Puzzles similar to crosswords featured in The Stockton Bee from 1793-1795 but it was in 1862 the actual phrase of “crossword puzzle” made its first appearance.
With the first crossword puzzles appearing in 19th century England and had basic clues. Nowadays, they are the most popular word game in the world.
While widespread credit has been given to Eugene Maleska for the puzzle that ran in the New York Times, the phrase itself appeared sooner. Crossword puzzles began appearing in 1873 editions of the St. Nicholas magazine, with others appearing in Italian magazines in 1890.
It was in 1913 that an English journalist published a puzzle called “word cross”, and this puzzle featured many of the same features that we see in crossword puzzles today.
So, while there are many claims to being the first crossword puzzle, it is the 1913 puzzle that is credited as the first, and thus the journalist, Arthur Wynne, as the inventor.
On this page https://crossword365.com/pages/play-worlds-first-crossword you can play the first ever crossword puzzle, as it appeared in "The New York World" in digital format.