are commonly known as cryptograms), a cipher crossword replaces the clues for each entry with clues for each white cell of the grid—an integer from 1 to 26 inclusive is printed in the corner of each. The objective, as any other crossword, is to determine the proper letter for each cell; in a cipher crossword, the 26 numbers serve as a cipher for those letters: cells that share matching numbers are filled with matching letters, and no two numbers stand for the same letter. All resultant entries must be valid words. Usually, at least one number's letter is given at the outset. English-language cipher crosswords are nearly always pangrammatic (all letters of the alphabet appear in the solution). As these puzzles are closer to codes than quizzes, they require a different skillset; many basic cryptographic techniques, such as determining likely vowels, are key to solving these. Given their pangrammaticity, a frequent start point is locating where 'Q' and 'U' must appear.


title: Crossword

text: In a diagramless crossword, often called a diagramless for short or, in the UK, a skeleton crossword or carte blanche, the grid offers overall dimensions, but the locations of most of the clue numbers and shaded squares are unspecified. A solver must deduce not only the answers to individual clues, but how to fit together partially built-up clumps of answers into larger clumps with properly set shaded squares. Some of these puzzles follow the traditional symmetry rule, others have left-right mirror symmetry, and others have greater levels of symmetry or outlines suggesting other shapes. If the symmetry of the grid is given, the solver can use it to his/her advantage.


title: Crossword

text: A fill-in crossword (also known as crusadex or cruzadex) features a grid and the full list of words to be entered in that grid, but does not give explicit clues for where each word goes. The challenge is figuring out how to integrate the list of words together within the grid so that all intersections of words are valid. Fill-in crosswords may often have longer word length than regular crosswords to make the crossword easier to solve, and symmetry is often disregarded. Fitting together several long words is easier than fitting together several short words because there are fewer possibilities for how the long words intersect together. These types of crosswords are also used to demonstrate artificial intelligence abilities, such as finding solutions to the puzzle based on a set of determined constraints.


title: Crossword

text: A crossnumber (also known as a cross-figure) is the numerical analogy of a crossword, in which the solutions to the clues are numbers instead of words. Clues are usually arithmetical expressions, but can also be general knowledge clues to which the answer is a number or year. There are also numerical fill-in crosswords.


title: Crossword

text: An acrostic is a type of word puzzle, in eponymous acrostic form, that typically consists of two parts. The first is a set of lettered clues, each of which has numbered blanks representing the letters of the answer. The second part is a long series of numbered blanks and spaces, representing a quotation or other text, into which the answers for the clues fit. In most forms of the puzzle, the first letters of each correct clue answer, read in order from clue A on down the list, will spell out the author of the quote and the title of the work it is taken from; this can be used as an additional solving aid.


title: Crossword

text: The arroword is a variant of a crossword that does not have as many black squares as a true crossword, but has arrows inside the grid, with clues preceding the arrows. It has been called the most popular word puzzle in many European countries, and is often called the Scandinavian crossword, as it is believed to have originated in Sweden.


title: Crossword

text: The phrase "cross word puzzle" was first written in 1862 by "Our Young Folks" in the United States. Crossword-like puzzles, for example Double Diamond Puzzles, appeared in the magazine "St. Nicholas", published since 1873. Another crossword puzzle appeared on September 14, 1890, in the Italian magazine "Il Secolo Illustrato della Domenica". It was designed by Giuseppe Airoldi and titled ""Per passare il tempo"" ("To pass the time"). Airoldi's puzzle was a four-by-four grid with no shaded squares; it included horizontal and vertical clues.


title: Crossword

text: Crosswords in England during the 19th century were of an elementary kind, apparently derived from the word square, a group of words arranged so the letters read alike vertically and horizontally, and printed in children's puzzle books and various periodicals.


title: Crossword

text: On December 21, 1913, Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, England, published a "word-cross" puzzle in the "New York World" that embodied most of the features of the modern genre. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. An illustrator later reversed the "word-cross" name to "cross-word.


title: Crossword

text: Crossword puzzles became a regular weekly feature in the "New York World", and spread to other newspapers; the "Pittsburgh Press", for example, was publishing them at least as early as 1916 and "The Boston Globe" by 1917.


title: Crossword

text: By the 1920s, the crossword phenomenon was starting to attract notice. In October 1922, newspapers published a comic strip by Clare Briggs entitled "Movie of a Man Doing the Cross-Word Puzzle", with an enthusiast muttering "87 across 'Northern Sea Bird'!!??!?!!? Hm-m-m starts with an 'M', second letter is 'U' ... I'll look up all the words starting with an 'M-U ...' mus-musi-mur-murd—Hot Dog! Here 'tis! Murre!" In 1923 a humorous squib in "The Boston Globe" has a wife ordering her husband to run out and "rescue the papers ... the part I want is blowing down the street." "What is it you're so keen about?" "The Cross-Word Puzzle. Hurry, please, that's a good boy." In "The New Yorker" first issue, released in 1925, the "Jottings About Town" section wrote, "Judging from the number of solvers in the subway and 'L' trains, the crossword puzzle bids fair to become a fad with New Yorkers." In 1925, the New York Public Library reported that "The latest craze to strike libraries is the crossword puzzle", and complained that when "the puzzle 'fans' swarm to the dictionaries and encyclopedias so as to drive away readers and students who need these books in their daily work, can there be any doubt of the Library's duty to protect its legitimate readers?"


title: Crossword

text: The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Simon & Schuster in 1924, after a suggestion from co-founder Richard Simon's aunt. The publisher was initially skeptical that the book would succeed, and only printed a small run at first. The book was promoted with an included pencil, and "This odd-looking book with a pencil attached to it" was an instant hit, leading crossword puzzles to become a craze of 1924. To help promote its books, Simon & Schuster also founded the Amateur Cross Word Puzzle League of America, which began the process of developing standards for puzzle design.


title: Crossword

text: The crossword puzzle fad received extensive attention, not all of it positive: In 1924, "The New York Times" complained of the "sinful waste in the utterly futile finding of words the letters of which will fit into a prearranged pattern, more or less complex. This is not a game at all, and it hardly can be called a sport ... [solvers] get nothing out of it except a primitive form of mental exercise, and success or failure in any given attempt is equally irrelevant to mental development." A clergyman called the working of crossword puzzles "the mark of a childish mentality" and said, "There is no use for persons to pretend that working one of the puzzles carries any intellectual value with it." However, another wrote a complete "Bible Cross-Word Puzzle Book". Also in 1925, "Time" magazine noted that nine Manhattan dailies and fourteen other big newspapers were carrying crosswords, and quoted opposing views as to whether "This crossword craze will positively end by June!" or "The crossword puzzle is here to stay!" In 1925, "The New York Times" noted, with approval, a scathing critique of crosswords by "The New Republic"; but concluded that "Fortunately, the question of whether the puzzles are beneficial or harmful is in no urgent need of an answer. The craze evidently is dying out fast and in a few months it will be forgotten." and in 1929 declared, "The cross-word puzzle, it seems, has gone the way of all fads." In 1930, a correspondent noted that "Together with "The Times" of London, yours is the only journal of prominence that has never succumbed to the lure of the cross-word puzzle" and said that "The craze—the fad—stage has passed, but there are still people numbering it to the millions who look for their daily cross-word puzzle as regularly as for the weather predictions."


title: Crossword

text: "The New York Times" began to publish a crossword puzzle on 15 February 1942, spurred on by the idea that the puzzle could be a welcome distraction from the harsh news of World War II. "The New York Times" first puzzle editor was Margaret Petherbridge Farrar, who was editor from 1942 to 1969. She was succeeded by Will Weng, who was succeeded by Eugene T. Maleska. Since 1993, they have been edited by Will Shortz, the "Times" fourth crossword editor.


title: Crossword

text: Simon & Schuster continues to publish the "Crossword Puzzle Book Series" books that it began in 1924, currently under the editorship of John M. Samson. The original series ended in 2007 after 258 volumes. Since 2008, these books are now in the Mega series, appearing three times per year and each featuring 300 puzzles.


