First Baptist Church of Herndon

It's Puzzling

Linda Soller | Sep 26, 2022

It's generally agreed that puzzles (crossword, sudoku, word search, jigsaw) are good for the brain. They, you know who "they" are, encourage us to do puzzles especially as we age. I come from a puzzling family, or maybe I mean a family who loves to work puzzles? Anyway, I thought it was time for me to join the "fun". Two weeks ago, after speaking with my mom, a true puzzle devotee, I attempted the Washington Post Monday crossword puzzle. A little bird told me the puzzle in the Post gets progressively harder each day of the week. I did pretty good. So, I jumped on the chance to try the Tuesday puzzle, and I did okay. Wednesday's puzzle was another story. It was clear I had peaked. A relative novice to crosswording I had expected clues which meant something to a puzzle person, but not much to me. This proved to be true. I knew I should read the clues carefully to be sure I was understanding the context of the question. Was it a question, or a statement, one word, or two? I knew spelling words properly would be important, Hmm. There would be no rushing through the puzzle. Now I understand the image of someone in their pjs sipping coffee while they work the puzzle. Clearly, they had never completed the puzzle from the day before and they need the coffee to stay awake!

Lessons learned: I have to stay clear of jigsaw puzzles, I find them too addictive. Why can't I find that small solid blue piece in the middle of the thousand-piece puzzle? Sudoku baffles me, enough said. Word search gives me a headache. So, if I'm to join the ranks of puzzle people in my family and keep my brain healthy it's going to be crosswords.

Sometimes we face something new or challenging and we think, how hard can it be? I like to write, I like to read, and I speak the language, so I went in confident. I remain confident that I will one day be able to complete Monday through Wednesday puzzles without looking up the answers (cheating). It's worth it to me to keep trying and learning. Will I ever get through a Friday puzzle? It's a puzzling question for sure.

Be the love in the world :o)