PUZZLES

Wordle

I read some notes online from a Wordle fan who can't get to sleep at night until she has solved the daily Wordle.  I would say to her, relax! Life is too short to have it governed by a puzzle, no matter how interesting.

This same person gave a couple of tips that I advocated for a while.

Use "adieu" as a starter word, to get vowels.

Use words such as "atone" to get the most common usage letters.

After a while I asked myself if I was looking for kind of easy solutions that did not tax my brain, or was I looking for tougher solutions that made my tired old brain get into exercise mode.

I felt that I wanted the exercise and besides it would be more fun.  So, now I try to key in words that force me to think - a lot.

Words like:  "query," "climb," "plume," or "expel."

It often takes me "down to the wire" to get the solution, but I do have fun getting there.  It has worked for me. After over 100 tests, I have only missed one solution, because I was over tired and mixed up the letter colors.

Crosswords

The same situation occurs with Crossword Puzzles.  The LA Times, New York Times and the Atlantic all have puzzles that are relatively easy for Monday and Tuesday.  After that, the words get a lot harder.

If you don't want frustration, you can stick with those easier puzzles. I like doing them for those days because it relaxes me.  However, I also like the challenges in the puzzles for the rest of the week.  

Cryptics

For a good brain workout, you could try Cryptic Crosswords.  The Brits could never understand Americans' crosswords, so they developed their own word puzzles which utilize all kinds of puzzle  methods, such as charades, containments, acrostics, etc.  I enjoy trying to solve such puzzles; however, I have never solved even one of those published by the Daily Telegraph.

For years I have tried to rustle up enough interest to form a class for puzzlers.  Everyone says they like to do puzzles, but nobody wants to learn how to do them better.

 

I read that a famous psychologist says that doing crossword puzzles does not tax your mind and is a waste of time.  BALONEY!

No matter if you are doing relatively easy puzzles or challenging ones, you are definitely using your brain.

I've gone to nursing homes where some patients just vegetate in their chairs all day, while their brains rust away. And I've seen other patients there happily moving their pencils as they use their brains on the daily crossword.

Tip:  If you have a computer of some kind, use Google to solve clues when necessary.  Otherwise, how on earth would anyone know the answer to clues like this:

Brother-in-law of Grace Kelly in the 1967 unreleased movie "Midnight in Poughkeepsie."

Crooks

Lemonade?

In the State of Washington, there is a 12-year-old Ukranian-American who, even at this young age, is an expert entrepreneur. He has found himself a lively street corner where he sells snacks, lemonade and candy.  He makes a good living at that and even has some money to send to help the Ukranians.

Last week one of his customers paid for $20 worth of goodies with a $100 dollar bill. The boy gave him $80 change, which is all he had at the time.

After a while the boy looked more closely at the $100 bill and thought that it looked a little funny.  He took it to a bank where they said it was counterfeit.

Some folks felt sorry for him and set up a "fund me" file and collected $25,000 on the boy's behalf.  Police have a photo that might show the counterfeiter.  Meanwhile the boy is back in business.

Mis-fits.

Virginia police have confiscated 165,707 pairs of socks advertised for people with diabetes. Such socks must be cotton and adhere to special rules governing their manufacture.

Apparently, these "so-called" diabetic socks did not meet expectations and the complete shipment valued at $2.6 million was pulled.

....................................................................