Puzzles

Good Morning – if there is such a thing as a good  morning…Anyone who visits regularly (yes, all two of you) know that I don’t wake well. Part of my morning routine everyday, to get myself functional & awake, is a crossword puzzle.
“Crossword puzzle in the morning?” you say.
”Yes, crossword puzzle…let me explain. Your brain is much like any other muscle in your body – the more you “work” it the “stronger” it is. When I wake up, all of my muscles or tight, achy, and not wanting to respond to the commands I send them. Coffee – oh sweet coffee! – helps the physical things start working, slowly but surely. But that is pretty much useless if my brain is still foggy and fuzzy. When you do a crossword puzzle, you force your brain to start “working” – thinking. Just like trivia (another morning routine) does. When I start the puzzle, a lot of times the clues really don’t make sense. But as I progress through it, it gets easier & easier. By the time I’m done, my brain is “awake”  and ready to go for the day. The puzzle does for my mind what the coffee does for my body.
”I hate crosswords! They’re too hard” you say.
”Really? Doesn’t that bother you..?” I ask. Every time you do one, you put your brain into high gear, you learn a little better not to take things at face value, and you increase you vocabulary & knowledge. Aren’t those things you’d like to do?
Anywho, my point is, I am going to start recording my times here, so I can look back and see how I’m doing…and I challenge you to see if you can catch up – or even pass my time! Let me also say, if you accept the challenge to do this daily, and you aren’t a regular “puzzler” don’t get discouraged and quit after 3 days of high times. You have to allow your brain time to adapt & adjust, and get itself into the proper mode to do this. After a short time, you’ll notice an increase in your “brain activity,” as well as increased alertness & awareness of the things & people around you. It’s your choice, if you prefer to stay in a fog & use as little of your mind as possible, by all means do so. If you want to join me in this here’s what to do:

Go to The Puzzle Society.
When you get there, under “Archive” you’ll see a drop down menu, click on it and choose “January 7” then click on the word “click” under it.
When the puzzle loads, chose “Options”
You’ll want check marks next to “show clock” in the first row, and “regular” under Skill Level. Then click OK
When you get back to the main page, click “Play Now” and start solving. It will automatically track your time,  number of clues solved, and number of hints used (you’ll see the hints option when you open the puzzle itself).
When you’ve finished, you’ll get a screen that looks like this:

There you have your stats! Ok, here’s mine for today, to start things off:

Puzzle: January 7th “Sauce Sample”
Elapsed Time: 8:49
Hints Used: 0 letters, 0 words

I’d love to hear from others who decide to do this – how long did it take you to get into the “rhythm?” Did you get frustrated? Did you get over it *grin*?

Ok gotta go for now.
See ya laterzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! ! !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

you have your stats!