title: Crossword

text: The British cryptic crossword was imported to the US in 1968 by composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim in "New York" magazine. Until 2006, "The Atlantic Monthly" regularly featured a cryptic crossword "puzzler" by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon, which combines cryptic clues with diabolically ingenious variations on the construction of the puzzle itself. In both cases, no two puzzles are alike in construction, and the intent of the puzzle authors is to entertain with novelty, not to establish new variations of the crossword genre.


title: Crossword

text: In the United Kingdom, the "Sunday Express" was the first newspaper to publish a crossword on November 2, 1924, a Wynne puzzle adapted for the UK. The first crossword in Britain, according to Tony Augarde in his "Oxford Guide to Word Games" (1984), was in "Pearson's Magazine" for February 1922.


title: Crossword

text: The 2006 documentary "Wordplay", about enthusiasts of "The New York Times" puzzle, increased public interest in crosswords. It highlighted attendees of Will Shortz's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, including former American president Bill Clinton and American comedian Jon Stewart.


title: Crossword

text: In 1944, Allied security officers were disturbed by the appearance, in a series of crosswords in "The Daily Telegraph", of words that were secret code names for military operations planned as part of Operation Overlord.


title: Crossword

text: Some cryptologists for Bletchley Park were selected after doing well in a crossword-solving competition.


title: Crossword

text: According to "Guinness World Records", May 15, 2007, the most prolific crossword compiler is Roger Squires of Ironbridge, Shropshire, UK. On May 14, 2007, he published his 66,666th crossword, equivalent to 2 million clues. He is one of only four setters to have provided cryptic puzzles to "The Times", "The Daily Telegraph", "The Guardian", the "Financial Times" and "The Independent". He also holds the record for the longest word ever used in a published crossword—the 58-letter Welsh town Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch clued as an anagram.


title: Crossword

text: Enthusiasts have compiled a number of record-setting achievements in "New York Times" and other venues.


title: Crossword

text: Women editors such as Margaret Farrar were influential in the first few decades of puzzle-making, and women constructors such as Bernice Gordon and Elizabeth Gorski have each contributed hundreds of puzzles to "The New York Times". However, in recent years the number of women constructors has declined. During the years that Will Weng and Eugene Maleska edited the New York Times crossword (1969–1993), women constructors accounted for 35% of puzzles, while during the editorship of Will Shortz (1993–present), this percentage has gone down, with women constructors (including collaborations) accounting for only 15% of puzzles in both 2014 and 2015, 17% of puzzles published in 2016, 13%—the lowest in the "Shortz Era"—in 2017, and 16% in 2018. Several reasons have been given for the decline in women constructors. One explanation is that the gender imbalance in crossword construction is similar to that in related fields, such as journalism, and that more freelance male constructors than females submit puzzles on spec to "The New York Times" and other outlets. Another explanation is that computer-assisted construction and the increased influence of computational approaches in generating word lists may be making crossword construction more like STEM fields in which women are underrepresented for a number of factors. However, it has also been argued that this explanation risks propagating myths about gender and technology. Some have argued that the relative absence of women constructors and editors has had an influence on the content of the puzzles themselves, and that clues and entries can be insensitive regarding language related to gender and race. Several approaches have been suggested to develop more women in the field, including mentoring novice women constructors and encouraging women constructors to publish their puzzles independently.


title: Crossword

text: Crossword venues other than "New York Times" have recently published higher percentages of women than that puzzle. In the spring of 2018, Patti Varol and Amy Reynaldo organized and edited a pack of 18 puzzles constructed by women called "Women of Letters". Inspired by this, Laura Braunstein and Tracy Bennett launched "The Inkubator", a "twice-monthly subscription service that will publish crosswords constructed by cis women, trans women, and woman-aligned constructors." "The Inkubator" raised over $30,000 in its initial Kickstarter campaign, and began publishing puzzles on January 17, 2019.


title: Crossword

text: Owing to the large number of words ending with a vowel, Italian crossword-makers have perhaps the most difficult task. The right margin and the bottom can be particularly difficult to put together. From such a perspective, Swedish crossword-makers have a far easier task. Especially in the large picture crosswords, both conjugation of verbs and declension of adjectives and nouns are allowed. A Swedish clue like ""kan sättas i munnen" = "sked"" ("can be put in the mouth" = "spoon") can be grammatically changed; ""den kan sättas i munnen" = "skeden"" ("it can be put in the mouth" = "the spoon"), as the definite form of a noun includes declension.


title: Crossword

text: From their origin in New York, crosswords have spread to many countries and languages. In languages other than English, the status of diacritics varies according to the orthography of the particular language, thus:


title: Crossword

text: French-language crosswords are smaller than English-language ones, and not necessarily square: there are usually 8–13 rows and columns, totaling 81–130 squares. They need not be symmetric and two-letter words are allowed, unlike in most English-language puzzles. Compilers strive to minimize use of shaded squares. A black-square usage of 10% is typical; Georges Perec compiled many 9×9 grids for Le Point with four or even three black squares. Rather than numbering the individual clues, the rows and columns are numbered as on a chessboard. All clues for a given row or column are listed, against its number, as separate sentences.


title: Crossword

text: In Italy, crosswords are usually oblong and larger than French ones, 13×21 being a common size. As in France, they usually are not symmetrical; two-letter words are allowed; and the number of shaded squares is minimized. Nouns (including surnames) and the infinitive or past participle of verbs are allowed, as are abbreviations; in larger crosswords, it is customary to put at the center of the grid phrases made of two to four words, or forenames and surnames. A variant of Italian crosswords does not use shaded squares: words are delimited by thickening the grid. Another variant starts with a blank grid: the solver must insert both the answers and the shaded squares, and across and down clues are either ordered by row and column or not ordered at all.


title: Crossword

text: Modern Hebrew is normally written with only the consonants; vowels are either understood, or entered as diacritical marks. This can lead to ambiguities in the entry of some words, and compilers generally specify that answers are to be entered in ktiv male (with some vowels) or ktiv haser (without vowels). Further, since Hebrew is written from right to left, but Roman numerals are used and written from left to right, there can be an ambiguity in the description of lengths of entries, particularly for multi-word phrases. Different compilers and publications use differing conventions for both of these issues.


title: Crossword

text: In the Japanese language crossword; because of the writing system, one syllable (typically katakana) is entered into each white cell of the grid rather than one letter, resulting in the typical solving grid seeming small in comparison to those of other languages. Any second Yōon character is treated as a full syllable and is rarely written with a smaller character. Even cipher crosswords have a Japanese equivalent, although pangrammaticity does not apply. Crosswords with kanji to fill in are also produced, but in far smaller number as it takes far more effort to construct one. Despite Japanese having three writing forms - hiragana, katakana, and kanji - they are rarely mixed in a single crossword puzzle.


title: Crossword

text: A. N. Prahlada Rao, based in Bangalore, has composed/ constructed some 35,000 crossword puzzles in the language Kannada, including 7,500 crosswords based on films made in Kannada, with a total of 10,00,000 (ten lakhs, or one million) clues. His name was recorded in the Limca Book Of Records in 2015 for creating the highest number of crosswords in any Indian Regional Language. He continued to hold this title through 2016 and 2017. In 2008, a five volume set of his puzzles was released, followed by 7 more volumes in 2017. Bengali is also well known for its crossword puzzles. Crosswords are published regularly in most Bengali dailies and periodicals. The grid system is similar to the British style and two-letter words are usually not allowed.


title: Crossword

text: In Poland, crosswords typically use British-style grids, but some do not have shaded cells. Shaded cells are often replaced by boxes with clues—such crosswords are called Swedish puzzles or Swedish-style crosswords. In a vast majority of Polish crosswords, nouns are the only allowed words.


