A CrossWord to the Wise

When I was a junior in college, my roommates and I took on a new Hobby: the Friday morning crossword puzzle. At GW, we never had class on Fridays (parents were told it was because so many students had "Friday Internships" but my friends and I always saw three-day weekends as an inalienable right). We'd spend a good portion of the morning sitting around in our PJs and pouring over a crossword.

Of course, the Friday morning crossword became the every day crossword over time. Though true aficionados insist that the New York Times is the standard, my loyalty has always remained with the Washington Post. I now print and enjoy my puzzle for free every day from my computer. I apologize that this is not very "green," but it would be less green to buy an entire newspaper when I only really want one 8"X 8" square buried in the Style section.

It's been almost six years since I slowly started this addiction, and I've become much better. People argue that doing crosswords makes your mind better at solving problems and keeps it "young." I don't know about that, but it certainly makes you better at doing crosswords. Over this time, I've found that there are a lot of lessons about the world in general that I've taken from my puzzling habit (pun not intended) and I'd like to take this opportunity to share:

1) Getting Started Doesn't Take Much.

When I used to try a crossword puzzle as a teenager, I would typically go through the Across clues and get maybe three or four. There are usually 35-40 clues in the Across section, so my ten percent success rate used to be quite discouraging. I'd then just give up. In college I realized something: three or four is enough. Then you go through the downs and you get three or four of those. Sure, you've still got a long way to go, but now there are some letters on the board to help you along. If those letters can help you get just a few more then you're off and rolling. Don't be afraid of a slow start.

2) Specialized, Not Useless Knowledge.

When I'm doing the puzzle and I'm confronted with a four-letter word for "Bits of Food," the answer is obvious: "O-r-t-s." How about a four-letter word for "Spread?" That would clearly be "O-l-e-o." Is orts not a word that you use in your daily life? Could you pick oleo out of your grandmothers fridge? For me: No and no. I have never in my life called a friend to see if they wanted to go find and ort or two for lunch and I've never used a margerine-like product that said "Oleo" in big letters on it. This doesn't matter, these are words that are incredibly useful in getting some momentum going and they appear a lot. Many people will define knowing words like this as "useless knowledge." Absolutely not, this is specialized knowledge. Be proud of your specialization. How useful to the outside world are most of the things we've learned while doing our "real" jobs?

3) Admit When You're Wrong

You were so sure that "C-o-u-c-h" was the five-letter answer to the clue "Sofa." You're still sure of it even though that was twenty minutes ago and you haven't been able to match a single word through "couch" that works. Well, I know it's hard but it might be time to rethink your decision. When you do, you'll discover that there's a backless type of sofa called a divan. D-i-v-a-n, five letters! Scratch out couch and move on, you'll find the rest of that little section will finally start to fall into place. Good things happen in life when you can admit that you were wrong.

4) Change Your Perspective

Puzzlemakers often try to use clues that could have different interpretations, meanings or parts of speech. Invariably, we all have different snap interpretations of each word we read, especially with no larger context to help us out. A clue might present you with "Punch ingredient." Well, I was a bartender so I immediately think of one of my favorite rum-based drinks, a Planter's Punch. R-u-m. Sadly, this inspired answer doesn't fill the four-letter space available for it (and neither will vodka, gin, or whiskey). As it turns out, this "punch" refers to "A blow with the fist," well, there's one ingredient in a knuckle sandwich: a fist. F-i-s-t. Don't lock your mind into one way of doing something when plenty of others might work better.

5) Fresh Eyes See Better

I rarely finish a puzzle in one sitting. Usually I can get about three-quarters of it done before hitting a wall. So I put it down. When I come back to it later in the day, those answers that just seemed impossible now pop into my head. Of course, there always might be some stubborn leftovers. No sense being ridiculous, I always give myself three chances to sit down with the puzzle, after that I'm probably not going to make much more headway. That's when I pass it off to someone else, and their new eyes (and new perspective) typically can blow through what's left with no problem. Be patient and enlist help, it doesn't take anything away from the effort you gave.

6) Some Days You Just Get Killed

I would say I finish (filled and all correct) about 20% of the puzzles I start. For another 70% I can whittle them down to the last few letters (two or three blank spaces) before running out of momentum. Not too shabby, I think. However, there are those remaining 10% where I just get obliterated. I take my three separate tries and can't get more than four or five answers, period. This is always tough to swallow, but there's nothing I can do. The puzzle wins. I print out a new one the next day and try again. As I'm sometimes fond of saying: "Sometimes you're the windsheild, sometimes you're the bug."

7) Tomorrow Never Dies

Besides being the title of a pretty good James Bond movie, this is also a good final crossword lesson. You finished today's puzzle? That's great! You couldn't fill in a single letter? I'm sorry to hear that. You tried to do the puzzle but some guy on the Metro insisted on reading over your shoulder and shouting out answers and ruined the whole experience? I HATE THAT! Regardless, take your joy or sorrow for what it is and remember that the paper will print a new one tomorrow.

In life, each day is a new set of blank squares and unread clues.