Chapter 2: Staying Sharp: Giving Your Brain a Workout 23
Demanding discipline
Most crossword puzzles require at least an hour to solve. Some require two
hours or more. When you tackle a crossword, you’re taking on a pretty serious
mental commitment, and succeeding requires discipline.
It’s normal to feel frustrated when you get stuck halfway through the puzzle
and can’t seem to fill in any more entries. But if you’re going to complete a
crossword grid, you have to develop the discipline to back up, reread clues,
consider what resources you may want to consult, and chip away at the empty
spaces.
Touring the world from your kitchen table
In Chapter 1, I explain that while some people bristle at the idea of using out-
side resources to help solve crossword clues, I think doing so is fine. Better
than fine, in fact. If you get stuck on a clue, what are your options? You can
give up and flip to the solution (not my preference), ask someone else for help
(a great idea), or check for the answer in a book or on a Web site.
If your goal is to give your brain lots of new fodder, researching challenging
answers seems like a great way to accomplish it. With a dictionary, a thesaurus,
a book of quotations, and lots of other resources on hand, you have a world
of knowledge at your fingertips. And with the crossword clues prompting you,
you have lots of motivation to seek out that knowledge.
Revisiting your curiosity
Curiosity is one of the things we love about kids (except when you’re on a long
car trip with a 3-year-old grandchild in the why phase). When a child encounters
something completely new, he asks questions about it and genuinely wants to
find out more. He wants to understand it and figure out how it relates to the stuff
he already knows.
Carrying adult responsibilities (and schedules) often squeezes the life out of
curiosity. But working crosswords can inspire you to be more curious. You may
find that one little clue with a surprising solution leaves you wanting to know
more about why that answer is correct. Feel free to put your puzzle on hold and
find out more, right then and there. Your brain will benefit from it.