I love the news stories lately about how good it is for your brain to do mind work / play like puzzles and games. I have always loved puzzles. I don’t do the crossword puzzles in the Enquirer nowadays – too easy to be fun. They have 2 every day, but both are pretty simple. I do the Sunday Enquirer puzzle, though.
I used to buy the NYTimes on Sunday just to have their wonderful puzzle. But I hate having that big paper stack up, mostly unread, with those trees having died for nothing. Though of course I recycle every scrap of paper I get my hands on. I guess I should look around on line in their magazine and see if it’s downloadable or doable online.
I really enjoy the Enquirer’s Jumble and Cryptoquip. Fun to get to that moment when you know what it says. And with the Jumble, you have to solve the list of words, and then figure out the joke. The words are done in 10 seconds, but not always the joke.
The real biggie for me is jigsaw puzzles. Can’t be too tediously easy, or too tediously hard. Like the all red round puzzle a few years ago. What was the point of that? Another criterion – they must be beautiful. Luckily, my wonderful friends have figured all this out, and find me fabulous puzzles.
A good friend gave me a wonderful Kuan Yin puzzle that I started as soon as Christmas was all put away. I only do Christmas puzzles during Christmas. (I never said I wasn’t eccentric!) Kuan Yin was the Chinese Great Goddess, and like all of them was demoted into various smaller jobs. She’s now known as the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion. Gorgeous colors, pieces nearly all alike, a lot to pay attention to. Aaahhhh.
She’s finished, and I couldn’t bear to take her apart – so I’m working on the Tibetan Wheel of Life, a thousand piecer, and tres intricate, beside her on the table. I found this one myself. It’s not as hard as it looks, though I may not admit that. Next up is another present – a huge puzzle of the astrology wheel. That should keep my busy mind occupied until the snow is finally gone.
P. S. When do I have time to do puzzles? When I get wound up and want to smooth down. When I’m on a long phone call. When I’m waiting on a client. When the toast is toasting…. I just do a few pieces here and there and then wander off to the next thing. When Grandson Kyle is in from DC, we will often settle in for an afternoon and puzzle the day away, while catching up with each other. Otherwise, it’s just what happens when I wander past the puzzle.