Professor Shechtman discussed how crossword puzzles have an intriguing link to American feminism. From their creation in 1913 until the 1960s, women, often educated housewives, dominated puzzle-making. Today, over 80% of crossword creators are men. This shift is due to women entering the workforce, technological advances, and the rise of the "nerd" stereotype, which reshaped "CrossWorld" to mirror Silicon Valley's male-dominated culture. This talk explored how puzzlemaking transitioned from a female-led domain to one led by men.

The talk and dinner were held at Johnny Piancone's restaurant in Long Branch.

Anna Shechtman with
CCMO President Pat Reilly '78

Anna Shechtman, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Literatures in English at Cornell University, specializing in Media Studies and American Literature. Her research has been published in Critical Inquiry, Representations, and nonsite.org, among other journals. Her freelance essays and reviews have appeared in many outlets, including ArtForum, the New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, the Yale Review, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, where she is an editor-at-large.

After college she was the assistant to Will Shortz, puzzle editor of the New York Times. She now writes monthly crossword puzzles for the New Yorker, and her first book, The Riddles of the Sphinx: Inheriting the Feminist History of the Crossword Puzzle was published by HarperOne in 2024.