title: Crossword

text: Swedish crosswords are mainly in the illustrated (photos or drawings), in-line clue style typical of the "Swedish-style grid" mentioned above. This tradition prospered already in the mid-1900s, in family magazines and sections of newspapers. Then the specialised magazines took off. Around the turn of the millennium, approximately half a dozen Swedish magazine publishers produced specialised crossword magazines, totaling more than twenty titles, often published on a monthly basis. The oldest extant crossword magazine published in Swedish is "Krysset" (from Bonnier), founded in 1957. Additionally, nearly all newspapers publish crosswords of some kind, and at weekends often devote specialised sections in the paper to crosswords and similar type of pastime material. Both major evening dailies ("Aftonbladet" and "Expressen") publish a weekly crossword supplement, named "Kryss & Quiz" and "Korsord" respectively. Both are available as paid supplements on Mondays and Tuesdays, as part of the ongoing competition between the two newspapers.


title: Crossword

text: In typical themed American-style crosswords, the theme is created first, as a set of symmetric long across answers will be needed around which the grid can be created. Since the grid will typically have 180-degree rotational symmetry, the answers will need to be also: thus a typical 15×15 square American puzzle might have two 15-letter entries and two 13-letter entries that could be arranged appropriately in the grid (e.g., one 15-letter entry in the third row, and the other symmetrically in the 13th row; one 13-letter entry starting in the first square of the 6th row and the other ending in the last square of the 10th row). The theme must not only be funny or interesting, but also internally consistent. In the April 26, 2005 by Sarah Keller mentioned above, the five themed entries contained in the different parts of a tree: SQUAREROOT, TABLELEAF, WARDROBETRUNK, BRAINSTEM, and BANKBRANCH. In this puzzle, CHARTER OAK would "not" be an appropriate entry, as all the other entries contain different parts of a tree, not the name of a kind of tree. Similarly, FAMILY TREE would not be appropriate unless it were used as a "revealer" for the theme (frequently clued with a phrase along the lines ""... and a hint to ...""). Given the existing entries, SEED MONEY would also be unacceptable, as all the other theme entries "end" in the part of a tree as opposed to beginning with it, though the puzzle could certainly be changed to have a mix of words in different positions.


title: Crossword

text: Once a consistent, appropriate theme has been chosen, a grid is designed around that theme, following a set of basic principles:


title: Crossword

text: Crossword puzzle payments for standard 15×15 puzzles from the major outlets range from $50 ("Games") to $500 ("The New York Times") while payments for 21×21 puzzles range from $250 ("Newsday") to $1,500 ("The New York Times").


title: Crossword

text: The compensation structure of crosswords generally entails authors selling all rights to their puzzles upon publication, and as a result receiving no royalties from republication of their work in books or other forms.


title: Crossword

text: Software that aids in "creating" crossword puzzles has been written since at least 1976; one popular example was Crossword Magic for the Apple II in the 1980s. The earliest software relied on people to input a list of fill words and clues, and automatically maps the answers onto a suitable grid. This is a search problem in computer science because there are many possible arrangements to be checked against the rules of construction. Any given set of answers might have zero, one, or multiple legal arrangements. Modern open source libraries exist that attempt to efficiently generate legal arrangements from a given set of answers.


title: Crossword

text: In the late 1990s, the transition began from mostly hand-created arrangements to computer-assisted, which creators generally say has allowed authors to produce more interesting and creative puzzles, reducing crosswordese.


title: Crossword

text: Modern software includes large databases of clues and answers, allowing the computer to randomly select words for the puzzle, potentially with guidance from the user as to the theme or a specific set of words to pick with greater probability. Many serious users add words to the database as an expression of personal creativity or for use in a desired theme. Software can also be used to assist the user in finding words for a specific spot in an arrangement by quickly searching through the dictionary for all words that fit.


title: Crossword

text: Originally Petherbridge called the two dimensions of the crossword puzzle "Horizontal" and "Vertical". Among various numbering schemes, the standard became that in which only the start squares of each word were numbered, from left to right and top to bottom. "1 Horizontal" and "1 Vertical" and the like were names for the clues, the cross words, or the grid locations, interchangeably.


title: Crossword

text: Later in the "Times" these terms commonly became "across" and "down" and notations for clues could either use the words or the letters "A" and "D", with or without hyphens.


title: Japanese dragon

text: Japanese dragons (, "Nihon no ryū") are diverse legendary creatures in Japanese mythology and folklore. Japanese dragon myths amalgamate native legends with imported stories about dragons from China, Korea and the Indian subcontinent. The style and appearance of the dragon was heavily influenced by the Chinese dragon, especially the three-clawed "long" (龍) dragons which were introduced in Japan from China in ancient times. Like these other East Asian dragons, most Japanese ones are water deities associated with rainfall and bodies of water, and are typically depicted as large, wingless, serpentine creatures with clawed feet.


title: Japanese dragon

text: The c. 680 AD "Kojiki" and the c. 720 AD "Nihongi" mytho-histories have the first Japanese textual references to dragons. "In the oldest annals the dragons are mentioned in various ways," explains de Visser, "but mostly as water-gods, serpent- or dragon-shaped." The "Kojiki" and "Nihongi" mention several ancient dragons:


title: Japanese dragon

text: Chinese dragon mythology is central to Japanese dragons. Japanese words for "dragon" are written with "kanji" ("Chinese characters"), either simplified "shinjitai" 竜 or traditional "kyūjitai" 龍 from Chinese "long" 龍. These "kanji" can be read "tatsu" in native Japanese "kun'yomi" and "ryū" or "ryō" in Sino-Japanese "on'yomi".


title: Japanese dragon

text: Many Japanese dragon names are loanwords from Chinese. For instance, the Japanese counterparts of the astrological Four Symbols are:


title: Japanese dragon

text: Japanese "Shiryū" 四竜 "4 dragon [kings]" are the legendary Chinese "Longwang" 龍王 "Dragon Kings" who rule the four seas.


title: Japanese dragon

text: Some authors attempted to differentiate Japanese "ryū" and Chinese "long" dragons by the number of claws on their feet. In 1886, Charles Gould wrote that in Japan, the dragon is " invariably figured as possessing three claws, whereas in China it has four or five, according as it is an ordinary or an Imperial emblem". A common belief in Japan is that the Japanese dragon is native to Japan and is fond of travelling gaining claws as it walked further from Japan; e.g. when it arrived in Korea, it gained 4-claws; and when it finally arrived to China, it gained five-claws. However, contrary to the Japanese belief that the three-clawed dragons also originated from China and was introduced in Japan. The three-clawed dragons were the Chinese dragons used in China in the earlier times and were the principal form of dragons which were used on the robes of the Tang dynasty. When the Chinese dragons were introduced in Japan, they still had three claws. Three-clawed dragons were seldom used after the Song dynasty and were later found in four or five claws in China; the three-clawed dragons were briefly revived in the Qing dynasty.


title: Japanese dragon

text: During World War II, the Japanese military named many armaments after Chinese dragons. The "Kōryū" 蛟竜 < "jiaolong" 蛟龍 "flood dragon" was a midget submarine and the "Shinryū" 神竜 < "shenlong" 神龍 "spirit dragon" was a rocket kamikaze aircraft. An Imperial Japanese Army division, the 56th Division, was codenamed the Dragon Division. Coincidentally, the Dragon Division was annihilated in the Chinese town of Longling (龍陵), whose name means "Dragon's Tomb".


title: Japanese dragon

text: When Buddhist monks from other parts of Asia brought their faith to Japan they transmitted dragon and snake legends from Buddhist and Hindu mythology. The most notable examples are the "nāga" ナーガ or 龍 "Nāga; rain deity; protector of Buddhism" and the "nāgarāja" ナーガラージャ or 龍王 ”Nāgarāja; snake king; dragon king". de Visser (1913:179) notes that many Japanese nāga legends have Chinese features. "This is quite clear, for it was via China that all the Indian tales came to Japan. Moreover, many originally Japanese dragons, to which Chinese legends were applied, were afterwards identified with nāga, so that a blending of ideas was the result.


