cruciverbalism

Lately, I’ve been spending far less time online. What have I been doing?

Crossword puzzles. Lots and lots of crossword puzzles.

I’ve always been into crosswords, mostly in the summer and the dead of winter. The summer of 2007, however, has been the “El Nino” of my seasonal crossword addiction. I’m hooked and I just can’t stop.

I’m working from a book of simple crosswords, which I use to warm up the brain. They have clues such as “Light switch position” (answer has 2 letters)¹ I can finish one up in under 5 minutes. Then, I have the pages off of my New York Times Crossword-a-day (except for weekends, when you get 1 to hold you for 2 days) calendar. They’re tough, but doable. Sample clue: “Lab protector.” (answer has 10 letters)² I have about a 75% finish rate* on those. Finally, I have large size book of 50 Sunday New York Times puzzles. I’m on puzzle 17 18 and I have yet to finish one. Sample clue: “Math rings” (answer has 4 letters). ³

¹ ON. Not rocket science.
² FLEACOLLAR. Tricky.
³ TORI. Plural of torus a term I have NEVER heard of. Then again, I majored in TV/Radio.

I do crosswords after work. I do them on the weekends. I do them at work during conference call downtimes. I can’t stop!

Other than that, I’ve been in house-selling mode. We had 2 couples visit our Open House on Sunday, and 1 of them were interested enough to take a card and info sheet. There’s another Open House this Sunday, but we’ve had no showings since last week. It’s just a dead time to try and sell a house, though. There is always hope! Anyone interested in buying a house in Cherry Hill, NJ? 😉

*I only count finishing a puzzle when I can finish it without looking at the answer or looking something up online. Anyone can finish a crossword puzzle when they’re sitting at the computer.