251 Entertaining myself in pandemic days

Entertaining Myself in Pandemic Days

Hello there, my friends in isolation! Thinking that those things I have been doing to entertain myself might precipitate an idea or two for you. 

AND, as always, we’d love to hear what you have been doing. It’s both nice to know that what one is doing is popular (or at least normal) among readers, but maybe we’ll also learn a new way to pass the time from you.

First you may chuckle that dear husband accuses me on regular basis on being nosy. I, however, call it curious. I think nosy is when I want to know who said what to whom and why. I am more interested in factoids with the hope I can find a neuron that makes a connection to some other factoid I’ve picked up.

We’re not talking gossip here (okay, not often gossip), but rather that my buddy Google and I watch Jeopardy together. If the answer (or, on Jeopardy, the question) is not something I have heard of at all--yep, I consult Google who is sitting on my lap. I’m not sure I will ever get ends of wars and their subsequent treaties straight. Pop culture – particularly band names--we’ll just let them go. However, I did know Little Nas X and “Old Town Road” and, wow, was dear husband impressed. None of the other clues in the “current music” category did I know--not a one!
 

For years--and thinking back to likely the late 1960s/early 1970s--I have subscribed to the weekend editions of the New York Times. I skim the headlines, read the Week in Review section, and devour the magazine and its crossword puzzle. I love crossword puzzles. Actually, I will do most any puzzle – Sudoku, mazes, find the words, etc., etc., etc.

I like to do puzzles in pen. The pen emphasizes the mistakes. Kind of like an educational authority graded your papers in school. I try to finish as much of the Sunday puzzle as I can, before checking in with Google. The New York Times, though, has been and is my very favorite.

Also, surfing around on Google, I found the first published crossword on www.crosswordtournament.com and thought you might like to try it. One hint is for 10-18: gomuti palm = choices include doh, hemp, jute, sago, and flax. Seems to be the three-letter answer, doesn’t it? But all the other choices I can lump together as some random knowledge about palms. Don’t know when I will need this knowledge, but I find it fascinating.

After all, I find crosswords to be the magic of words that keep one engaged with numbers, words, and clues. Over the years, ingenious hands have designed clever puzzles that have made more players sweat. When I see the empty black and white grid, I have the urge to fill them in. I fill the grid boxes thinking them to be the correct answers. 

Often times, though, thank you, Will Shortz**, I won’t know whether the answer is one word or more, or if the clue is followed by a “?” that it’s a pun of some sort. Often I am correct, but, oh, sometimes I haven’t a CLUE! 

[*Shortz - editor of the New York Times Crossword puzzles since 1993; part of NPR’s Weekend Edition (since 1987); owns table tennis centers; has a BA in Enigmatology (1974) from Indiana University and a J.D. (1977) University of Virginia. (condensed – really condensed from Wikipedia!) The man is really one of my idols!! Wordplay, a 2006 documentary on Shortz is worth watching. I had seen it in NYC, but it can be streamed on Amazon Prime. FYI, look for Bill Clinton, Jon Stewart and Ken Burns in it, too. [IMDb gives it a 4.5 out of 5!] 

Okay, - back to puzzles!

Here are some solving tips I have learned:

• If you are Type A, forget that for a while; instead, look for all the “fill-in the blanks.”

• Look for 3,4, 5 letter words--they are usually straightforward answers.

• Check that your grammar matches that of the clue--plural = plural, past tense = past tense, etc. Think outside the box--one that stumped me was Doctor’s number…well, the answer is anesthetic. Get it? Numb(er) not number! Duh, me!

• Think puns: eavesdropper? How about icicle? Breadbox? ATM. Fun, huh!

So here we are, dear husband and I, supposedly still cleaning out generations of “stuff,” but getting sidetracked by binge-watching TV, streaming movies, talking about what we can eat next (I AM SO TIRED of the kitchen!!) and doing our puzzles. 

Pen or pencil--it doesn’t matter. Stay safe, stay well, and try to find some fun. We hope you keep in touch!

Sometimes Savvy Glenne