title: Japanese dragon

text: Dragon lore is traditionally associated with Buddhist temples. Myths about dragons living in ponds and lakes near temples are widespread. De Visser lists accounts for Shitennō-ji in Osaka, Gogen Temple in Hakone, Kanagawa, and the shrine on Mount Haku where the "Genpei Jōsuiki" records that a Zen priest saw a 9-headed dragon transform into the goddess Kannon. In the present day, the Lake Saiko Dragon Shrine at Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi has an annual festival and fireworks show.


title: Japanese dragon

text: Temple names, like Japanese toponyms, frequently involve dragons. For instance, the Rinzai sect has Tenryū-ji 天龍寺 "Heavenly Dragon Temple", Ryūtaku-ji 龍沢寺 "Dragon Swamp Temple", Ryōan-ji 竜安寺 "Dragon Peace Temple". According to legend, when the Hōkō-ji 法興寺 or Asuka-dera 飛鳥寺 Buddhist temple was dedicated at Nara in 596, "a purple cloud descended from the sky and covered the pagoda as well as the Buddha hall; then the cloud became five-coloured and assumed the shape of a dragon or phoenix".


title: Japanese dragon

text: The "Kinryū-no-Mai" "Golden Dragon Dance" is an annual Japanese dragon dance performed at Sensō-ji, a Buddhist temple in Asakusa. The dragon dancers twist and turn within the temple grounds and outside on the streets. According to legend, the Sensō Temple was founded in 628 after two fishermen found a gold statuette of Kannon in the Sumida River, at which time golden dragons purportedly ascended into heaven. The Golden Dragon Dance was produced to celebrate the reconstruction of the Main Hall of the temple in 1958 and is performed twice yearly.


title: Japanese dragon

text: Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima or Itsukushima Island in Japan's Inland Sea was believed to be the abode of the sea-god Ryūjin's daughter. According to the "Gukanshō" and "The Tale of Heike" (Heinrich 1997:74–75), the sea-dragon empowered Emperor Antoku to ascend the throne because his father Taira no Kiyomori offered prayers at Itsukushima and declared it his ancestral shrine. When Antoku drowned himself after being defeated in the 1185 Battle of Dan-no-ura, he lost the imperial Kusanagi sword (which legendarily came from the tail of the "Yamata no Orochi]" dragon) back into the sea. In another version, divers found the sword, and it is said to be preserved at Atsuta Shrine. The great earthquake of 1185 was attributed to vengeful Heike spirits, specifically the dragon powers of Antoku.


title: Japanese dragon

text: "Ryūjin shinkō" 竜神信仰 "dragon god faith" is a form of Shinto religious belief that worships dragons as water "kami". It is connected with agricultural rituals, rain prayers, and the success of fisherman.


title: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

text: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is an upcoming action-adventure video game developed by Daedalic Entertainment and co-published by Daedalic Entertainment and Nacon. It is based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, following the character of Gollum between the events of "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". The game is scheduled for release for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.


title: The Lord of the Rings: Gollum

text: The game was announced by Daedalic Entertainment in March 2019 for release in 2021. With the Nacon agreement announcement, the game was delayed to 2022. On 24 May 2022, it was announced on the game's official Twitter page that the developers were currently targeting a release date of September 1, 2022 for the Steam service and PlayStation and Xbox consoles. The Nintendo Switch version was announced to be coming on November 30, 2022. On July 25, 2022, the developers announced a further delay of "a few months".


title: Torticollis

text: Torticollis, also known as wry neck, is a dystonic condition defined by an abnormal, asymmetrical head or neck position, which may be due to a variety of causes. The term "torticollis" is derived from the Latin words "tortus, meaning "twisted"" and "collum, meaning "neck.""


title: Torticollis

text: The most common case has no obvious cause, and the pain and difficulty with turning the head usually goes away after a few days, even without treatment in adults.


title: Torticollis

text: A combination of these movements may often be observed. Torticollis can be a disorder in itself as well as a symptom in other conditions.


title: Torticollis

text: A multitude of conditions may lead to the development of torticollis including: muscular fibrosis, congenital spine abnormalities, or toxic or traumatic brain injury.


title: Torticollis

text: Congenital muscular torticollis is the most common torticollis that is present at birth. The cause of congenital muscular torticollis is unclear. Birth trauma or intrauterine malposition is considered to be the cause of damage to the sternocleidomastoid muscle in the neck. Other alterations to the muscle tissue arise from repetitive microtrauma within the womb or a sudden change in the calcium concentration in the body that causes a prolonged period of muscle contraction.


title: Torticollis

text: Any of these mechanisms can result in a shortening or excessive contraction of the sternocleidomastoid muscle, which curtails its range of motion in both rotation and lateral bending. The head is typically tilted in lateral bending toward the affected muscle and rotated toward the opposite side. In other words, the head itself is tilted in the direction of the shortened muscle, with the chin tilted in the opposite direction.


title: Torticollis

text: Congenital torticollis is presented at 1–4 weeks of age, and a hard mass usually develops. It is normally diagnosed using ultrasonography and a color histogram or clinically by evaluating the infant's passive cervical range of motion.


title: Torticollis

text: Congenital torticollis constitutes the majority of cases seen in paediatric clinical practice. The reported incidence of congenital torticollis is 0.3-2.0%. Sometimes a mass, such as a sternocleidomastoid tumor, is noted in the affected muscle. Congenital torticollis may not resolve on its own, and can result in rare complications including plagiocephaly.


title: Torticollis

text: Noncongenital muscular torticollis may result from muscle spasm, trauma, scarring or disease of cervical vertebrae, adenitis, tonsillitis, rheumatism, enlarged cervical glands, retropharyngeal abscess, or cerebellar tumors. It may be spasmodic (clonic) or permanent (tonic). The latter type may be due to Pott's Disease (tuberculosis of the spine).


title: Torticollis

text: Most commonly this self-limiting form relates to an untreated dental occlusal dysfunction, which is brought on by clenching and grinding the teeth during sleep. Once the occlusion is treated it will completely resolve. Treatment is accomplished with an occlusal appliance, and equilibration of the dentition.


title: Torticollis

text: Torticollis with recurrent, but transient contraction of the muscles of the neck and especially of the sternocleidomastoid, is called spasmodic torticollis. Synonyms are "intermittent torticollis", "cervical dystonia" or "idiopathic cervical dystonia", depending on cause.


title: Torticollis

text: Torticollis can caused by damage to the trochlear nerve (fourth cranial nerve), which supplies the superior oblique muscle of the eye. The superior oblique muscle is involved in depression, abduction, and intorsion of the eye. When the trochlear nerve is damaged, the eye is extorted because the superior oblique is not functioning. The affected person will have vision problems unless they turn their head away from the side that is affected, causing intorsion of the eye and balancing out the extorsion of the eye. This can be diagnosed by the Bielschowsky test, also called the head-tilt test, where the head is turned to the affected side. A positive test occurs when the affected eye elevates, seeming to float up.


title: Torticollis

text: The underlying anatomical distortion causing torticollis is a shortened sternocleidomastoid muscle. This is the muscle of the neck that originates at the sternum and clavicle and inserts on the mastoid process of the temporal bone on the same side. There are two sternocleidomastoid muscles in the human body and when they both contract, the neck is flexed. The main blood supply for these muscles come from the occipital artery, superior thyroid artery, transverse scapular artery and transverse cervical artery. The main innervation to these muscles is from cranial nerve XI (the accessory nerve) but the second, third and fourth cervical nerves are also involved. Pathologies in these blood and nerve supplies can lead to torticollis.


title: Torticollis

text: Evaluation of a child with torticollis begins with history taking to determine circumstances surrounding birth and any possibility of trauma or associated symptoms. Physical examination reveals decreased rotation and bending to the side opposite from the affected muscle. Some say that congenital cases more often involve the right side, but there is not complete agreement about this in published studies. Evaluation should include a thorough neurologic examination, and the possibility of associated conditions such as developmental dysplasia of the hip and clubfoot should be examined. Radiographs of the cervical spine should be obtained to rule out obvious bony abnormality, and MRI should be considered if there is concern about structural problems or other conditions.


