Peanuts In My Pocket

One of my retirement goals has been to learn how to solve crossword puzzles, and I’m happy to report that I’m making progress. I tackle the NYT Mini every day and have been working my way through old Monday puzzles. The puzzles from other days of the week are still a bit beyond my abilities, but I’m improving to the point where I at least have a fighting chance.

The Monday puzzles feel manageable. Occasionally, I need to check which word I’ve misspelled—spelling errors seem to be my most common issue. Figuring out the clues can still be challenging, but for Monday’s puzzles, I can usually work through them with persistence.

What I’ve learned is that repetition is key to honing my clue-solving skills, while Alexa has become my go-to assistant for spelling problems. My spelling might never improve, but with Alexa’s help, I have a better shot at success.

Florence, on the other hand, is a crossword machine. She’s diligently working her way through the NYT puzzle archive, solving one every 15 minutes or so. Compared to her, I’m a solid 2 on the crossword scale, while she’s an 8—or maybe even a 10 in my book! When I ask her for help, I’m often baffled by how quickly she knows the answers. I hope to reach her level someday. Fingers crossed!

To help myself along, I’ve started keeping a list of clues that don’t make sense to me. Using AI, I dive deep into their meanings and learn strategies to tackle similar ones in the future. Outside of sheer repetition, this method has led to the most noticeable improvement in my solving skills.

In true “me” fashion, I’ve also been learning about the history of crossword puzzles and the creative process behind constructing them. My brain insists, “If I can just understand the why behind this,” and off I go, uncovering every little fact imaginable.

And you know what? I’m having fun. I never thought I’d enjoy crossword puzzles as much as I do. It’s a surprising but welcome outcome.