WORDS WORDS WORDS

CONFESSION

Here is a typical day in the life of an apprentice

 wordsmith, namely me.

Wordle.. solve if possible

Download today's LA Times Crossword .. begin

Work on Smithsonian's Crossword .. 

Work on the New Yorker Crossword .. 

Work on the BBC Music Cryptic .. 

Work on the AARP crossword  .. 

Work on an Eric Birnbaum Crossword .. 

(I try to finish at least two crossword puzzles a day.  Does it keep the mind working?  I hope so.)

Watch the WORDS Great Course with Professor Curzon,

Watch one of Professor McWhorter's Great Courses.

Tip:  Don't let puzzling take over your life.  Instead, include a lot of interaction with people.  And don't forget to read read read!

Problem

A recent LA Times crossword had 13 clues that covered ancient baseball and football teams, obsolete words, and other obscure information. This required me to spend a lot of Google time. 

I don't think that is fair to the average solver, even though, in this case I learned a lot of useless but interesting information.

Usually, an editor reviews the clues before publication.  One editor once accepted a very easy crossword, but tried to do something different.

He changed all of the easy clues with difficult to solve clues.  The solutions of both puzzles were the same. 

So, if an editor likes a submitted crossword, except for a couple of clues, he can substitute other clues instead.  

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