Crossword puzzles

[Marguerite53]

I would really like to be one of those people who always goes for the crossword puzzles in the newspaper. Yeah, the hard ones, too. But I am just terrible at them. And I can't understand why. I think I have a pretty good command of vocabulary, I write well. But it's that backwards thinking, definition first, that just leaves me blank; and, I think, would be really good for me what with the occasional pump-headedness and menopausal fog.

SO. I know you're out there....... you crossword puzzle addicts. Please tell me how you maneuver, learn, manage, fenagle your way through them!

Marguerite

 

[escargome]

I won't say I'm an expert, but I go through the whole puzzle and fill in simple ones first. Sometimes, then you get a letter or two hint for the one going in the opposite direction. Also, don't give up, try, then try again. Sometimes these puzzle makers use the same hint in different puzzles so if you do them enough times then you will remember and answer. Just don't give up

 

[Bina]

I don't enjoy the hardest ones.....but I do the really big regular crosswords in the papers. It does take some time, and often I'll work on it for a while, leave it and go back the next day and a word will just pop into my head.
Your best friends may become a good Thesaurus and Google.

 

[Bina]

Chris is right, many clues are repeated over the months. Memorize some or mark them down.

 

[Phyllis]

Love them. I start do the NY Times every day (except Fri and Sat which only frustrate me) and work my way up to the Sunday one which is usually a 2-3 hour challenge, but I always complete it. I also enjoy the Wall Street Journal one on Friday. When you are stumped, put it down and go back again- I often find that works. Most have a theme and once you get that you are golden.

 

[Nancy]

Whenever Joe was hospitalized or went to the hospital, my thick New York Times Crossword puzzle book went along with me. I rarely finished those puzzles. There were all pretty hard, but were fun to work on. Joe and I used to do them together sometimes. When he got very ill, we did the very easy ones with lots of hints.

I believe that the more you do them, the easier they become. However, the hard ones are meant to be hard. Sometimes there is a two word answer, and they might not tell you that.

I also do a lot of word puzzles like anagrams and strategy puzzles online when I have a few minutes to spare. It always amazes me when I see some of the words I didn't get. They were so easy.

I think it's the journey not the result that is the fun.

I have also found out that on some days my brain does these with ease and other days, I struggle. Biorhythms maybe?

I do think it keeps your brain sharp.

Sudoku is a fun pastime too.

 

[Bina]

Sudoku and Anagrams are great, and every day after supper hubby and I play cards, usually cribbage.

 

[Ross]

My wife gets into them pretty heavily. She uses Dell crossword dictionaries and really, anything that will help her attain the answer.

 

[Marguerite53]

Thanks, everyone!

Ross, cool! A Dell crossword dictionary! Who knew! So I looked on Amazon and even the NYT makes a crossword dictionary. They are all from the '90's, though, so how does that help me with current stuff. Guess I should have that in my short term memory!

And Nancy, I am really good at anagrams and other kinds of word games. Where do you find the ones online? I'd love to have a good site to go to. I've downloaded some word game "Apps" onto my groovy new iPod Touch, so that I can do word games when I'm out and waiting for appointments or people. I'd love to have some internet sites.

Escargome, I like your perserverance ... I do tend to give up!

Phyllis... of course you do the NYT puzzles!! So YOU!!

Bina and Nancy.. I do enjoy Soduko. But I'm very quick with math and don't want that kind of practice. That part of my brain is still so very sharp. And, good to know that clues tend to be repeated. I guess I need to put crosswords into my routine, cheat a little with a dictionary for awhile (or forever!) and away I'll go.

Thanks!

Marguerite

 

[Bina]

Last year Bonzo Dog had sent me some puzzle sites....I'll try to find that link in my e-mail.
In the meantime you can google search for word puzzles or anagrams, and you will get started. Enjoy.

 

[Nancy]

AOL has some free games of all different types. The AARP website also has free games of all types. If you don't have AOL, maybe your own service provider has some free games too.

If you Google what you like, there may be some other free games.

 

[Bina]

For a selection of word games try here http://www.eastoftheweb.com/games/
nope, that's not the link I wanted, I'll keep looking.

 

[Bina]

http://wordsmith.org/anagram/

 

[Cooker]

Marguerite ... Personally I more of the find the butterfly in this picture kind of Chimp but it?s just practice ? stick with it and you will become ?one of those people? ? My mother (God rest her soul) had limited education, high school and then secretarial school ?. She started doing them when we were kids and she quit work to stay home with us ? before she died she could sit down with New York Times puzzle and finish it in thirty minutes, she had a vocabulary and spelling ability second to none and contributed all to working crossword puzzles ?. Just start and don?t stop?..

 

[Phyllis]

Here's the URL for the Wall Street Journal Puzzle- comes out every Friday.
http://www.fleetingimage.com/wij/xyzzy/09-wsj.html

You can click on previous dates to do those as well. You have to download acrosslite in order for them to come up on your computer so you can print them out or do them on-line. I always print them out. Here's where you can download acrosslite:
http://www.litsoft.com/across/alite/download.htm

 

[Nancy]

I'll never forget one time when Joe was in the Heart Critical Care Unit, where he so often was. He had a lot of friends there, nurses, techs, PAs, even some doctors and when they had a few moments, they would hang out in his room. I was working on one of the NY Times puzzles, and the hint was "wild ass". So I asked them all to help out. You should have heard all the comments and snickers. One of the men was heavily into biology, and he said, "I know what the answer is".

The word was onager. I never would have known that. But I don't think I'll forget that word.

So, just in case the hint is "wild ass" you know one of the answers. There are other wild *****. But onager happens to be an Asiatic wild ass.

 

[Marguerite53]

So, just in case the hint is "wild ass" you know one of the answers. There are other wild *****. But onager happens to be an Asiatic wild ass.

Nancy, you are a gem!!! And pretty darn funny, too!!

Now I'm going to have to say "whoa"!!!!! Who's gonna find me the time to do all of these?? At least since they're online, I can keep 2 pages open at the same time, and when my husband asks me if I'm STILL on VR.com I can switch over real quick to the puzzle and say, oh, no, dear.... I'm just keeping my brain intact for you. BTW, can you tell me another word for wild ass?? (but since he reads the NYT practically cover to cover every day, he'll probably know it!!! )

Looking forward to it all! Thanks!

Marguerite

 

[Mary]

Onager . . . that would make a good user name!

 

[Nancy]

I guess there was only one other:

Kiang (Asiatic wild ass)
Onager (Asiatic wild ass)