Play it again

I have always liked puzzles. No, not jigsaw puzzles, though I know lots of people who love those. We don’t really have the space in our small apartment to keep a jigsaw puzzle going. I prefer puzzles that you can complete with a pen (or pencil) or type in on-line. The ones I like most are the word puzzles and the logic puzzles. The NYTimes puzzles app supplies me with both on a daily basis. I can play these puzzles on my iPad or on my phone so they are highly portable puzzles.

I think I fell in love with these types of puzzles at a very young age. As a child I would try to solve the JUMBLE puzzle that appeared in our daily newspaper. Breakfast always tasted better with a side order of JUMBLE.

My mother loved to work the daily crossword puzzle and would occasionally ask me for input if she was stuck. I am not sure I was much help but I loved it that she asked me. My mother loved word puzzles too and if I left the JUMBLE unsolved before I left for school, I would often discover later that my mother had solved it. She couldn’t resist those empty JUMBLE circles.

Now I am addicted to the daily NYTimes puzzles. My preference is to solve these puzzles first thing each morning. Even before I shower and dress. If I have a morning meeting or other obligation, I will at least solve the MINI and WORDLE and save the rest for later in the day. Many mornings my daughter and I will share our scores on WORDLE and the MINI and CONNECTIONS. I readily admit that her younger and brighter brain usually wins out (but not always). It is always sort of delightful if we tie—like it taking each of us exactly 35 seconds to solve the MINI.

For years I had worked to solve the big CROSSWORD puzzle but it took a chunk of time and it was often so difficult (for me) that I got discouraged and gave up. Then I discovered the MINI. Not only was it small, it was also far easier to solve and faster as well. Of course I always had a few minutes to solve the MINI.

Then along came WORDLE. I must have read an article about this new game the Times was putting out. It’s rather like playing a digital version of Bananagrams (another game—not digital—that I love but no one in my family wants to play with me because they say I am “too competitive”. Hmmm…I think this is their way of saying they don’t like it that I win every game. LOL.) I do start my WORDLE with the same word each day: ADIEU. I know others that use a different start word and for a long time, I just used random start words.

A little dig into history tells me that The New York Times launched THE CROSSWORD in 1942. Then, 72 years later, came the launch of the MINI in 2014, followed by SPELLING BEE, LETTER BOXED, TILES and VERTEX. In 2022 WORDLE was released and then in 2023 came CONNECTIONS. You do not have to subscribe to the NYTimes Games to play most of these games but a subscription allows you to play on your multiple devices (phone, iPad, etc) as well as have access to an archive of puzzles of the past that you can play.

Occasionally I will attempt the big CROSSWORD puzzle though I don’t think I have been very adept at solving that one except the easier versions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. THE CROSSWORD gets way to hard for me by Thursday, even though I still attempt it on occasion. I think the Saturday CROSSWORD is the most difficult, or so I think I have heard. They say if you keep playing you will improve and eventually be able to solve even the harder puzzles. We shall see.

The only puzzle I don’t attempt is SUDOKU. I have many friends who love SUDOKU. They purchase big magazines/books overflowing with SUDOKU puzzles. I have tried SUDOKU but it seems more frustration than fun for me. Did I mention I am not a math person? Maybe one day (but I doubt it).

Why do I love these word and logic puzzles so much? I think part of it is they give me a sense of accomplishment, something to check off the TO DO list (if I included DO PUZZLES on that list—which I currently don’t include but maybe I should). These puzzles also use a part of my brain that I don’t use (at least not consciously) for other daily tasks. I like these puzzles because you can do them solo and you don’t have to find someone to play with you. But the main reason I love these games is because they are fun. They give me a bit of a thrill when I successfully complete one of the puzzles. Other than THE CROSSWORD, I don’t give up until the puzzle is solved, though SPELLING BEE has defeated me on occasion and I resort to googling clues to find the word I cannot find. Because I am playing solo, I can make up my own rules and googling is permissible if you are down to the last one or two words. Those are my rules. And that’s another fun part of these daily puzzles—you can make your own rules.

I think some of us just love games. Together, solo, across the miles. We love to play. It’s just plain fun.