I have recently found that I kind of like crossword puzzles. I never used to like these things, as they never made much sense to me. But now that I am older and the storehouse of my working vocabulary is no longer so minuscule, crosswords are a bit more fun. Not that they are all fun, they are also wonderfully frustrating. But that little aha when the answer presents itself is always so shocking. There is always that feeling of well, duh, why didn’t I see that before?
One of my favorite BritComs is Waiting For God, a show about a group of old people in a nursing home waiting for death to overtake them. Since it is a British show, it is, of course, a comedy. People die, new people come and replace them, and the old timers in the home try not to get too attached, as it really is only a matter of time before they are gone.
On one episode, our heroes were working the Times Crossword Puzzle. The clue in the show was City that Throws it’s weight around. It is a British Puzzle. One of our heroes, Diane, can’t solve the puzzle and it is driving her mad. She finally gives up and declares the puzzle too easy to bother with. Tom, the not so smart one, reads the clue and announces Islington. When Diane, the smart one, looks at him baffled, he explains-I Sling Ton-City That Throws Its Weight Around. That is a great clue and answer!
But people who do crosswords seriously, not like me, its still just fun to me, the serious players notice any change in the style of their clues and answers and don’t like them at all. There are the occasional news stories about unhappy crossword puzzle players writing lots of nasty letters.There have been a couple of books and movies about crosswords as well, but I really had no interest in looking at them. I’m sure they had little to do with actually crosswords and all to do with the people playing them, just like Searching For Bobby Fischer had very little real chess play in it.
As if I don’t have enough ways to doodle away my time, now I am going to be doing crosswords in the odd spare moment. Of course, I find it more fun to do a puzzle with other people, that way I can showoff my vast and mostly pointless knowledge. I used to be really good at Trivial Pursuits. Of course, it is not so much fun when they are showing off.
I still think I should go on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Nah, crosswords are easier, and I can always check the answers in tomorrows paper.