title: Torticollis

text: Ultrasonography can be used to visualize muscle tissue, with a colour histogram generated to determine cross-sectional area and thickness of the muscle.


title: Torticollis

text: Evaluation by an optometrist or an ophthalmologist should be considered in children to ensure that the torticollis is not caused by vision problems (IV cranial nerve palsy, nystagmus-associated "null position," etc.).


title: Torticollis

text: Cervical dystonia appearing in adulthood has been believed to be idiopathic in nature, as specific imaging techniques most often find no specific cause.


title: Torticollis

text: Initially, the condition is treated with physical therapies, such as stretching to release tightness, strengthening exercises to improve muscular balance, and handling to stimulate symmetry. A TOT collar is sometimes applied. Early initiation of treatment is very important for full recovery and to decrease chance of relapse.


title: Torticollis

text: Physical therapy is an option for treating torticollis in a non-invasive and cost-effective manner. In the children above 1 year of age, surgical release of the tight sternocleidomastoid muscle is indicated along with aggressive therapy and appropriate splinting. Occupational therapy rehabilitation in Congenital muscular torticollis concentrates on observation, orthosis, gentle stretching, myofascial release techniques, parents’ counseling-training, and home exercise program. While outpatient infant physiotherapy is effective, home therapy performed by a parent or guardian is just as effective in reversing the effects of congenital torticollis. It is important for physical therapists to educate parents on the importance of their role in the treatment and to create a home treatment plan together with them for the best results for their child. Five components have been recognized as the "first choice intervention" in PT for treatment of torticollis and include neck passive range of motion, neck and trunk active range of motion, development of symmetrical movement, environmental adaptations, and caregiver education. In therapy, parents or guardians should expect their child to be provided with these important components, explained in detail below. Lateral neck flexion and overall range of motion can be regained quicker in newborns when parents conduct physical therapy exercises several times a day.


title: Torticollis

text: Physical therapists often encourage parents and caregivers of children with torticollis to modify the environment to improve neck movements and position. Modifications may include:


title: Torticollis

text: A Korean study has recently introduced an additional treatment called microcurrent therapy that may be effective in treating congenital torticollis. For this therapy to be effective the children should be under three months of age and have torticollis involving the entire sternocleidomastoid muscle with a palpable mass and a muscle thickness over 10 mm. Microcurrent therapy sends minute electrical signals into tissue to restore the normal frequencies in cells. Microcurrent therapy is completely painless and children can only feel the probe from the machine on their skin.


title: Torticollis

text: Microcurrent therapy is thought to increase ATP and protein synthesis as well as enhance blood flow, reduce muscle spasms and decrease pain along with inflammation. It should be used in addition to regular stretching exercises and ultrasound diathermy. Ultrasound diathermy generates heat deep within body tissues to help with contractures, pain and muscle spasms as well as decrease inflammation. This combination of treatments shows remarkable outcomes in the duration of time children are kept in rehabilitation programs: Micocurrent therapy can cut the length of a rehabilitation program almost in half with a full recovery seen after 2.6 months.


title: Torticollis

text: Surgical release involves the two heads of the sternocleidomastoid muscle being dissected free. This surgery can be minimally invasive and done laparoscopically. Usually surgery is performed on those who are over 12 months old. The surgery is for those who do not respond to physical therapy or botulinum toxin injection or have a very fibrotic sternocleidomastoid muscle. After surgery the child will be required to wear a soft neck collar (also called a Callot's cast). There will be an intense physiotherapy program for 3–4 months as well as strengthening exercises for the neck muscles.


title: Torticollis

text: Studies and evidence from clinical practice show that 85–90% of cases of congenital torticollis are resolved with conservative treatment such as physical therapy. Earlier intervention is shown to be more effective and faster than later treatments. More than 98% of infants with torticollis treated before 1 month of age recover by 2.5 months of age. Infants between 1 and 6 months usually require about 6 months of treatment. After that point, therapy will take closer to 9 months, and it is less likely that the torticollis will be fully resolved. It is possible that torticollis will resolve spontaneously, but chance of relapse is possible. For this reason, infants should be reassessed by their physical therapist or other provider 3–12 months after their symptoms have resolved.


title: Torticollis

text: In veterinary literature usually only the lateral bend of head and neck is termed torticollis, whereas the analogon to the rotatory torticollis in humans is called a head tilt. The most frequently encountered form of torticollis in domestic pets is the head tilt, but occasionally a lateral bend of the head and neck to one side is encountered.


title: Torticollis

text: Causes for a head tilt in domestic animals are either diseases of the central or peripheral vestibular system or relieving posture due to neck pain. Known causes for head tilt in domestic animals include:


title: Jessica Gao

text: Jessica Gao (born January 2, 1984) is an American television writer and producer, who was creator and head writer of the TV series "". She also worked on the third season of "Rick and Morty", writing the episode "Pickle Rick", and wrote for "Silicon Valley", "Robot Chicken", "The Mighty B!", "Back at the Barnyard", "Star Wars: Detours", and "".


title: Jessica Gao

text: Gao started her career as a writer on the Nickelodeon shows "The Mighty B!" and "Back at the Barnyard". She continued to work for the network on shows such as "Big Time Rush" and "", before leaving to freelance on other shows such as Adult Swim's "Robot Chicken", Cartoon Network's "The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange", and Disney XD's "Lab Rats". Gao has also written for HBO's "Silicon Valley", the French series "Zip Zip", Seeso/Pluto TV's "Bajillion Dollar Propertie$", and Comedy Central's "Corporate".


title: Jessica Gao

text: She joined the writing room for the third season of "Rick and Morty", acting as story editor on six episodes and writing the episode "Pickle Rick". For writing "Pickle Rick", Gao won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program at the 2018 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards. While working on the show, Gao and the other female writers were subject to sexual harassment by members of the fanbase that were upset about the show hiring women in the writing room. Gao and "Rick and Morty" co-creator, Dan Harmon, collaborated on a podcast series entitled "Whiting Wongs" that discussed race and privilege in Hollywood. Gao also wrote and co-executive produced the second season of the show "Take My Wife".


title: Jessica Gao

text: Gao left "Rick and Morty" after the third season to develop a sitcom for ABC, which landed a pilot episode order in 2019, directed by Jude Weng. The show revolved around a Chinese-American woman's relationship with her family. ABC passed on the sitcom, but the series was being shopped to other networks. In July 2019, she was chosen to write the script for the upcoming movie based on "Sweet Valley High". In November 2019, she was hired as the lead writer for the Disney+ show "".


