Slipping into dementia is my biggest fear. Have I picked up this habit because I worry about losing my memory and succumbing to some form of dementia? Probably. Since I seldom finish the harder of the “easy” puzzles-it is inevitable that what puzzle makers call “easy” means parsing a range of simple answers (e.g., “pizza by the _”) to hard ones for me (e.g.,‘ “Wake Up Little _” 1957 hit for the Everly Brothers’). Puzzles take me anywhere from a half-hour to 45 minutes the first time around. When that feeling grabs me, I put the crossword down and turn to something else. Nonetheless, even after getting most of an “easy” puzzle, I get frustrated by not being able to call up the seven-letter word that will fit the clue. Easy crosswords also contain elementary Spanish, French, and German words that I mostly know. I am strong on history, geography, and literature but awfully weak on Hollywood and music figures enthralling younger generations. I get totally immersed, laughing at times when I figure out the puns that the crossword-maker salted into the clues. The time I spend in turning clues into letters that fit into the allotted squares (using a number 2 pencil with a large eraser) goes quickly. Usually, I can fill out all the boxes and after checking the answers at the back of the book-no, I do not cheat while doing the crossword-I write on the top of the page whether I got it “perfect” or how many errors I made. Turns out that I am a whiz at “easy” puzzles. So when the daily crosswords get too hard, I shift to books of 100 or 200 “Easy” puzzles that I bought. On that midweek day I might be able to finish it after three or four tries. I have gotten only as far as Wednesdays now. I quickly learned that the daily crossword on Monday was easy but as the week went on, each day got more and more difficult to complete. Since then I began doing the daily New York Times puzzles supplemented by crossword books to do during the days when the newspaper ones got too hard for me. By the time I had fully recovered, I was hooked on crosswords. I picked up the habit from a dear friend in Vancouver (CA) who sent me a covey of crossword books when I was recovering from a pinched nerve in my back. This is the first.įor the past six years I have been doing crossword puzzles. Another feature will be writing personal posts that reflect on things I do, think about, read, and feel. I have also included from time to time, poems about teachers and teaching. In the nearly 13 years of writing this blog on school reform and classroom practice, I have added different features such as a monthly set of cartoons about parents, schools, teachers, and students.
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