Well, good for you all!! It is the cross-word puzzle. Not as ancient as I thought!! The title for the world's first crossword puzzle is disputed based on whom you ask. The first puzzle that was called a "cross word puzzle" was written in 1862 by Our Young Folks in the United States. The first "cross word" was "dream". Crossword puzzles are said to be the most popular and widespread word game in the world, yet have a short history. The first crosswords appeared in England during the 19th century. They 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. Although Maleska is usually credited with the first crossword phrase in The New York Times, an 1862 puzzle in the Lady's Book had phrases that are considered modern such as the expression "I did it". 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. 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 genre as we know it. This puzzle is frequently cited as the first crossword puzzle, and Wynne as the inventor. Later, the name of the puzzle was changed to "crossword". 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?" The first book of crossword puzzles appeared in 1924, published by Simon and Schuster. "This odd-looking book with a pencil attached to it" was an instant hit and crossword puzzles became the craze of 1924. So, for Annette, TM, Bobbie, Cynthia and Garden Gal: Thanks to all for playing, see you all next week!! Nancy.

Sorry I am late back to do the reveal, but you all had the answer!! German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen is usually credited as the discoverer of X-rays in 1895, because he was the first to systematically study them, though he is not the first to have observed their effects. He is also the one who gave them the name "X-rays" (signifying an unknown quantity though many others referred to these as "Röntgen rays" (and the associated X-ray radiograms as, "Röntgenograms") for several decades after their discovery and even to this day in some languages, including Röntgen's native German. Rontgen's discovery occurred accidentally in his Wurzburg, Germany, lab, where he was testing whether cathode rays could pass through glass when he noticed a glow coming from a nearby chemically coated screen. He dubbed the rays that caused this glow X-rays because of their unknown nature. Rontgen's discovery was labeled a medical miracle and X-rays soon became an important diagnostic tool in medicine, allowing doctors to see inside the human body for the first time without surgery. In 1897, X-rays were first used on a military battlefield, during the Balkan War, to find bullets and broken bones inside patients. Scientists were quick to realize the benefits of X-rays, but slower to comprehend the harmful effects of radiation. Initially, it was believed X-rays passed through flesh as harmlessly as light. However, within several years, researchers began to report cases of burns and skin damage after exposure to X-rays, and in 1904, Thomas Edison's assistant, Clarence Dally, who had worked extensively with X-rays, died of skin cancer. The rest, as they say, is history! So, for everyone: Thanks for playing. See you all next week. I am still pondering Cynthia's question, while it seems the rest of you have it !! Nancy.

lol,well, as you have demonstrated the most common are not that hard to guess, or too terribly creative!! It is also noted where they ranked the year before. 1. 123456 (Unchanged from 2013) 2. password (Unchanged) 3. 12345 (Up 17) 4. 12345678 (Down 1) 5. qwerty (Down 1) I was told by a millenial that patterns were the new thing, and he set a password up for me - q1w2e3r4 - which as it turns out is not that original, or that easy to type into a tablet. I abandoned that for my own form of original. I don't have anything to hacked or data-mined for, so I seem safe. I believe everyone had a good idea of the top at the end, so for everyone: Hope you had fun with the guessing game. See you all next week. I am back on my diet for the next 2 weeks. The 12 lbs. I lost stayed off nicely over the holiday season, so I am keen to get more off for Spring!! Thanks for playing. Nancy. Here is a link that might be useful: Here's the article

Well, I should have been back more often with clues but everything is a struggle right now - I have strep and haven't been able to get in to see my Dr. yet - oh well, tomorrow hopefully. 1. El Nino The most dominant pattern responsible for interannual, or year-to-year, climate variability across the globe. During an El Niño event, warmer-than-normal sea-surface temperatures occur in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, while cooler-than-normal temperatures are observed in the western part of the tropical Pacific. El Niño (Spanish for "The Baby Boy" of the Christmas story) was named more than 100 years ago by Peruvian fishers who noticed the warming water off their shores around Christmas time. 2. La Nina During a La Niña event, cooler-than-normal sea-surface temperatures (SSTs) occur in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and warmer-than-normal SSTS are measured in the western part of the tropical Pacific. During La Niña, convection over the western Pacific tends to be farther west than the climatological average, bringing heavier-than-usual and more persistent rains to Indonesia and northern Australia, among other teleconnections. Like its brother, La Niña recurs at intervals ranging from about two to seven years, with events typically lasting from one to three years. Researchers believe La Niña behavior could change with global warming, although the exact nature of this change remains uncertain. 3. Montreal Express An informal term for the pattern that results when the polar jet stream arcs from northern Siberia across western Canada, then dips southward across central and eastern North America. Along the northeast coast of North America, a similar pattern in which the cold air originates over Canada is called the Montreal Express. 4. Trade Winds - yep, that's one!! The easterly surface winds prevailing across the tropics. The trade winds, part of the Hadley circulation, got their name at the dawn of the age of oceanic sailing, when cargo traders learned to rely upon them. 5. Vortex The circulation associated with a surface low-pressure area. Vortices can range in size from dust devils to tornadoes to hemispheric patterns. Some more localized weather may be referred to as: 6. Lake Effect Think Buffalo. Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when cold winds move across long expanses of warmer lake water, providing energy and picking up water vapor, which freezes and is deposited on the leeward (downwind) shores. Did anyone see the pictures of the storm-front moving across Lake Ontario towards Buffalo? Truly awesome. 7. Alberta Clipper - An Alberta clipper (also known as a Canadian Clipper) is a fast moving low pressure area which generally affects the central provinces of Canada and parts of the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Most clippers occur between December and February, but can also occur occasionally in November. 8. Panhandle Hook - A Panhandle hook is a relatively infrequent winter storm system whose cyclogenesis occurs in the South to southwestern United States from the late fall through winter and into the early spring months. They trek to the northeast on a path towards the Great Lakes region, as the southwesterly jet streams are most prevalent, usually affecting the Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Panhandle hooks account for some of the most memorable and deadly blizzards and snowstorms in North America, as well as tornado outbreaks in the Midwest on record. The name is derived from the region of surface cyclogenesis in the Texas and Oklahoma "panhandle" regions. In some winters, there are no panhandle hook storms; in others, there are several. 9. Nor'easter - The usage of the term in North America comes from the wind associated with many different types of storms, some of which can form in the North Atlantic Ocean and some of which form as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. The term is most often used in the coastal areas of New England. A nor’easter is a low pressure area that often passes just off the New England and southeast Canada Atlantic coastline. Winds in the left-forward quadrant rotate onto land from the northeast. The precipitation pattern is similar to that of other extratropical storms. Nor’easters can cause severe coastal flooding, coastal erosion, hurricane force winds or blizzard conditions; these conditions are usually accompanied with very heavy rain or snow, depending on when the storm occurs. 10. Colorado Low - You're right Cynthia, not a rock Mountain High - lol. A Colorado low is a low pressure that forms in southeastern Colorado or northeastern New Mexico, typically in the winter. After forming, the system moves across the Great Plains. Colorado lows produce heavy wintry precipitation, and have a general east to northeast movement, impacting regions as far north as Winnipeg and as far east as the Atlantic coast. If upper level conditions are right, the jet stream can push the low farther south, bringing wintry precipitation as far as Texas. When pushed this far south, the system is often referred to as a "blue norther". Well, thanks for playing!! May the peace of the Season be upon you and yours!! Merry Christmas - see you all next week. I'll leave you with a song. Nancy. Here is a link that might be useful: Southern Cross - CSN