title: Jessica Gao

text: Gao is engaged to Truck Torrence, who is known for creating emojis of Marvel characters under the name 100 Soft.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The first season premiered on January 9, 2017. Kyle Cooke, Cristina Gibson, Lindsay Hubbard, Stephen McGee, Carl Radke, Jaclyn Shuman, Everett Weston, Ashley Wirkus and Lauren Wirkus were introduced as cast members.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The tenth episode of the fifth season of "Vanderpump Rules" titled "Summer House Rules" served as a cross-over preview to "Summer House". The transition of the two-hour episode featured Kristen Doute, Katie Maloney, Stassi Schroeder and Scheana heading to New York and visit the summer house alongside the cast. After the "Vanderpump Rules" cast departed New York, the second half featured primarily on the "Summer House" cast. The second half of the episode attracted a total of 842,000 viewers.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The house in the first season is located at 90 Napeague Harbor Road, in Amagansett on the western edge of Montauk. Filming took place in private spaces though in the area.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: It was announced in April 2017 that the series had been renewed for a second season. However, the Town of East Hampton denied permission to shoot at the same house on the Montauk/Napeague line. The Town noted that the house could not be used for commercial purposes, violated town codes that prohibit 4 unrelated people living in a house and that the house was not on the town rental registry as was required in 2017.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The second season premiered on January 22, 2018. Kyle Cooke, Lindsay Hubbard, Stephen McGee, Carl Radke and Lauren Wirkus all returned from the first season, with Amanda Batula, Amit Neuman and Daniella Olivera joining the main cast, and Ashley Wirkus returning in a recurring role.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The house in the second season is located at 1451 Deerfield Road, Watermill, New York (in Southampton, New York rather than East Hampton in the first season.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The third season premiered on March 4, 2019. Amanda Batula, Kyle Cooke, Lindsay Hubbard, Danielle Olivera and Carl Radke all returned for the third season, with Hannah Berner, Paige DeSorbo and Jordan Verroi joining the main cast.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: On June 11, 2019, it was reported that Danielle Olivera and Jordan Verroi would not be returning to the main cast for the fourth season.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The fourth season premiered on February 5, 2020. Amanda Batula, Hannah Berner, Kyle Cooke, Paige DeSorbo, Lindsay Hubbard and Carl Radke all returned, with Jules Daoud and Luke Gulbranson joining the main cast.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: Unlike previous seasons where filming took place over weekends throughout the summer, the format was changed for season five due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than traveling back and forth between New York City and the Hamptons each weekend, the cast lived together and worked from home in the Hamptons for a full six weeks while filming occurred.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The fifth season premiered on February 4, 2021. Amanda Batula, Hannah Berner, Kyle Cooke, Paige DeSorbo, Luke Gulbranson, Lindsay Hubbard, Danielle Olivera and Carl Radke all returned, with Ciara Miller joining the cast.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The first season premiered on October 20, 2021, and had a total of six episodes for its premiere season. Amanda Batula, Kyle Cooke, Paige DeSorbo, Luke Gulbranson, Lindsay Hubbard and Ciara Miller join Craig Conover and Austen Kroll of "Southern Charm" for a trip to Stowe, Vermont.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: In addition to the "Summer House" cast, "Winter House" has four new cast members; Andrea Denver, Julia McGuire, Gabrielle Kniery, and Jason Cameron.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: The sixth season premiered on January 17, 2022. Amanda Batula, Kyle Cooke, Paige DeSorbo, Luke Gulbranson, Lindsay Hubbard, Ciara Miller, Danielle Olivera and Carl Radke all returned, with Andrea Denver of "Winter House", Mya Allen and Alex Wach. Hannah Berner did not return. "Southern Charm"’s Craig Conover and Austen Kroll also make guest appearances.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: On June 28, 2022, Luke Gulbranson confirmed he was fired from the series following the production of "Winter House" season two. Andrea Denver and Alex Wach were also confirmed to not be returning for the seventh season.


title: Summer House (2017 TV series)

text: Kyle Cooke, Cristina Gibson, Lindsay Hubbard, Stephen McGee, Carl Radke, Jaclyn Shuman, Everett Weston, Ashley Wirkus and Lauren Wirkus are introduced as cast members.


title: President of Egypt

text: The president of Egypt is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the Constitution of Egypt following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the president is also the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and head of the executive branch of the Egyptian government. The current president is Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has been in office since 8 June 2014.


title: President of Egypt

text: The first president of Egypt was Mohamed Naguib, who along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew King Farouk and marked the end of the British colonial rule. Though Farouk's infant son was formally declared by the revolutionaries as King Fuad II, all effective executive power was vested in Naguib and the Revolutionary Command Council. On 18 June 1953, just under a year after the coup d'état, the Council abolished the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and declared Egypt as a republic, with Mohamed Naguib as its president. At this point, the Muhammad Ali Dynasty was over in all but name, having effectively lost power when the British assumed colonial rule over Egypt in the late 19th century. Hence, Naguib's presidency marked the beginning of Egypt's independence as a state after a recent history of consistent occupying forces.


title: President of Egypt

text: Naguib resigned as president in November 1954, following a severe rift with the younger military officers who had participated with him in the revolution. Thereafter, the office of president remained vacant until January 1956, when Gamal Abdel Nasser was elected as president via a plebiscite. Nasser would remain as president of Egypt, as well as president of the United Arab Republic, which lasted from 1958 to 1971, until his sudden death in September 1970 at the age of 52.


title: President of Egypt

text: Nasser was succeeded by his vice president, Anwar Sadat, who was elected by plebiscite in October 1970. Sadat served as president until his assassination in October 1981, and shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli prime minister Menachim Begin in 1978 for initiating peace talks between the two countries. He was succeeded by his vice president, Hosni Mubarak, who was elected president by plebiscite and remained so for nearly 30 years.


title: President of Egypt

text: In the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Mubarak, who held office from 14 October 1981 until 11 February 2011, was forced to resign following mass nationwide protests demanding his removal from office. On 10 February 2011 Mubarak transferred presidential powers to his recently appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman. Suleiman's wielding of presidential powers was a momentary formality, as the position of president of Egypt was then officially vacated, and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, assumed executive control of the state.


title: President of Egypt

text: On 30 June 2012, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as President of Egypt, having won the 2012 Egyptian presidential election on 24 June; he was the first president to gain power solely through an election via popular vote. However, Morsi's presidency was short-lived, and slightly more than a year later on 3 July 2013 he was removed from office following mass protests against his rule. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who served as Defence Minister under Morsi's presidency and retained his post after Morsi's removal from office, permanently retired from the Egyptian Armed Forces in 2014 and then went on to win the 2014 presidential election, being sworn in as president on 8 June 2014. He was later re-elected to a second term in 2018 after winning the 2018 presidential election. In April 2019, Egypt’s parliament extended presidential terms from four to six years. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi was also allowed to run for third term in next election in 2024.


title: President of Egypt

text: The Egyptian Constitution has had various forms since the establishment of the republic in 1953. In all iterations of the republican constitution until 2005, the method of electing the president is based on that of the French Fifth Republic. Both the pre-revolution Egyptian Civil Code, and the semi-presidential system of government adopted after the revolution were strongly influenced by the legal and political tradition of France. In this two-stage system, the Egyptian legislature, the National Assembly (a name also inspired by its French counterpart), nominates one of a number of candidates for the presidency. A candidate needs at least a two-thirds majority in the Assembly in order to win the nomination. In the second stage, the candidate is confirmed in office by popular plebiscite of all eligible voters in the country. Egypt maintained this system even after it was abandoned by France in 1962 in favour of direct presidential elections, eliminating the role of the legislature in the election of the French president. In the Egyptian Constitution of 1971, the name of the National Assembly was changed to the People's Assembly.


title: President of Egypt

text: In 2005 and 2007, constitutional amendments were made. Principles in the amended constitution include:


title: President of Egypt

text: Under the system created by the 1980, 2003 and 2007 constitutional amendments to the 1971 Constitution, the President is the pre-eminent executive figure, who names the Prime Minister of Egypt as well as appoints the Cabinet per the latter's recommendation, while in reality, he was the head of both the state and of the government, as well as being the top foreign policy maker and holding supreme command over the military. During martial law, the President also appoints deans of faculties and majors, and can also enlist or oust people in the private sector. The President then also has the power to issue regulations for the enforcement of laws, ensuring proper public services, etc., which have been transferred to the Prime Minister under the 2012 and 2014 Constitutions. Egypt had been under martial law since 1981. After the Egyptian revolution in 2011 that ousted the 30-year regime of then President Hosni Mubarak, the martial law was temporarily suspended.


title: President of Egypt

text: The 2012 Constitution provided for a semi-presidential form of government in which the president shares executive powers with the prime minister, until it was suspended following Morsi's removal from office. This structure was retained by the 2014 Constitution, which was drafted following Morsi's ousting and came into effect after a referendum in 2014.


title: President of Egypt

text: Under the present 2014 Constitution, the president is the head of state as well as that of the executive. The president lays down, along with the prime minister and the cabinet, the state's general policy and oversees its implementation. The president represents Egypt in foreign relations and has the power to ratify treaties, can issue decrees having the force of law when the House of Representatives is in recess and such decrees are subject for approval by the House after resuming its sessions at the end of the recess, and acts as the supreme commander of the armed forces. The president has also the power of pardon, and can exercise necessary powers in times of emergencies.


