I cheated. I betrayed. I took off with Sudoku, but I have have now returned to my first lazy Sunday afternoon love, the NY Times Crossword Puzzle. Sudoku was tantalizing at first, but it turned out to be all smoke and mirrors. After a while I felt taxed by it, instead of intrigued. I'd complete a round and still feel wanting, my eyes lingering elsewhere and my mind not knowing exactly what was missing. Finally, I figured it out, I wanted my first love back—those meaty, mind boggling, pull-your-hair out works of puzzledom. I wanted the thrill that comes from figuring out 32 down and 42 across. I wanted to feel that ever-present scholarly, yet smug feeling that goes hand in hand with puzzle completion.
Sunday was my first attempt to re-engage with my puzzle passion. It was trickier than I had thought. I no longer knew the language, the subtle nuances in meaning or the complicated word play. I started, I stopped, I stumbled, I hestitated, I got hung up on clues like "Party People" and "Yuletide quaff". I'd like to say it all came back quickly, but getting back together turned out to be a time-consuming process with lots of late night tête-à-têtes. How time consuming? Well, let's just say this, that the Sunday Times puzzle wasn't quite completed on Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday, but I am proud to say that it didn't make it past mid-week. Tonight it lays perfectly complete, by my side, albeit with several different colors of ink, letters that you can barely make out because of the rewriting and the evidence of several spills (Thanks Claire, getting back together is even more difficult when you're trying to do it with a kid in tow).
If you are ready for a new love, or to dust off that old love, let me give you a leg up, 115 across is "politico", 60 across is "nog" and 80 down, ohh that 80 down, is "Olsofjord". Have fun puzzle geeks.
6 comments:
I'm still addicted to Sudoko...my baby brain is definitely not ready for the NY Times crossword puzzle.
Oslofjord?
The NYT crossword was a major highlight on my slow teaching mornings in Japan. I'd be in the teachers' room, everyone else getting ready for classes to which I wasn't invited. And there I sat, avoiding studying Japanese by solving 46 across; excitedly finishing a puzzle as teachers shuffled off to classes, and me with no one left to share my triumph. I'm so glad you two have reunited. It's a beautiful relationship to cherish. But don't give up on Su Doku just yet. It's not as fickle a friend as you may think; I have a Su Doku system you might find helpful.
Wow, these puzzles are so foreign to me. I have never been interested in them, but I think you have sparked something in me--I will have to check them out :)
Tara- Check out my blog, you will die when you see what I found! -Sarah
Reading this makes me excited to be in a place where we can get newspapers! I haven't done crosswords in years; it would be fun to start again.
I am hooked--I will have to go get my own book. Thanks for the introduction!
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