Is this a bit like war time broadcasts, or is it just my mentality?

possibly coincidence, but did you know that many of the people recruited to Bletchley Park, where they cracked the Enigma code, were crossword compilers and solvers. The powers that be thought they would be good at problem solving. alongside the boffins and technical whizkids. And that the first viable computer was invented there, which was instrumental in cracking the Enigma code.