title: President of Egypt

text: Article 141 of the Egyptian Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become president. The president of the republic must: be an Egyptian citizen, be born to Egyptian parents (never having dual nationality), have participated in the military or been exempted from it, and cannot be less than 40 years old.


title: President of Egypt

text: Additional requirements were provisioned in Article 142 of the Egyptian constitution concerning candidates for the president's office.


title: President of Egypt

text: The amendment to Article 76 of the constitution provides for the establishment of a "Presidential Election Commission" that would have complete independence, and would be charged with the supervision of the presidential election process.


title: President of Egypt

text: The commission will be composed of 10 members, presided by the chief justice of the Supreme Constitutional Court and four other ex officio members of the judiciary who are the most senior serving deputy president of each of the Supreme Constitutional, the Court of Cassation, and the High Administrative Court, and the president of the Cairo Court of Appeal.


title: President of Egypt

text: The rest of the commission will be made up from five independent and neutral public figures: three to be selected by the People's Assembly and two to be selected by the Shoura Council.


title: President of Egypt

text: Decisions of this Committee shall be passed by a majority of seven votes. This commission will have a term of five years and will be exclusively competent to supervise the presidential election process, including accepting nominations, announcing the names of accepted candidates, supervision of election procedures, vote counting and announcement of the results.


title: President of Egypt

text: It will also have final judicial competence to rule on any contesting or challenge submitted in relation to the presidential elections, and its decision will be final and subject to no appeal. The committee will issue its own regulations and shall be competent to establish general sub-committees from among members of the judiciary, to monitor the various phases of the election process, under its supervision. The election process will be completed in one day.


title: President of Egypt

text: In accordance with Article 79 of the constitution, the president must take the following oath or affirmation before exercising his functions: "I swear by Allah the Almighty to sincerely maintain the Republican system, to respect the Constitution and law, to fully care about the interests of the people, and to maintain the independence and territorial integrity of the Homeland."


title: President of Egypt

text: Under the previous Constitution, the president serves for a term of four years. The president is limited to two terms, whether successive or separated. For example, if incumbent President Sisi had been unsuccessful in his bid for reelection in 2018, he would have been eligible to run again in 2022, and if successful would have had to leave office for good in 2026.


title: President of Egypt

text: The Egyptian parliament voted overwhelmingly on 14 February 2019 to approve draft amendments to the country's 2014 constitution; among other things, these amendments extend the duration of presidential terms from four years to six years, and allow incumbent president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to serve a third and final term, exempting him from the two-term limit that otherwise applies to the office of president. These amendments were subsequently ratified in the 2019 Egyptian constitutional referendum.


title: President of Egypt

text: During their tenure in office, the president is not allowed to be a formal member of a political party.


title: President of Egypt

text: If the president-elect is announced before the end of the incumbent president's term, the incumbent president continues in office until the end of their term.


title: President of Egypt

text: In the case of temporary incapacitation of the president, the constitution provides the president to relinquish his powers to the vice president or the prime minister. However the person who takes office is limited in power as the new president can not dissolve the parliament, propose constitutional amendments or remove the cabinet from office.


title: President of Egypt

text: In case of the vacancy of the presidential office or the permanent incapacitation of the President, the Speaker of the People's Assembly shall temporarily assume the presidency. In case the People's Assembly is dissolved at such a time, the President of the Supreme Constitutional Court shall take over the presidency on condition that neither shall nominate themselves for the presidency. Both are also limited in power as in they can not dissolve the parliament, remove the cabinet, or propose constitutional amendments.


title: President of Egypt

text: The People's Assembly shall then proclaim the vacancy of the office of president, and a new president shall be chosen within a maximum period of sixty days from the date of the vacancy of the office.


title: President of Egypt

text: Although, the constitution does not directly stipulate any role for the vice president in the process of presidential succession, it had become a tradition for the People's Assembly to nominate a vice president for the vacant office of the president. Both Sadat and Mubarak served as vice-presidents at the time the presidential office became vacant; however, on Mubarak's succession in 1981 as president, he did not appoint a vice-president until 29 January 2011, when during substantial protests demanding reforms he appointed Omar Suleiman to the role.


title: President of Egypt

text: President Gamal Abdel Nasser submitted his resignation after the overwhelming Egyptian defeat in 1967 war with Israel, before returning to office after mass demonstrations by the Egyptian public. President Mubarak also resigned on 11 February 2011 after eighteen days of protest against his regime.


title: President of Egypt

text: The president may resign by delivering their resignation to the People's Assembly under the 2012 and 2014 Constitutions.


title: President of Egypt

text: The presidency in Egypt controls 8 presidential residences in addition to other presidential guest houses. The official residence and office of the president is Heliopolis Palace in Cairo. Other presidential palaces include:


title: Bolshevism

text: Bolshevism (from Bolshevik) is a revolutionary socialist current of Soviet Marxist–Leninist political thought and political regime associated with the formation of a rigidly centralized, cohesive and disciplined party of social revolution, focused on overthrowing the existing capitalist state system, seizing power and establishing the "dictatorship of the proletariat".


title: Bolshevism

text: Bolshevism originated at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia and was associated with the activities of the Bolshevik faction within the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party – and first of all, the founder of the faction, Vladimir Lenin. Remaining on the soil of Marxism, Bolshevism at the same time absorbed elements of the ideology and practice of the revolutionaries of the second half of the 19th century (Sergey Nechaev, Pyotr Tkachev, Nikolay Chernyshevsky) and had many points of contact with such domestic left–wing radical movements as populism. The main theorist of Bolshevism was Vladimir Lenin; besides him, the theoreticians of Bolshevism include Leon Trotsky, Nikolai Bukharin and Yevgeni Preobrazhensky.


title: Bolshevism

text: In October 1917, the Bolshevik faction organized an armed uprising against the Provisional Government, formed by other (including socialist) parties and seized power (see the October Revolution).


title: Bolshevism

text: Some researchers attribute to Bolshevik theory the program of Joseph Stalin, who headed the All–Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and at the same time possessed full state power in the Soviet Union. However, others (both Stalin's contemporaries and later) do not confuse "Bolshevism" and "Stalinism" proper, considering them to be multidirectional (revolutionary and thermidorian) phenomena.


title: Bolshevism

text: The expression "Bolshevism", as well as "communism" later, has become established in Western historiography in the sense of a certain set of features of Soviet power in a certain political period. At present, the very name "Bolsheviks" is actively used by various groups of Marxist–Leninists and Trotskyists.


title: Bolshevism

text: The concept of Bolshevism arose at the Second Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (1903) as a result of the split of the party into two factions: supporters of Lenin and the rest. One of the main reasons for the split was the question of a party of a new type. In the course of work on the Charter of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, Vladimir Lenin and Yuliy Martov proposed two different wordings of the clause on party membership. Lenin – a party member is a citizen who recognizes the program and charter, pays membership fees and works in one of the party organizations. Martov suggested limiting the charter to the first two requirements. During the elections to the central organs of the party, the majority was won by supporters of the Leninist formulation, after which Lenin began to call his faction "Bolsheviks", while Martov called his supporters "Mensheviks". Although in the subsequent history of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, Lenin's supporters often found themselves in the minority, they were assigned the politically advantageous name "Bolsheviks".


title: Bolshevism

text: As Lenin's biographer Robert Service points out, the division of the newly created party into two factions "plunged Russian Marxists into a state of shock". All but the extreme left Petersburg Marxists disagreed with Lenin's party policy.


title: Bolshevism

text: At the Fourth Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1906, the organizational unity of the party was temporarily restored. At the Fifth Congress, the Central Committee was elected, which, due to disagreements between the Bolsheviks and the Mensheviks, turned out to be unworkable, and the Bolshevik Center, headed by Vladimir Lenin, which was created during the Congress by Bolshevik delegates at one of its factional meetings, arbitrarily took over the leadership of the Bolshevik organizations of the party.


title: Bolshevism

text: At the Sixth (Prague) Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party, held on January 18–30, 1912, which constituted itself as the all–party conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and the supreme organ of the party, almost exclusively Lenin's supporters were represented. By this time, the central committee of the party had virtually ceased to exist (its last plenum was held in January 1910), and the party found itself without an official leading center. In this regard, a Bolshevik Central Committee was elected at the Prague Conference.


title: Bolshevism

text: In 1916, Lenin wrote his work Imperialism as the Highest Stage of Capitalism, which was a major contribution to the development of classical Marxism in the new conditions. In this work the thesis about the unevenness of economic and political development of capitalism in the epoch of imperialism was expressed and theoretically grounded, which leads to the conclusion about the possibility of the victory of socialism initially in a few or in one single country, which is not yet economically developed enough – such as Russia – provided that the head of the revolutionary movement will be a disciplined avant–garde, ready to go all the way to the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.


title: Bolshevism

text: Immediately after the outbreak of the World War, Lenin and his supporters advanced the slogan of the defeat of tsarism in the war and the transformation of the imperialist war into a civil war. It was with this that Lenin's criticism of the so–called "social–chauvinists", who supported their governments in the world war, was connected. Lenin viewed the civil war as "an inevitable continuation, development and intensification of the class struggle".


title: Bolshevism

text: By the beginning of the February Revolution, the leading figures of the Bolshevik faction were mainly in exile or in emigration, and therefore the Bolsheviks did not take an organized part in it. The Bolshevik leaders who returned from exile, who, along with the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries, became members of the Petrograd Soviet, at first tended to cooperate with the Provisional Government. From the very beginning, while still abroad, Lenin insisted on the immediate break of the Petrograd Soviet with the Provisional Government in order to actively prepare for the transition from the bourgeois–democratic to the next, "proletarian" stage of the revolution, the seizure of power and the end of the war. Returning to Russia, he came up with a new program of action for the Bolshevik party – the April Theses – in which he put on the agenda the demand for the transfer of all power to the Soviets in the interests of the proletariat and the poorest peasantry. Faced with resistance even among the representatives of "theoretical", "scientific" Bolshevism, Lenin managed to overcome it, relying on the support of the lower classes – local party organizations, adherents of immediate practical action. In the course of the unfolding controversy about the possibility of socialism in Russia, Lenin rejected all the critical arguments of the Mensheviks, socialist revolutionaries and other political opponents about the country's unpreparedness for a socialist revolution due to its economic backwardness, weakness, lack of culture and organization of the working masses, including the proletariat, about the danger the split of the revolutionary democratic forces and the inevitability of a civil war.


title: Bolshevism

text: In April 1917, the split of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was finalized. During a heated discussion at the 7th All–Russian (April) Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) ( April 24–29), the April Theses received the support of the majority of delegates from the localities and formed the basis of the policy of the entire party. The Bolshevik faction became known as the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks).


title: Bolshevism

text: The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party was renamed the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks) at the 7th (April) Conference in 1917. In March 1918, the party adopted the name of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks), and in December 1925, the All–Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). At the 19th Congress in October 1952, the All–Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was renamed the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.


title: Bolshevism

text: In 1990, at the last, 28th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, during the legalization of political platforms within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Bolshevik Platform was formed, giving rise to several modern political parties and social movements.


title: Bolshevism

text: Realizing the Leninist slogan "plunder the loot", the Bolsheviks en masse carried out a complete confiscation (expropriation) from the owners of private property, which they considered acquired through the exploitation of the working people, that is, the robbery of the workers. At the same time, the Bolsheviks never found out whether private property was obtained through their own labor, or through the exploitation of other people, whether the owners adequately paid for hired labor, what part of the confiscated private property the owner created with his own labor.


title: Bolshevism

text: There is an opinion that the Bolsheviks strove for revolution, regardless of the political situation and historical realities. This is how the famous Social Democrat Alexander Parvus wrote in 1918:


title: Bolshevism

text: The essence of Bolshevism is simple – to ignite the revolution everywhere, not choosing the time, regardless of the political situation and other historical realities. Whoever is against is the enemy, and the conversation with the enemies is short – they are subject to urgent and unconditional destruction.


title: Bolshevism

text: According to the British historian Orlando Figes, the opinion that the Bolsheviks were raised to the top of power by massive popular support for their party is not true and is a delusion. According to Figes, the October Uprising in Petrograd was a coup d'état supported by only a small part of the population. Figes explains the success of the Bolsheviks by the fact that the latter were the only political party that uncompromisingly advocated the slogan "all power to the Soviets", which gained great popularity in 1917 after the unsuccessful Revolt of General Kornilov. As Figes points out, in the fall of 1917, there was a stream of resolutions from factories, from villages, from army units, calling for the formation of a Soviet government. At the same time, the authors of the resolutions understood "the power of the Soviets" as the All–Russian Council with the participation of all socialist parties.


title: Bolshevism

text: Meanwhile, the commitment of the Bolsheviks to the principle of Soviet power was not at all so unconditional. In July 1917, when the Bolshevik Party was unable to obtain a majority in the Soviets of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, it "temporarily removed" the slogan "All Power to the Soviets!". After the October coup, during the so–called "triumphal march of Soviet power" in those cases when individual councils did not agree to become the organs of the dictatorship of the Russian Social–Democratic Workers' Party (Bolsheviks), the Bolsheviks did not hesitate to disperse them and replace them by emergency bodies – revolutionary committees, military revolutionary committees, etc.


title: Bolshevism

text: The present Soviets terrorize not only the reactionaries and capitalists, but also the democratically inclined bourgeoisie and even all socialist workers' organizations that disagree with their opinion. They dispersed the Constituent Assembly and are holding on, having lost their moral authority in the eyes of the masses, exclusively with bayonets.


title: Bolshevism

text: The Bolsheviks were supported, although not without criticism of their political practice, by left–wing theorists in Europe, such as Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht.


title: Bolshevism

text: At the same time, this political trend rejected the centrist social democrats, for example, Karl Kautsky and the extreme left supporters of "workers' council communism", for example, Otto Rühle and Antonie Pannekoek. The answer to the extreme leftist criticism was given by Lenin in the brochure "Childhood Illness of "Leftism" in Communism", in turn Antonie Pannekoek answered to Vladimir Lenin in the work "World Revolution and Communist Tactics".


title: Bolshevism

text: In the 1920s and 1930s, the Left Opposition to Stalin adopted the self–designation "Bolshevik–Leninists", thereby emphasizing its continuity with the revolutionary tradition as opposed to Thermidorian Stalinism. After the political trials of the 1930s, most of the "Leninist Guards" were repressed. Proceeding from this, there is an opinion that Bolshevism as a phenomenon has left the historical scene:


title: Bolshevism

text: ...[Stalin] managed to destroy almost all of Lenin's comrades–in–arms in Russia, becoming by 1928–1939 "the Russian Bonaparte–Robespierre" in the country, "especially double types of cultures of the pre–bourgeois order, that is, the cultures of the bureaucratic, serfdom" (and terrorist – we add), which Lenin feared so much, grew up in the country.


title: Bolshevism

text: But on the other hand, a number of scientists are of the opinion that Bolshevism has undergone changes over time, and as a phenomenon, it ended only in the early 1990s.


title: Bolshevism

text: In Western political science, some authors analyze Bolshevism from the standpoint of similarities and differences with fascism and Nazism.


title: Bolshevism

text: According to sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky, one of the central contradictions of the post–revolutionary policy of the Bolsheviks is defined as a consequence of the historically developed socio–political situation in Russia:


title: Bolshevism

text: In journalism, some authors also understand it as a synonym for extreme extremism, ideological fanaticism, intolerance, and a propensity for violence.


title: Bolshevism

text: Bolshevism was criticized by the Social Democrats. Thus, the famous Social Democrat Alexander Parvus wrote in 1918: